It was the early days of the BALCO steroids case, a pretrial hearing at the federal court building in San Francisco, all parties waiting outside the courtroom. BALCO founder Victor Conte chatted with friends and even joked with reporters, his casual demeanor in stark contrast to another defendant standing nearby.
Greg Anderson, the man known as Barry Bonds' longtime friend and personal trainer, wore an ill-fitting jacket, his dark hair spiked with gel. Despite his thick build, band upon band of muscle, he resembled nothing if not a deer caught in the headlights.
His attorney at the time, J. Tony Serra, spoke of him as "destroyed and depressed. He's in a state of shock."
Though he eventually pleaded guilty to distributing steroids and money laundering, receiving three months in prison and three months of home confinement, his troubles have only deepened two years later.
Prosecutors consider him a potential key to proving Bonds committed perjury by telling a grand jury he never knowingly used steroids. Anderson has refused to testify against the San Francisco Giants slugger, defiance that landed him back in prison last month.
Anderson, 40, has been released but could be confined a third time if he refuses to testify before a new grand jury that has taken up the Bonds investigation.
Walking out of court two weeks ago, Anderson once again declined to speak with reporters. Unlike co-defendants such as Conte, who relishes celebrity, and Remi Korchemny, a prominent track coach, he is trying to remain as low-profile as possible.
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When news of the BALCO scandal broke in September 2003, Will Flynt wanted to believe his former roommate and baseball teammate at Fort Hays State in Kansas was innocent. But Anderson's subsequent guilty plea hardly came as a shock.
As far back as the late 1980s, Flynt said, "there were rumors."
Anderson was a stocky infielder who could swing a bat, but he was slow, say former teammates and a coach. He was known for continually training.
"He got a custodian or someone to let him into the weight room after hours to get in another lift," former coach Steve Gillispie said in a 2004 interview.
Anderson was team captain his senior year because of his work ethic and good grades. Former first baseman Todd Windholz remembered him counseling younger players about eating healthy and not staying out late. Some teammates thought he took his physical regimen too far.
