Barry Bonds is not on the juice.

First is his weight. When he started his major league career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he was listed at 185 pounds. Eighteen years later, Bonds' weighed in at 228 pounds. Steroids? That's 43 pounds over 18 years which works out to just over two pounds gained per year. A look at the Lounge's driver's license and his actual weight can tell you 43 pounds over 18 years is not a lot of weight to put on. One has to also consider the amount of time Bonds spends in the gym. Is it at all possible that hard work and the right diet have something to do with Barry's physique? The Lounge is sure he uses supplements, but so do many normal people. What do you think the multi-vitamin you take with your Crunch Berries is?

Second is the number of games played. A common side effect of steroid use is a person's body physically breaking down as person's skeletal system and connective tissue (ligaments, tendons) can't keep up with over-built muscles.

Bonds, on the other had, has been a virtual iron man. Granted, he has never played an entire 162-game schedule but he is one of the most durable players around. In 18 years he has played in, on average, 143 games per season. Throw out the highest and lowest numbers - 159 games in 1993 and 112 games in 1994 - and he is still averaging 143 games per season. In his record-breaking 2001 season, he missed a total of nine games. He missed 32 last season as a 39-year-old every-day player. Not bad.

Finally, the numbers everyone talks about - the home runs. When a player's numbers suddenly shoot up, people wonder. For example, take Ken Caminiti, the former Houston Astro and San Diego Padre, who won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1996 and is an admitted user of steroids. In 1996, Caminiti hit 40 home runs after having never hit more than 26 in any of his previous nine seasons. The most he hit after '96 was 29 in 1998.

Bonds, on the other hand, has averaged 36 homers a year during his 18-year career, hardly Ruthian numbers.

His production over the last four years (213 dingers) has been mind-blowing, so he must be on steroids, right?

Well, how about the dilution of pitching? How about Bonds' discipline at the plate? How about the fact that Barry seldom misses when he gets a pitch to hit? Add in the fact that the strike zone called by most umpires is barely bigger than the ball itself. Does it not benefit Barry to just sit on that one pitch that is basically going to be thrown right down the pipe and then whacked into McCovey Cove?

In his 18-year career, Bonds has hit 658 homers and is closing in on the all-time greats - Willie Mays (660), Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755). But forget the fact that he set the single-season record with 73 homers in 2001. Throw that out. You can also throw out the 16 he hit his rookie year. Without those 86 homers, Bonds has still swatted 572. If he plays another three more seasons and hits his average, he'd have 680 dingers.

Bonds has been linked to two of the four people indicted in the BALCO steroid scandal that was first reported by the San Mateo Daily Journal. Victor Conte, the lab's founder, and Greg Anderson, Bonds' long-time friend and weight trainer. That's the final puzzle piece for Bonds' involvement with steroids, right?

Wrong. Guilt by association doesn't usually go over well here in the United States. Besides, do you think Bonds would have talked openly about his involvement with two men who were suspected of illegal activity? Of course not.

The way Bonds has been locked in over his career, it should be painfully obvious that hard work, dedication and the right DNA make up - remember, his dad Bobby was one of baseball's all-time best lead-off hitters - are the keys to Bonds' success, not pharmaceutical help.

***

Speaking of Bonds, he was at Serra on Friday night for the West Catholic Athletic League game between Mitty and Serra.

The Lounge has to admit it was pretty surprised by the fan reaction. Bonds wasn't flanked by a bunch of bodyguard, but quietly sat along the baseline with his wife and daughter. Maybe the Serra "family" is blasé to having a person of Bonds' stature in their midst or maybe they had heard stories about a surly personality, but the Lounge didn't see anyone hound him for his autograph or go up to him and try to make conversation. They just allowed Bonds to sit back and enjoy the game.

The Serra gym might be one of the few places where he can actually do something in relative peace and quiet without getting mobbed by people.

To his credit, Bonds did shake some hands and chat with a few people on his way out after the game.

***

If there was ever an argument for the Peninsula Athletic League to go to a double round-robin league schedule, this season's finale was it.

In the PAL South Division, four boys' teams - Aragon, Burlingame, Menlo-Atherton and Woodside - all tied for first place with the same 10-2 record. Woodside swept M-A, but lost to both Aragon and Burlingame. M-A, however, beat both Aragon and Burlingame. So, which team gets the top seed in the PAL tournament and which team is going to the Central Coast Section playoffs as the PAL champion, which usually brings with it a higher seed?

These questions could have been answered if all the teams in the league played each other twice. M-A and Woodside ended up playing one more game (four) against the top teams than either Aragon or Burlingame did (three).

While there is no guarantee that each of these teams played each other twice that there would not be a four-way tie at the top, a few more games against each other might have shaken things out a bit and left one true champion standing at the end.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102. What do you think of this column? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com