Giants slugger Barry Bonds failed a test under Major League Baseball’s amphetamine policy last season, but he didn’t accept it as his fault. When first informed about the positive test, Bonds blamed it to a substance he had taken from teammate Mark Sweeney’s locker.
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 with 734 career home runs is just 21 shy of Hank Aaron’s Major League record of 755, is still under investigation for allegedly committing perjury before a grand jury in 2003 that was investigating a federal break-in at the headquarters of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). During the hearing, Bonds reportedly told the grand jury that he had never knowingly used steroids.
Barry Bonds
Bonds was not punished for his transgression, but instead was referred to treatment and counseling. While amphetamines are considered performance-enhancing drugs, they are treated differently than steroids under baseball’s drug policy. If Bonds prove guilty for this act he may not be able to play this season.