Drugs in Sports

Barry Bonds will start in his fourteenth All-Star Game after a surprise eleventh-hour flurry of votes. The 42-year-old slugger beat out Alfonso Soriano for a slot in the NL lineup, after some highly publicized championing by San Francisco's clubhouse. More »

Yankees DH Jason Giambi acceded to a meeting with former Senate Majority Leader and steroids investigator George Mitchell, to discuss the power-hitter's possible use of performance-enhancing drugs. Giambi had initially balked at the official probe, but caved under pressure from Commissioner Bud Selig, who says the meeting will occur "promptly." More »

Sammy Sosa homered for the 600th time last night, becoming just the fifth man to hit the storied mark. As the Texas Ranger rounded the bases in Arlington, the theme from "The Natural" played and the scoreboard pictured the other men who've reached the milestone—Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays. More »

Texas owner Tom Hicks says he suspected slugger Juan Gonzalez had used steroids, judging from his body's early and expeditious breakdown. Hicks bemoaned his $24 million, two-year investment, which resulted in 152 games and 32 home runs during 2002-03. "We just gave that money away," he said. More »

Floyd Landis' doping hearing vaulted from procedural to lurid yesterday with an allegation of harassment and acknowledgment of sexual abuse by a fellow American Tour de France winner. In an attempt to keep Greg LeMond from taking the stand, Landis' manager phoned him on Wednesday and impersonated the uncle who had sexually abused the cycling champ as a child. More »

An ABC-ESPN poll found that just 37% of baseball fans want embattled Giants slugger Barry Bonds to break Hank Aaron's career home runs record of 755.  After 10 quick homers to start the season, Bonds just needs 11 more to tie. Fifty-two percent of fans said they would prefer not to see that happen. More »

As opening day dawns, expect another season of home-run antics in lieu of your dad's short-ball game. But J.C. Bradbury argues in the New York Times that it's talent dilution, not steroids, that's changed the game: When the league expanded in the 90s, so did the number of hittable pitchers. "It allowed elite players, especially hitters, to excel." More »

Crusaders against performance enhancing drugs should lighten up about Human Growth Hormone: In the sports version of the war on drugs, anabolic steroids are heroin and HGH is marijuana, writes Daniel Engber. Studies haven't shown any definitive increase in athletic abilities resulting from taking HGH, and they have minimal harmful side effects. More »