For the second time in 2004, former Pirates/Cardinals OF Andy Van Slyke has taken the opportunity to bury Barry Bonds. From the Conta Costa Times’ Joe Roderick :

“Yeah, he knew what he was doing,” Van Slyke said. “Just like Jeff Gordon knows what gas he puts in his car. There’s no difference.”

Bonds and Van Slyke parted ways after the 1992 season, after playing together for six years. Bonds signed with the Giants in 1993 while Van Slyke remained with the Pirates. Van Slyke watched his once-skinny teammate get noticeably muscular over the years.

“When you see a change in that manner, it didn’t seem normal to me,” Van Slyke said. “I think when a player in his late 30s does things Barry has done when the history of game says it can’t be done and you see physical change, I think everybody comes to their own conclusions, even without evidence.

“It’s like the Scott Peterson (trial). The circumstantial evidence is enough to prove him guilty. I think the evidence was enough to prove that people’s assumptions of Barry were correct.”