Report: Bonds failed amphetamine test

[BoSox34]

NEW YORK -- Barry Bonds failed a test for amphetamines last season and originally blamed it on a teammate, the Daily News reported Thursday.

When first informed of the positive test, Bonds attributed it to a substance he had taken from teammate Mark Sweeney's locker, the New York City newspaper said, citing several unnamed sources.

"I have no comment on that," Bonds' agent Jeff Borris told the Daily News on Wednesday night.

"Mark was made aware of the fact that his name had been brought up," Sweeney's agent Barry Axelrod told the Daily News. "But he did not give Barry Bonds anything, and there was nothing he could have given Barry Bonds."

Bonds, who has always maintained he never has tested positive for illegal drug use, is already under investigation for lying about steroid use.

A federal grand jury is investigating whether the 42-year-old Bonds perjured himself when he testified in 2003 in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroid distribution case that he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. The San Francisco Giants slugger told a 2003 federal grand jury that he believed his trainer Greg Anderson had provided him flaxseed oil and arthritic balm, not steroids.

Under baseball's amphetamines policy, which went into effect last season, players are not publicly identified for a first positive test. A second positive test for amphetamines results in a 25-game suspension. The first failed steroids test costs a player 50 games.

Bonds did not appeal the positive test, which made him subject to six drug tests by MLB over the next six months, according to the Daily News.

"We're not in a position to confirm or deny, obviously," MLB spokesman Rich Levin told the Daily News.

According to the newspaper, Sweeney learned of the Bonds' positive test from Gene Orza, chief operating officer of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Orza told Sweeney, the paper said, that he should remove any troublesome substances from his locker and should not share said substances. Sweeney said there was nothing of concern in his locker, according to the Daily News' sources.

An AP message for Sweeney was not immediately returned late Wednesday.

The Giants are still working to finalize complicated language in the slugger's $16 million, one-year contract for next season -- a process that has lasted almost a month since he agreed to the deal Dec. 7 on the last day of baseball's winter meetings.

The language still being negotiated concerns the left fielder's compliance with team rules, as well as what would happen if he were to be indicted or have other legal troubles.

Borris has declined to comment on the negotiations. He didn't immediately return a message from the AP on Wednesday night.

The 42-year-old Bonds is set to begin his 15th season with the Giants only 22 home runs shy of surpassing Hank Aaron's career record of 755.

Bonds, considered healthy again following offseason surgery on his troublesome left elbow, has spent 14 of his 21 big-league seasons with San Francisco and helped the Giants draw 3 million fans in all seven seasons at their waterfront ballpark.

After missing all but 14 games in 2005 following three operations on his right knee, Bonds batted .270 with 26 homers and 77 RBIs in 367 at-bats in 2006. He passed Babe Ruth to move into second place on the career home run list May 28.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2727325

This is definately some big news. We've had a few discussions regarding this issue.

[DravenX]

Looks like Bonds is always trying to find someone or something to blame it on.

[HollywoodLeo]

GiantsFan83? Anything?

[GiantsFanatic]

I'm confused, if he failed a test, then why wasn't he suspended? And why is it comming out right now? Doesn't it seem a little odd, because MLB didn't confirm it or deny it.

[HollywoodLeo]

I'm actually confused, myself, to be quite honest.

[GiantsFanatic]

Also if the original source is the NYdaily news I'm not buying them as credible source, because for one they did not name there source, also this is the same daily news who reported that Joe Torre was going to get fired, which he didn't.

[Fishercat]

*snore*

They're greenies/amphetamines. I don't care.

[Fishercat]

BTW, punishment for an amphetamine violation (first offense) is increased mandatory testing, at the second one is suspensions.

[Fishercat]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2224832

The source for punishment

[Kingdom]

Well, now he can steal Barry Zito's Flintstone Vitamins.

[GiantsFanatic]

Ok guys I'm confused, Amphetamine is not a steriod? But its a illegal substance that is banned from MLB?

[HollywoodLeo]

Can someone with more knowledge on the subject than I inform me of the difference between amphetamines and steroids?

I really am rather ignorant in regards to this.

[DravenX]

Amphetamine: A stimulating drug that affects the brain and the body in a variety of ways, also known by the trade name Benzedrine.

Amphetamine is just a type of Steroid?

[Fishercat]

Here is a quote

"...an anabolic steroid must first bind with a testosterone receptor in a muscle cell...the receptors then stimulate increased production of RNA...(which is utilized) to produce more protein, which is necessary for strength and muscle mass".

Testosterone (primary active ingredient in roids) acts directly in the muscle tissue and increases the speed in which muscle cells are produced.

Basically, it's an enabler that allows "longer, more frequent, heavy resistance workouts". Without the workouts, the results don't come. The same results could be achieved normally if not for the muscle breakdown which is opposed by the steroids.

On the other hand (mostly off the top of my head), amphetamines are known as stimulants, sort of like caffeine and speed. Namely, it allows people to be more aware, awake, and active when their body should be tired. Additionally, it can help with hand-eye coordination. They can cause crashes after the person comes down (think the pep pills from Saved by the Bell). It's more psychologically addictive since the people become dependant on the pills, or at least they think they are. It also decreases appetite (possibly becoming more "fit").

Unlike anabolic steroids, which likely started in the Olympics, amphetamines (or greenies) have been abused since the 1930's by soccer players, speed skaters, and other athletes. By the 60's, they were openly displayed in locker rooms and used by athletes like Willie Mays and Willie Stargell, among many many others (162 games is still a lot of working days in any sport).

Basically, as Jim Bouton said "Steroids make you better. Uppers [Amphetamines] just make you play up to your potential when you're hungover."

(Note, most of this information came from Carroll's "The Juice".

[GiantsFanatic]

Ok so then Amphetamine is not a steriod then? Or it is?