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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Kent weighs in on Bonds, steroids

Associated Press

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jeff Kent isn’t shocked that San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds is the focus of baseball’s steroid scandal.

“I won’t get into specifics, but in general, I’m not surprised,” Kent said when asked what he thought about Bonds’ acknowledging, during grand jury testimony last year, that he used a substance he didn’t know contained steroids.

“It’s embarrassing that we’ve come to this point, where we have grand jury testimony coming out as evidence against some players,” added Kent, Bonds’ teammate for six seasons with the Giants.

“I think we all know that there was a problem, but I think we were all hesitant because we didn’t know the real truth about the issue at hand — the steroid issue.”

Kent made his remarks Thursday, after a press conference in which his free-agent signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers was announced.

Bonds’ testimony last year in the investigation of a steroid-distribution ring was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle. The story came out one day after New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi’s testimony to that same grand jury was reported by the Chronicle.

Kent believes the steroid scandal is dragging baseball down.

“It’s sad to see that there are still accusations and investigations. The integrity of the game has been hurt by this, and it’s embarrassing to me as a player,” said Kent, the 2000 N.L. MVP.

“This has been going on too long,” Kent said. “They didn’t fix it right the first time, and I’m hoping they fix it right this time. It’s sad to see that some families are keeping their kids away from the game because the guys are cheating.”