Yankee Slugger's Name Emerges in Steroid Case

FEBRUARY 17--Barry Bonds's personal trainer admitted to federal investigators that he gave steroids to "several" baseball players, and two other central figures in the drug probe confessed that their San Francisco laboratory illegally distributed steroids to "numerous professional athletes," according to court records unsealed today.

The bombshell admissions from Greg Anderson, Bonds's trainer, and two officials from BALCO, the San Francisco lab at the center of the steroid investigation, are contained in search warrant affidavits filed last September in U.S. District Court in San Jose.

In a September 3 affidavit sworn by IRS agent Jeff Novitzky (filed in support of a search of Anderson's home), BALCO executives Victor Conte and James Valente are said to have copped to their roles in the steroid distribution ring, and implicated Anderson in the drug conspiracy. A second IRS affidavit, filed in connection with a "follow-up" September 5 search warrant application for Anderson's computers, states that after Anderson initially denied "distributing" steroids, he subsequently admitted giving "steroids to several professional baseball players."

While the names of most athletes were redacted, the identity of one baseball player is contained in one of the IRS affidavits--and the disclosure will probably upset New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

An IRS examination of BALCO's trash turned up outfielder Gary Sheffield's name on a February 2003 Federal Express receipt addressed to the lab (Sheffield was an off-season acquisition by the Yankees). According to press reports, Sheffield, who played last year for the Atlanta Braves, was one of several athletes to testify before the federal grand jury that subsequently indicted Anderson, Conte, Valente, and Olympic coach Remi Korchemny. (12 pages)