Bonds' trainer had syringe, friend says

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds looked at the witness stand with a blank expression as a childhood friend and former business partner described how in 2000 the slugger walked into the master bedroom at his spring training home along with trainer Greg Anderson, who had a syringe with a needle. A few minutes later, they walked out.

Steve Hoskins testified in federal court yesterday that he never saw Anderson inject Bonds. The question for the jury will be whether Hoskins' description, which the defense challenged later, is a path toward convicting Bonds of lying when he told a grand jury in 2003 he never knowingly took steroids.

Hoskins gave the first dramatic testimony in the trial of the home-run king, who faces four counts of making false statements and one count of obstruction. Hoskins said he saw Bonds and a needle-bearing Anderson enter a bedroom once or twice each spring training for three straight years starting in 2000.

Hoskins said Bonds asked him to inquire about the effects of the steroid Winstrol in 1999, at around the time Bonds had elbow surgery. Hoskins said he went to Dr. Arthur Ting and brought information to Bonds.

This was the period when Bonds noticeably bulked up and began posting unprecedented power numbers for the Giants. He hit a season-record 73 home runs in 2001 en route to a career-record 762.

Hoskins said Bonds' body changed during this period; prosecutors allege the cause was steroids. "His shoe size just got bigger," he said. "His glove size and his body weight changed."

Hoskins said Bonds became angry in 2002 because "Greg would not give Barry a shot. Barry just said that if Greg wouldn't give him the shot, he'd give it to himself."