Say It Ain't So!

As first reported by the New York Daily News, Barry Bonds failed a drug test last season. Major League Baseball does not hand out any punishment the first time a player tests positive for amphetamines, but a second failed test would saddle Bonds with a 25-game suspension.

Bonds contends that he failed due to a supplement taken from the locker of teammate Mark Sweeney, a move that recalls Rafael Palmeiro passing the blame to Miguel Tejada upon testing positive for steroids. Bonds says that he was unaware of the contents of the supplement, and apparently, he's dumber than I originally thought. Bonds expects us to believe that he, the most scutinized player in baseball's steroid controversy, would risk testing positive for a banned substance by ingesting a supplement without knowing its contents. And while Bonds has never been much of a clubhouse guy, I have to question the logic behind throwing a current teammate under the bus. Palmeiro was already on his way out of Baltimore when he blamed Tejada, but Bonds has stirred the pot in a clubhouse that he'll be in for the rest of the season. Finally, why haven't we heard whether Sweeney has tested positive for amphetamines? This supplement was allegedly in his locker, after all.

The cloud of suspicion continues to grow over Bonds. He opens the 2007 season just 21 home runs shy of Hank Aaron's 755, and not many want to see him get there. Personally, I think he'll still make it, but the chance that he'll miss significant time due to injury or suspension seems to be growing.

UPDATE: Bonds says he did not get amphetamines from Mark Sweeney.