Game of Shadows
Encyclopedia
Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports is a bestselling non-fiction book published on March 23, 2006 and written by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. When Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
released excerpts from the book on March 7, it generated considerable publicity because the book chronicles alleged extensive use of performance-enhancing drugs
Doping (sport)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...
, including several different types of steroids
Anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...
and growth hormones
Growth hormone treatment
Growth hormone treatment refers to the use of growth hormone in medical treatment. Growth hormone is a peptide hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that stimulates growth and cell reproduction. In the past, growth hormone was extracted from human pituitary glands. GH is now produced by...
, by San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
outfielder Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
.
Investigation
Fainaru-Wada and Williams conducted a two-year investigation centering on the BALCOBay Area Laboratory Co-operative
The Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative was an American company led by founder and owner Victor Conte, a former bass player for the soul band Tower of Power. In 2003, journalists Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada investigated the company's role in a drug sports scandal later referred to as the...
sports nutrition center, its founder Victor Conte
Victor Conte
Victor Conte is a former musician with Tower of Power and founder and president of BALCO, a sports nutrition center in California. He served time in prison in 2005 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering....
, and Greg Anderson
Greg Anderson (trainer)
Greg F. Anderson is a former personal trainer, best known for his work with Barry Bonds, and links with BALCO.-Early life:...
, who served as a personal trainer (and alleged steroid supplier) for Bonds, Gary Sheffield
Gary Sheffield
Gary Antonian Sheffield , nicknamed "Sheff", is an American retired Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for eight major league ball clubs from 1988 to 2009, primarily as an outfielder.-Biography:...
, and Jason Giambi
Jason Giambi
Jason Gilbert Giambi is an American professional baseball first baseman with the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball.He was the American League MVP in 2000 while with the Oakland Athletics, and is a five-time All-Star who has led the American League in walks four times, in on base percentage...
. In the book, the authors provide a summary of their sources, which include over 200 interviews that were conducted in the course of the investigation and over 1000 documents including affidavits from BALCO investigators and grand jury testimony. Based on their findings, Fainaru-Wada and Williams provide reasons that they believe Bonds and the other athletes decided to start taking steroids, and in some cases they provide detailed outlines of the specific steroid regimens set up by Anderson. Other athletes are implicated in the book, including Benito Santiago
Benito Santiago
Benito Santiago Rivera is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player. He played for twenty seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball from to , most notably for the San Diego Padres...
, track stars Marion Jones
Marion Jones
Marion Lois Jones , also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is a former world champion track and field athlete, and a former professional basketball player for Tulsa Shock in the WNBA...
and Tim Montgomery
Tim Montgomery
Timothy Montgomery is a former American athlete. In 2005, he was stripped of his records – including a now void 100m world record of 9.78 seconds set in 2002 – after being found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs...
, and NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
Bill Romanowski
Bill Romanowski
William Thomas "Bill" Romanowski is a former American football player. He was born in Vernon, Connecticut. A linebacker, he graduated from Rockville High School in 1984, Boston College in 1988 , and then went on to a 16-year career in the NFL, playing for the San Francisco 49ers , Philadelphia...
.
Allegations concerning Barry BondsBarry BondsBarry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
The book is among the most damaging accounts of reported steroid use by Bonds. According to the authors, Bonds began using stanozololStanozolol
Stanozolol, commonly sold under the name Winstrol , Tenabol and Winstrol Depot , was developed by Winthrop Laboratories in 1962...
, the same drug for which Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson (athlete)
Benjamin Sinclair "Ben" Johnson, CM , is a former sprinter from Canada, who enjoyed a high-profile career during most of the 1980s, winning two Olympic bronze medals and an Olympic gold, which was subsequently rescinded...
tested positive after winning the 100 meters at the 1988 Summer Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...
, starting in the 1999 season. By 2001, the year Bonds broke Mark McGwire
Mark McGwire
Mark David McGwire , nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball player who played his major league career with the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. He is currently the hitting coach for the St...
's single-season home run record with 73, he was alleged to be using the following performance-enhancers:
- "The creamThe cream"The cream" is a testosterone-based ointment that is used in conjunction with anabolic steroids such as tetrahydrogestrinone in order to mask doping in professional athletes....
and the clearTetrahydrogestrinoneTetrahydrogestrinone is an anabolic steroid developed by Patrick Arnold. It has affinity to the androgen receptor and the progesterone receptor, but not to the estrogen receptor...
," two designer steroids distributed by BALCO - Human growth hormone allegedly sold on the black market by cancer patients to whom it was legitimately prescribed
- InsulinInsulinInsulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
, which reportedly enhances the bodybuilding effects of growth hormone - Testosterone decanoate, a steroid often nicknamed "Mexican beans" or "Red beans"
- TrenboloneTrenboloneTrenbolone is a steroid used by veterinarians on livestock to increase muscle growth and appetite. To increase its effective half-life, trenbolone is not used in an unrefined form, but is rather administered as ester derivatives such as trenbolone acetate, trenbolone enanthate or trenbolone...
, a steroid typically used in livestock, especially cattle - Stanozolol, sold under the brand name Winstrol
The authors also allege that at other times he used:
- ClomidClomifeneClomifene or clomiphene or Clomid or Clomifert is a selective estrogen receptor modulator that increases production of gonadotropins by inhibiting negative feedback on the hypothalamus...
