Bonds failed amphetamine test

[mets2k]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news

NEW YORK (AP) -- 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 always has maintained he never has tested positive for illegal drug use, already is 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, according to the Daily News, which made him subject to six drug tests by MLB over the next six months.

"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 still are working to finalize complicated language in Bonds' $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.

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.

[GerryInCS]

And in typical Barroid fashion he blames it on someone else. He's pathetic and his recent history is nothing more than punchlines for comeidans.

[MuffinMcFluffin]

Doesn't mean too much, as long as he doesn't fail any of the random drug tests in the next six months. They're nothing but painkillers after all. Legal or illegal, they are not steroids, and it doesn't hurt him in baseball (except for the policy... he's now had one offense).

[DiamondDave]

Once again..... you cannot believe Barroids at all.... I mean, c'mon... he must have a mental problem if he has a nasy habit of swallowing pills he finds or ingesting things that he has no clue what they are.... is he somehow one of those head-cases that swallows saftey pins, pens, thermometers???

This does not prove 'roids.... but it proves that he is not above activity against the rules of baseball

[GerryInCS]

Originally Posted by MuffinMcFluffin

Doesn't mean too much, as long as he doesn't fail any of the random drug tests in the next six months. They're nothing but painkillers after all. Legal or illegal, they are not steroids, and it doesn't hurt him in baseball (except for the policy... he's now had one offense).

Amphetamines are only legal if prescribed, otherwise they are not. Additonally, there are enough illegal amphetamines out there to choke a horse.

[Hellwig]

Bonds tries to get Sweeney out from under the bus after he threw him under the bus...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Barry Bonds came out publicly to make it clear his teammate and good friend Mark Sweeney had no involvement in the latest allegations against the San Francisco slugger.

He insists he didn't get any amphetamines from Sweeney. He also didn't deny using them.

According to a story in the New York Daily News, Bonds failed an amphetamines test last season -- and the newspaper reported that Bonds initially attributed it to a substance he had taken from Sweeney's locker.

"He is both my teammate and my friend," Bonds said in a statement Thursday. "He did not give me anything whatsoever and has nothing to do with this matter, contrary to recent reports.

Bonds apologizes to Sweeney for amphetamines controversy

[mets2k]

Sweeney says he never had amphetamines

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Mark Sweeney insists he never had any amphetamines in his locker for San Francisco teammate Barry Bonds to take.

Sweeney said Friday he was shocked to learn that Bonds apparently mentioned his name in connection with the slugger's failed amphetamines test last summer. The New York Daily News reported Thursday that Bonds failed the test and initially attributed it to a substance he took from Sweeney's locker.

"There was nothing I had for him to take or for me to give to him," Sweeney told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Sweeney moved forward after being told by Gene Orza, the union's chief operating officer, that his name had come up with a failed test for the stimulants. He wasn't informed of the player's name.

"That was kind of a shock," Sweeney said. "I heard my name was mentioned. I didn't know who mentioned it. I didn't know how or why. I was angered and hurt a little bit that however it came out someone didn't know the facts. That happens in all walks of life. ... It's more frustrating for my family. That's who I'm frustrated for. I've learned to deal with certain situations."

Sweeney said he was tested several times for amphetamines last season and has never failed any drug tests.

The 37-year-old Sweeney, heading into his second season with San Francisco and 13th year in the majors, batted .251 with five home runs and 37 RBIs last season.

He plans to discuss everything with Bonds at some point, probably during spring training. Sweeney said they chatted briefly about a week ago at a golf tournament at Torrey Pines.

[bedir than average]

Amphetimines aren't pain killers. they are uppers.