Barry Bonds doesn’t necessarily any regrets working with the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). Bonds answered reporter questions about the BALCO steroid investigation, the government case against him and his plans for the future after watching a game between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 28, 2012.
“Do I have any regrets? What happened happened. It’s there. It is what it is. I live with it,” said Bonds. “I’m a convicted felon for obstruction of justice, and that’s who I am. I live with it.”
Bonds admitted that he found it “heartbreaking” that he would never be able to forget about the toll that the government’s steroid trial had taken on him after giving his “life and soul” to the game of baseball.
Bonds made a point of telling reporters that he was “never convicted of steroids.” Bonds was only found guilty of “obstruction of justice” after the government failed to convince the jury that Bonds knowingly used steroids in order to obtain a conviction on perjury charges. While the feds tried to spin the conviction as a victory, they embarrassingly failed to prove Bonds lied about steroids.
Bonds expressed a desire to work in some capacity with the San Francisco Giants baseball organization. He met with Larry Baer, the President and CEO of the Giants, to discuss this possibility as part of his “personal services contract” with the team.
Bonds became the government’s number one enemy in its war on steroids during a federal investigation of BALCO. He testified that his trainer Greg Anderson provided a “clear” substance that he thought was flax seed oil and a “cream” he thought was an arthritis ointment.
“The Clear” and “the Cream” were actually anabolic steroids distributed by Victor Conte of BALCO. “The Clear” contained tétrahydrogestrinone (THG) and “the Cream” contained a transdermal formulation of testosterone and epitestosterone designed to avoid detection by testosterone:epitestosterone (T:E) ratio anti-doping screen.
The government believed that Bonds lied about his use of steroids. The feds spent the next several years and over $75 million dollars prosecuting Barry Bonds on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. Bonds was sentenced to a $4,000 fine and 30 days home confinement. He is currently appealing the conviction.
Bonds has never admitted knowingly using steroids or human growth hormone. He has never apologized for the use of steroids. And he has never explicitly displayed any regrets for his actions.
Source:
Associated Press. (May 29, 2012). Home run king Barry Bonds ‘convicted felon’ hopes to go to work for Giants in some capacity. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/home-run-king-barry-bonds-convicted-felon-hopes-to-go-to-work-for-giants-in-some-capacity/2012/05/28/gJQAs3oZxU_story.html
Haft, C. (May 28, 2012). Bonds hoping to help out with Giants. Retrieved from http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120528&content_id=32394586&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
