Giants’ Alou says Bonds will be fine

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Felipe Alou cares about Barry Bonds’ bat, not his ads.

The San Francisco Giants manager wasn’t bothered when a meeting between the commissioner’s office and a sponsor to discuss marketing Bonds’ pursuit of Hank Aaron’s home run record was called off following a report of the slugger’s grand jury testimony on steroids.

“Major League Baseball is a very powerful organization. But as long as nobody’s able to put Barry’s swing on hold – except for the pitchers that walk him – I don’t care about that,” Alou said Sunday at the winter meetings.

The seven-time MVP reportedly told a grand jury last year that he took substances that federal prosecutors say are steroids.

Bonds has 703 homers, trailing only Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714). Alou doesn’t think Bonds will be distracted by the discussion of steroids.

“His weapons, physical and mental, are above anything. I’ve never seen an individual player like that, and I’ve played with some of the greatest,” Alou said. “When he came back from the loss of his dad, he hit a big home run against Randy Johnson in his first game. So I don’t believe there’s anything that’s going to distract this guy. He is big enough to deal with this. The only way to deal with it is to continue to have monster years.”