Part 2 of Jim Gray’s exclusive interview with Barry Bonds airs tonight on Countdown with Keith Olbermann at 8pm ET. Transcript highlights follow…

ON SUSPICION THAT HE BROKE HANK AARON’S HOME RUN RECORD BY USING ILLEGAL STEROIDS:
GRAY: And to those who believe that you have unfairly obtained this record through the use of performance enhancing drugs, what would your response to them be?

BONDS: That’s not true and it’s not right and it’s not fair to me. It’s not fair to me, it’s not true. It’s not fair.

GRAY: Do you think in some ways you are taking the brunt and you’re being unfairly singled out for the entire industry and the problems they have had?

BONDS: I truly believe I have been singled out definitely, 100%.

* * *

GRAY: Your closest friend Greg Anderson is in prison right now being held on contempt of court charges for failing to answer questions in your perjury investigation, should Greg be in jail?

BONDS: No, nope and I feel bad for him.

GRAY: Would you want him to answer these questions?

BONDS: I have no idea about anything. All I know is that Greg Anderson is my friend and Greg Anderson said that he never did anything to me and I believe him.

* * *

GRAY: In light of the fact that you have said on numerous occasions that you have never knowingly used steroids. How do you explain that you got better with time, when father time seems to catch up with everyone, and peoples’ careers go down with age, your production levels increased.

BONDS: Hank Aaron’s production increased as he got older, Alex Rodriguez’ productions increasing as he’s getting older, and mine ain’t really gone down yet. Think about it. I don’t think it’s fair to say that I made any statements that, one that is in the courts that is not, that you’re not exactly reading the whole entire statement, I don’t think it’s fair to make that statement, you’re saying something that I have said that I know that I have not said.

GRAY: And that would be knowingly.

BONDS: Unknowingly, ha, it’s not even in my vocabulary

GRAY: Let me just say it so that everybody knows it, the knowingly comes from what has been reportedly leaked of the grand jury testimony.

BONDS: That’s not even in my vocabulary. I just don’t think it’s fair.

* * *

BONDS ON HIS DEPARTURE FROM THE GIANTS:
GRAY: What are you going to do next year?

BONDS: I don’t know. Go to work I guess. I started training already. I’m running the stairs a little bit. I’m starting to work out again. But Jim, it’s going to have to be a right situation for me so I’m going to work out as though I’m going to go back to work.

GRAY: Will you retire as a Giant?

BONDS: Oh hell yeah, it’s my house, no matter what, that’s my house, no one’s going to take that away, no one ever, no one’s going to take the love of that city of me away ever.

* * *

GRAY: How do you feel the Giants handled your departure in telling you that you would no longer be a part of their franchise?

BONDS: Oh wow. I felt how it was handled, I was disappointed in the way it was handled. And what I mean by that is that San Francisco are not my fans. San Francisco is my family and I felt that…they took away our time to enjoy, you know what I’m saying? Our time to enjoy. I think we deserved more than that.

* * *

GRAY: If you don’t play next year, do you believe it will be because the next franchise or whoever might hire you will not want to hear the constant steroid allegations, and all of the other baggage that signing Barry Bonds would bring?

BONDS: I don’t, you know what Jim, and I’m glad that you brought that up because I don’t bring baggage to a team. I’ve never brought any baggage to a team. I’ve brought my baseball bag, but I don’t bring any baggage, I go on the field and I play.

GRAY: But it’s the image and the perception and you know you’re going to have to deal with that.

BONDS: Yes, my image isn’t the best of all times, I believe it’s like Ali would say, mine isn’t the best of all times, his was the best of all times, but that was my downfall Jim, I didn’t want that lifestyle, I wanted to go to work, and I wanted to go home and I wanted to be with my friends.

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