On an otherwise ordinary
night, over an otherwise ordinary meal, Griffey, Bonds, a rep from
an athletic apparel company and two other associates chatted
informally about the upcoming season. With Griffey’s framed
memorabilia as a backdrop, and Mark McGwire’s obliteration of the
single-season home run record a fresh memory, Bonds spoke up as he
never had before. He sounded neither angry nor agitated, simply
frustrated. "You know what," he said. "I had a
helluva season last year, and nobody gave a crap. Nobody. As much
as I’ve complained about McGwire and Canseco and all of the bull
with steroids, I’m tired of fighting it. I turn 35 this year. I’ve
got three or four good seasons left, and I wanna get paid. I’m
just gonna start using some hard-core stuff, and hopefully it
won’t hurt my body. Then I’ll get out of the game and be done with
it."