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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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Yankees star says he wasn't aware of cream's contents
Mercury News
New York Yankees star Gary Sheffield said he unwittingly took steroids that came from Balco Laboratories, according to a story in this week's Sports Illustrated that also details the outfielder's falling out with Barry Bonds. Sheffield's admission brings the Balco drug scandal back to the forefront of baseball as the playoffs begin today. The Yankees open their American League series against the Minnesota Twins. Sheffield, a most valuable player candidate, said he worked with Balco and Bonds' training team before the 2002 season at the behest of the Giants star. He described Bonds as controlling -- a characterization that gives insight into one of baseball's greatest, and most reticent, players. Sheffield's Balco lawyer, Paula Kay Canny, on Monday confirmed the soured relationship as described in the article. Sheffield told the magazine: ``I never wished anything bad on'' Bonds. ``I want him to achieve what he wants to achieve, but what I want more is that his life gets right. That he can have compassion for other people.'' Giants officials declined to comment. Bonds' lawyer, Michael Rains, said the criticism of his client was surprising. ``That's a bit of a cheap shot,'' Rains told the Mercury News. ``I have to question the timing.'' Sheffield is one of at least 12 baseball players, including Bonds and Yankees star Jason Giambi, implicated in the Balco scandal. He is the first in baseball to acknowledge using drugs from Balco, a Burlingame nutrition company. Sheffield, 35, said he told a federal grand jury in December that he used a substance identified as `cream'' to heal leg wounds. ``It was like a cortisone to heal these wounds,'' he said he told the grand jury. Sheffield told Sports Illustrated it was something he expected to find in a store. ``That's what was in my thoughts,'' he said. ``I put it on my legs and thought nothing of it. I kept it in my locker. The trainer saw my cream.'' A transcript of Sheffield's grand jury testimony has not been released. Canny, who advised Sheffield before he testified, has not seen the contents of the statements but told the Mercury News, ``Gary Sheffield has never knowingly ingested an illegal substance.'' ``I don't know what it was Gary put on his leg,'' she said. ``It looked like cream rinse; I'm not even sure it was illegal at the time.'' Sheffield said he was not told of the ointment's contents. He said he used it before and during the 2002 season when he played for the Atlanta Braves. He said he was surprised to learn in news reports last year that ``cream'' and ``clear'' were designer steroids. The cream was a testosterone-epitestosterone concoction applied to the arms. While track and field and the Olympics were in the spotlight this summer, questions about baseball players' involvement with Balco were muted. But the baseball players' union is trying to stop the government from retesting a number of samples seized in April during a raid of a Las Vegas laboratory that had handled the league's fledgling drug-testing program. The samples have been stored at UCLA's facility until the issue is resolved in federal court. Presumably, the government wants to retest samples of players who testified before the grand jury to corroborate their statements. Sheffield's connection to Balco began when Bonds invited him from Tampa, Fla., to the Bay Area a few weeks before the 2002 season. Sheffield said Bonds told him, ``I got guys here, they can get your urine and blood and prescribe a vitamin specifically for your blood type and what your body needs.'' Sheffield said Bonds introduced him to Balco owner Victor Conte Jr., the chief co-defendant in the case. He also met trainer Greg Anderson, another Balco defendant. Sheffield said he only met Conte once and worked through Anderson. ``The only thing Greg Anderson does is what Barry tells him to do,'' Sheffield said. ``Barry ran everything. If I'm training and if he sees Greg making me do one curl too many, it's an argument. ``So I knew Greg was a puppet. All these guys around were puppets.'' Sheffield told Sports Illustrated that the support-team members confided that they disliked how Bonds treated them. Sheffield also had problems with Bonds -- a rift seemingly stemming from two strong egos. Bonds insisted that Sheffield stay at his house and not rent a car. Bonds also would not let Sheffield pay for anything. ``I'm not a child,'' Sheffield said. ``I make $11 million. I can buy what I want.'' Sheffield said he was incensed when Bonds left him stranded at the house and he had to find a way to the gym one time. Sheffield is one of 27 athletes who used the testosterone cream and designer steroid THG, according to an Internal Revenue Service agent's report of his interview with Conte. Sheffield told Sports Illustrated that he did not know if Bonds used any illegal drugs. ``This is from a guy with inside knowledge of Barry's training and people, and he has no basis of knowledge that Barry ever took illegal substances,'' Rains told the Mercury News. ``This is confirmation of what we have been saying all along.'' Sheffield was dogged by steroid questions throughout spring training this year because of his testimony in the Balco case. A reporter challenged Sheffield to accompany him to a laboratory after the player had responded to a steroid question by saying: ``You get a pee cup, I'll pee. You get a needle or syringe, I'll give you blood.'' Sheffield later said the players' union wouldn't let him get tested. In a July interview with the New York Daily News, Sheffield used Houston pitcher Roger Clemens as an example of an athlete who isn't scrutinized about his training. ``I can tell you one thing, and I'm not accusing him of anything, but I bet you he's not just drinking soda water . . . and that's what I got a problem with,'' Sheffield said. ``What's good for one is good for another, but it don't always work that way.'' Sheffield hit .307 in 2002 after training with Bonds, but with 25 home runs and 84 RBIs had one of his worst seasons. Signed as a free agent by the Yankees for a $39 million, three-year contract, Sheffield batted .290 with 36 home runs and 121 RBIs to help the Yankees reach postseason play |
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