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Snow Has Different Read
-Chris Snow, Globe Staff, March 9, 2006
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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- To the best of J.T. Snow's knowledge, no major league player has spent more seasons as a teammate of Barry Bonds than he did. For nine seasons, 1997-2005, Snow and Bonds dressed in the same clubhouse and played on the same diamond.
''Did I ever see him use steroids?" Snow said yesterday, standing inside the Red Sox' clubhouse at City of Palms Park, a day after new and more detailed allegations against Bonds came to light. ''No. Did his body change over the nine years I was there? Yes."
Significantly?
''You could say significantly," Snow said. ''I don't know what he did in his own time and what his workout regimen was. I know he's a hard worker. But I really don't know [if he used steroids]. He's never come out and said it. Only he knows what he's done."
Snow and Sox outfielder Dustan Mohr, who also played with Bonds in San Francisco, both wondered yesterday why San Francisco Chronicle writers Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams have chosen to detail Bonds's alleged steroid use in a book (''Game of Shadows") rather than publish their findings in the newspaper.
''It's basically a witch hunt," Snow said. ''They're trying to nail him. These guys are obviously trying to bring him down or make a buck off their book. But I can't sit here and say what he did and what he didn't do."
Snow expects Bonds to handle this situation much like he did the initial round of allegations in 2004. In March 2004, the Chronicle linked Bonds to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, better known as BALCO, which, according to the paper, furnished Bonds with steroids. Bonds nonetheless went out and hit .362 with 45 home runs as the National League's Most Valuable Player.
''He'll probably just brush it off and keep playing," Snow said. ''He'll just let it roll off his back."
Asked if he intends to read the book, which is scheduled for publication March 27, Snow said, ''No. I don't need to. Any time you play with someone that long -- I've been in clubhouses with him, I've been on airplanes with him, I've been in hotels. I don't need to read. But I don't know what he's done on his time, away from the park."
Bonds, of course, is nearing the precipice of baseball's most hallowed record. With 708 career home runs, he needs six to tie Babe Ruth for second all time and 47 to reach Hank Aaron's all-time mark of 755.
Does Snow think Bonds can do it? ''I do," he said. ''There's no doubt I think he can do it."
Will he? ''If he holds up," Snow said. ''His knee's bothering him. I think his knee's pretty bad. It's bone on bone.
''It's up to him if he wants to. He knows himself better than anybody. He's going to play when he wants to play and not play when he doesn't want to play. He's going to try to get himself through the season."
In Bonds's pursuit of baseball's ultimate record, Snow said, ''I think there'll be mixed reactions. Whether you like it or not there is a cloud over his head because there is suspicion. But I don't think anything's been proven. And I think it's kind of sad to see it like that, celebrating a historic accomplishment like that. He hasn't turned up positive."
Mixed publicity, Snow said, has long followed Bonds. ''We went through it when he hit 73 home runs that year," Snow said. ''I've always said he's the first guy to get booed and the first guy to get cheered. People come out, they want to see the big stars, they want to see a guy hit a home run. People want to tear him down and at the same time they want him to go up there and hit home runs. I saw it for nine years.
''When he gets closer to Ruth and if he gets close to Aaron he'll be scrutinized pretty heavily."
Snow, to this day, considers it a privilege to have watched Bonds daily in 2001, when he homered once every 6.5 at-bats.
''It was amazing," Snow said. ''If he didn't play in Pac Bell Park I thought he would have hit about 85 home runs, no problem. It's deep. It's 421 [feet] in deep right-center."
What Bonds won't do, Snow said, is walk away. Not now, anyhow.
''I don't think so," Snow said. ''I think he'll decide after the year."
Provided, of course, that these allegations don't fell him.
''He's innocent until proven guilty, I guess," Snow said.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
-Chris Snow, Globe Staff, March 9, 2006
boston globe link (sign-up required)
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- To the best of J.T. Snow's knowledge, no major league player has spent more seasons as a teammate of Barry Bonds than he did. For nine seasons, 1997-2005, Snow and Bonds dressed in the same clubhouse and played on the same diamond.
''Did I ever see him use steroids?" Snow said yesterday, standing inside the Red Sox' clubhouse at City of Palms Park, a day after new and more detailed allegations against Bonds came to light. ''No. Did his body change over the nine years I was there? Yes."
Significantly?
''You could say significantly," Snow said. ''I don't know what he did in his own time and what his workout regimen was. I know he's a hard worker. But I really don't know [if he used steroids]. He's never come out and said it. Only he knows what he's done."
Snow and Sox outfielder Dustan Mohr, who also played with Bonds in San Francisco, both wondered yesterday why San Francisco Chronicle writers Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams have chosen to detail Bonds's alleged steroid use in a book (''Game of Shadows") rather than publish their findings in the newspaper.
''It's basically a witch hunt," Snow said. ''They're trying to nail him. These guys are obviously trying to bring him down or make a buck off their book. But I can't sit here and say what he did and what he didn't do."
Snow expects Bonds to handle this situation much like he did the initial round of allegations in 2004. In March 2004, the Chronicle linked Bonds to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, better known as BALCO, which, according to the paper, furnished Bonds with steroids. Bonds nonetheless went out and hit .362 with 45 home runs as the National League's Most Valuable Player.
''He'll probably just brush it off and keep playing," Snow said. ''He'll just let it roll off his back."
Asked if he intends to read the book, which is scheduled for publication March 27, Snow said, ''No. I don't need to. Any time you play with someone that long -- I've been in clubhouses with him, I've been on airplanes with him, I've been in hotels. I don't need to read. But I don't know what he's done on his time, away from the park."
Bonds, of course, is nearing the precipice of baseball's most hallowed record. With 708 career home runs, he needs six to tie Babe Ruth for second all time and 47 to reach Hank Aaron's all-time mark of 755.
Does Snow think Bonds can do it? ''I do," he said. ''There's no doubt I think he can do it."
Will he? ''If he holds up," Snow said. ''His knee's bothering him. I think his knee's pretty bad. It's bone on bone.
''It's up to him if he wants to. He knows himself better than anybody. He's going to play when he wants to play and not play when he doesn't want to play. He's going to try to get himself through the season."
In Bonds's pursuit of baseball's ultimate record, Snow said, ''I think there'll be mixed reactions. Whether you like it or not there is a cloud over his head because there is suspicion. But I don't think anything's been proven. And I think it's kind of sad to see it like that, celebrating a historic accomplishment like that. He hasn't turned up positive."
Mixed publicity, Snow said, has long followed Bonds. ''We went through it when he hit 73 home runs that year," Snow said. ''I've always said he's the first guy to get booed and the first guy to get cheered. People come out, they want to see the big stars, they want to see a guy hit a home run. People want to tear him down and at the same time they want him to go up there and hit home runs. I saw it for nine years.
''When he gets closer to Ruth and if he gets close to Aaron he'll be scrutinized pretty heavily."
Snow, to this day, considers it a privilege to have watched Bonds daily in 2001, when he homered once every 6.5 at-bats.
''It was amazing," Snow said. ''If he didn't play in Pac Bell Park I thought he would have hit about 85 home runs, no problem. It's deep. It's 421 [feet] in deep right-center."
What Bonds won't do, Snow said, is walk away. Not now, anyhow.
''I don't think so," Snow said. ''I think he'll decide after the year."
Provided, of course, that these allegations don't fell him.
''He's innocent until proven guilty, I guess," Snow said.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
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