, a drug normally prescribed for infertilityInfertilityInfertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a person to contribute to conception. Infertility may also refer to the state of a woman who is unable to carry a pregnancy to full term...
used to restore serum testosterone levels following steroid supplementation - Deca-DurabolinNandroloneNandrolone is an anabolic steroid that may be present naturally in the human body, albeit in minute quantities of less than 0.4 ng/ml. Nandrolone is most commonly sold commercially as its decanoate ester and less commonly as a phenylpropionate ester...
, a common steroid used by bodybuilders - NorbolethoneNorbolethoneNorbolethone is an anabolic steroid. It was first developed in 1966 by Wyeth Laboratories, and tested for use as an agent to encourage weight gain and for the treatment of short stature, but was never marketed commercially because of fears that it might be toxic...
, a steroid developed for the meat industry in the 1960s, and tested for treatment of some conditions in humans, but never marketed because of doubts about its safety. This drug was the original foundation of "the clear," which was reformulated at least twice.
According to the book, Bonds was inspired to use steroids after watching McGwire's 1998 home run record chase with Sammy Sosa
Sammy Sosa
Samuel Peralta "Sammy" Sosa is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder. Sosa played with four Major League Baseball teams over his career which spanned from 1989-2007....
. He began working with Greg Anderson, who would later be hired by the Giants. Anderson reportedly received the substances at issue from BALCO. He also kept meticulous records of Bonds' program; the authors report that Anderson's records indicate that Bonds took up to 20 pills a day and learned to inject himself. The book also claimed that the Giants chose not to confront Bonds about his change in physical appearance, fearing that they would alienate their star slugger, or worse from the team's standpoint, create a drug scandal immediately before the opening of their new stadium
AT&T Park
AT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
.
Bonds sued the authors and publisher of the book over its use of grand jury documents and tried to block the publishers and authors from profiting from such documents. On March 24, Judge James Warren denied the request, citing free speech protections
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
for the authors and that the lawsuit had little chance for success. On June 12, 2006, Barry Bonds dropped his lawsuit against the authors. Michael Rains, Bonds’ attorney, stated that he dropped the lawsuit because the authors had been subpoenaed to be part of an investigation into who leaked the secret grand jury transcripts, which is what Bonds wanted all along.
On May 5, 2006, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams were subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury about how they obtained Barry Bonds' leaked grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
testimony. On May 31, 2006, the authors urged U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins
Martin Jenkins
Martin J. Jenkins is a justice of the California Court of Appeal for the First District, located in San Francisco, and a former federal judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.-Early life:...
of San Francisco to excuse them from testifying. This appeal was supported by affidavit
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...
s from Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist who, at The Washington Post, teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of...
and Mark Corallo
Mark Corallo
Mark Corallo is a political communications and public relations professional, who is currently the co-founder and co-principal of Corallo Comstock...
, a former press secretary to former Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
John Ashcroft
John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
. On August 15, 2006, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White ordered Fainaru-Wada and Williams to comply with their subpoenas and testify, lest they be held in contempt and incarcerated until such time as they decide to talk or if the grand jury term expires. They may also be freed from this obligation if a higher court blocks the ruling. The reporters have previously stated that they would rather go to jail than testify.
On December 21, 2006, Yahoo! Sports
Yahoo! Sports
Yahoo! Sports was launched on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from STATS, Inc., employs various writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American sport...
reported that one of Victor Conte's initial defense lawyers, Troy Ellerman, had been targeted by the FBI as a possible source of leaks to unspecified members of the media during the Barry Bonds probe.
On December 22, the Associated Press reported that the federal government filed papers on December 21 stating the two Chronicle reporters -- and authors of Game of Shadows -- should receive the maximum 18 months imprisonment for allegedly leaking grand jury information. On February 14, 2007, Ellerman pled guilty to leaking grand jury testimony. In the plea agreement, Ellerman will spend two years in jail and pay a $250,000 fine. The government also dropped their case against Williams and Fainaru-Wada.
Citation of Book (MLA Format)
Fainaru-Wada, Mark, , and Williams, Lance. Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports. New York, NY: Gotham Publishing, 2006.External links
- Official site accessed March 23, 2006
- "Book details Bonds' steroid regimen", ESPN.comESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, March 7, 2006 - The Truth About Barry Bonds and Steroids: Sports Illustrated, March 7, 2006, an excerpt from the book
- "Latest revelations seal the deal for Bonds' legacy", Gene WojciechowskiGene WojciechowskiGene Wojciechowski [woj-che-how-ski] is a sports writer, best known for his work with ESPN.Born in Salina, Kansas, Wojciechowski received a bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism from the University of Tennessee and began his career as a sports writer covering college football and...
, ESPN.com, March 7, 2006 - "Bonds unyielding before grand jury during BALCO steroid investigation", Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, San Francisco Chronicle, March 12, 2006
- Bonds book authors subpoenaed: CBC Sports, May 6, 2006
- Reporters challenge Bonds' leak subpoena: Boston.com, May 31, 2006