MLB begins probe
Baseball began its investigation Thursday into alleged steroid use by Barry Bonds and others, and the head of the inquiry immediately came under attack because of his close ties to the sport.
In the wake of a searing book (“Game of Shadows”) about Bonds, commissioner Bud Selig appointed former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell – and currently a director of the Boston Red Sox – to lead the investigation.
The probe initially will be limited to events since September 2002, when the sport banned performance-enhancing drugs, but Mitchell has the authority to expand it.
Selig said Mitchell’s report will be made public but didn’t set a timetable. By then, Bonds may well have passed Babe Ruth’s home-run mark on the way toward Hank Aaron’s all-time record.
At San Francisco’s home ballpark, Bonds wouldn’t discuss the matter.
“I said no, no, no,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m going to jump off the Empire State Building – flat on my face,” he added, laughing.
Mitchell said he will not resign his position with the Red Sox. He also is chairman of The Walt Disney Co., the parent of ESPN, a national broadcast partner of baseball.
“I don’t think there’s any conflict,” Mitchell said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “I’m going to be independent, have complete independent authority and will act.”
•BALCO founder Victor Conte, speaking to the AP outside his San Mateo, Calif., home hours after his release from prison, insisted that he never gave performance-enhancing drugs to Barry Bonds and that “Game of Shadows” is “full of outright lies.”
Conte spent four months in prison after pleading guilty to orchestrating an illegal steroids distribution scheme that allegedly involved many high-profile athletes, including Bonds.
Asked whether he gave Bonds performance-enhancing drugs, Conte said: “No, I did not.
“I plan to provide evidence in the near future to prove that much of what is written in the book is untrue,” Conte said.
He declined to list specific inaccuracies or what evidence he would provide, but said the book is “about the character assassination of Barry Bonds and myself.”
Mariners earn split
Kenji Johjima hit a solo home run and three relievers combined for six innings of three-hit pitching as a Seattle Mariners split squad defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 at Las Vegas.
Seattle’s Richie Sexson went 2 for 3 with a run batted in. Second pitcher Francisco Cruceta earned the win.
Earlier, Josh Barfield went 4 for 4 and scored twice as San Diego defeated Seattle’s split squad 8-2 at Peoria, Ariz.
Seattle used only a handful of regulars.
Joel Pineiro (0-2) allowed seven runs and 10 hits in his final spring start. He’s scheduled to start Tuesday night at Seattle against the Los Angeles Angels.
•The Mariners traded infielder Cody Ransom to Houston for cash considerations Thursday. Ransom, 30, was 7 for 32 during the spring before Seattle assigned him to its minor league camp.
Tension for Bensons
Anna Benson wants a divorce from Baltimore pitcher Kris Benson, who still thinks the New York Mets traded him because of his impulsive wife.
Anna Benson, an actress and model, filed for divorce in Atlanta. The petition for divorce claims the seven-year marriage is “irretrievably broken.”
Kris Benson initially protested the deal that sent him to the Orioles. But he said in a recent interview in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that he thinks the Mets did him a favor.
Brewers will be short Sheets
Milwaukee ace Ben Sheets will begin the season on the disabled list.
Sheets, who strained a muscle in his upper back in a spring training game March 9, was placed on the 15-day disabled list. The move was retroactive to March 24 and he will be eligible to come off the disabled list on April 8.
Sheets, who missed the last month of last season because of an injury to a different back muscle, threw about 60 pitches in a simulated game on Tuesday in Phoenix.
Clearing the bases
Former Mariners pitcher Ryan Franklin was sent to the bullpen as Gavin Floyd’s outstanding spring earned him a spot in Philadelphia’s starting rotation. … Boston reliever Julian Tavarez was suspended for 10 days and fined for his role in a brawl against Tampa Bay on Monday. … Adam Eaton could be out of Texas’ rotation for one to three months with a strained tendon in the middle finger on his pitching hand. … Kansas City traded utilityman Joe McEwing to Houston for a player to be named.