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10-16-04, 02:00 PM
San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting on Saturday that Giants outfielder Barry Bonds used an undetectable steroid during the 2003 season.
The report cites Bonds' trainer Greg Anderson, who made the statement during a secretly taped conversation last year that was provided to the paper by an unidentified source who is familiar with Anderson. The 38-year-old trainer also said on the tapes that he expected to be notified before Bonds was to be drug tested by Major League Baseball.
Anderson is a longtime friend of Bonds and a defendant in the BALCO steroids conspiracy case.
"The whole thing is, everything that I've been doing at this point, it's all undetectable," Anderson said according to The Chronicle on the recording of the drug he was providing Bonds. "See the stuff I have, we created it, and you can't buy it anywhere else, can't get it anywhere else, but you can take it the day of (the test), pee, and it comes up perfect.
"It's going to be in either the end of May or beginning of June, right before the All-Star break, definitely," Anderson was recorded saying on being notified about a drug test. "So after the All-Star break, f -- , we're like f -- ing clear."
The paper contacted J. Tony Serra, Anderson's lawyer, on Friday and he said that Anderson denies providing banned substances to Bonds. He called the recording a "red herring" that doesn't prove otherwise.
"We sure as hell can't ID it as our client's voice," Serra said after the paper allowed him to hear the recording.
Bonds, who this past season became the third player in league history to reach the 700 home run mark, has denied ever taking steroids.
His lawyer Michael Rains told The Chronicle: "The way I view this is as simply another below-the-belt bash of Barry Bonds, which as I understand it is supposedly the product of what has to be an illegally recorded telephone conversation supposedly between Greg Anderson and an anonymous criminal.
"The circumstances that surround both the recording and the reporting of this supposed conversation, while perhaps appropriate fodder for the front page of the Enquirer, deserve no place in a responsible publication like The Chronicle and are unworthy of any substantive response other than scorn and contempt."
According to the paper, the taped recording is nine-minutes, 19-seconds in length and also contains several unidentified voices, noises and background conversations. Many comments make it clear that Bonds is the topic of conversation, said the paper, but it is unclear by the report if Bonds' name was ever used.
The tape reportedly also has Anderson saying that a number of unnamed Olympic athletes used the steroid and passed their drug tests.
This past February, Anderson and three other men, including BALCO founder Victor Conte, were indicted on steroid conspiracy charges. They allegedly distributed drugs that included a supposed undetectable steroid called "the clear" to stars of baseball, the National Football League and Olympic track and field. The four men have pleaded not guilty.
This recording that The Chronicle cites was never provided to defense attorneys, said Serra. He is quoted as saying the tape is "highly suspect and inadmissible" as evidence against Anderson and Serra predicts the tape will prove to be "much ado about nothing."
The report cites Bonds' trainer Greg Anderson, who made the statement during a secretly taped conversation last year that was provided to the paper by an unidentified source who is familiar with Anderson. The 38-year-old trainer also said on the tapes that he expected to be notified before Bonds was to be drug tested by Major League Baseball.
Anderson is a longtime friend of Bonds and a defendant in the BALCO steroids conspiracy case.
"The whole thing is, everything that I've been doing at this point, it's all undetectable," Anderson said according to The Chronicle on the recording of the drug he was providing Bonds. "See the stuff I have, we created it, and you can't buy it anywhere else, can't get it anywhere else, but you can take it the day of (the test), pee, and it comes up perfect.
"It's going to be in either the end of May or beginning of June, right before the All-Star break, definitely," Anderson was recorded saying on being notified about a drug test. "So after the All-Star break, f -- , we're like f -- ing clear."
The paper contacted J. Tony Serra, Anderson's lawyer, on Friday and he said that Anderson denies providing banned substances to Bonds. He called the recording a "red herring" that doesn't prove otherwise.
"We sure as hell can't ID it as our client's voice," Serra said after the paper allowed him to hear the recording.
Bonds, who this past season became the third player in league history to reach the 700 home run mark, has denied ever taking steroids.
His lawyer Michael Rains told The Chronicle: "The way I view this is as simply another below-the-belt bash of Barry Bonds, which as I understand it is supposedly the product of what has to be an illegally recorded telephone conversation supposedly between Greg Anderson and an anonymous criminal.
"The circumstances that surround both the recording and the reporting of this supposed conversation, while perhaps appropriate fodder for the front page of the Enquirer, deserve no place in a responsible publication like The Chronicle and are unworthy of any substantive response other than scorn and contempt."
According to the paper, the taped recording is nine-minutes, 19-seconds in length and also contains several unidentified voices, noises and background conversations. Many comments make it clear that Bonds is the topic of conversation, said the paper, but it is unclear by the report if Bonds' name was ever used.
The tape reportedly also has Anderson saying that a number of unnamed Olympic athletes used the steroid and passed their drug tests.
This past February, Anderson and three other men, including BALCO founder Victor Conte, were indicted on steroid conspiracy charges. They allegedly distributed drugs that included a supposed undetectable steroid called "the clear" to stars of baseball, the National Football League and Olympic track and field. The four men have pleaded not guilty.
This recording that The Chronicle cites was never provided to defense attorneys, said Serra. He is quoted as saying the tape is "highly suspect and inadmissible" as evidence against Anderson and Serra predicts the tape will prove to be "much ado about nothing."