The story: Bonds tests positive for amphetamines, mentions Mark Sweeney's name.
The possible conversation between Gene Orza and Barry Bonds, according to....
A Bonds apologist:
Bonds: Amphibian.
Orza: Twelve-letter word for someone that can use both hands?
Bonds: Ambidextrous.
Orza: Name of a drug that rhymes with praletamines?
Bonds: I don't know.
Mark Sweeney: Amphetamines?
Bonds: Yeah, amphetamines.
Orza: You get that from Sweeney?
Bonds: Yes. Yes I did.
Orza: (turns off tape recorder) See you in Hell, rat fink.
Bonds: Wait, what?
Bonds: Tejada gave me the injection. I had arthritis. I thought it was ecstasy. Talk to my lawyers.
Orza: No, you tested positive for amphetamines.
Bonds: What? Man, that was Mike Sweeney's stuff. He was like, "Here, try this coffee," and was all winking and stuff. So I tried it, and I could taste the amphetamines right away, and I was all, "Yuck! Hey, Mike, that kind of thing is illegal, and I have half a mind to report you!", and he's all....
Orza: Wow. When did this happen? Was it in the Royals clubhouse, or yours?
Bonds: Royals?
Orza: Mike Sweeney's on the Royals. Did you mean your teammate Mark Sweeney?
Bonds: They're two different guys? Then, it was the guy on my team. He was all, "Hey, all the cool players are drinking this coffee," and I was all, "Listen, Mike or Mark. I am not into illegal substances. Period."
Bottom line, from the ESPN article:
THEN: The reason for doing so is to implicate Bonds in yet another scandal.
ERGO POST PROMPTER EX HOC: They have an anti-Bonds agenda that would also benefit from the suggestion that Bonds is a total rat fink who is willing to implicate anyone and everyone to exonerate him. Seriously. I promise I'm not an apologist, but it is far more likely that the leaker was doing it to further damage Bonds's credibility and not to be some Superhero J. Goodperson serving The Public's Right to Know. Those are the only two motives I can think of, and the first one - coupled with "unnamed sources" and shadowy implications of treachery - is so, so, so sketchy, especially when reported by those wacky New York papers.
WORTH NOTING: Bonds is kind of an ugly human being. It wouldn't surprise me if he were the type to throw other people under the bus. Remember the Seinfeld where George pushes his way past women, children, and Jon Favreau to escape a fire? That's what I'd expect from Bonds in a similar situation. Just so everyone knows I'm not disbelieving that it could happen, but that Occam's Razor could shave both ways on this one.