Kruk: Bonds innocent until proved otherwise

His uniform usually was dirty, but unless beer and cheeseburgers count as performance-enhancing substances, three-time National League All-Star John Kruk says he played a clean 10-year career in the big leagues.

Kruk, a player for the then-Las Vegas Stars in the mid-1980s who retired from major league baseball in 1995 with a .300 batting average and 100 home runs, said the days of a pristine national pastime are gone for good.

"I want to see a clean game, but I know that will never happen again," said Kruk, a lead analyst on ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" who was in Las Vegas this week for a promotional event. "Players will always find a way to get around a drug test and to cheat the system.

"That's just the way it is. Players will always look for an advantage, legal or illegal."

Kruk, who led the Pacific Coast League with a .351 batting average for Las Vegas in 1985 and joined the San Diego Padres in 1986, said steroids were prevalent when he played.

"People ask me if I'm upset players were taking steroids and I wasn't, but I never looked at it that way," said Kruk, listed at 5 feet 10 inches and 205 pounds as a player. "I had the option to take them, get bigger and possibly hit more home runs and be a lot better player, but I didn't want to take that risk.

"Some guys did, and I hope it doesn't happen, but somewhere down the road they might pay for it."

Despite myriad allegations of steroid use surrounding new home run king Barry Bonds, Kruk said he isn't ready to condemn the Giants star.

"Until it's proven he's cheated, I'm not going to be the one to say I don't believe in the record and won't acknowledge it," Kruk said. "He admitted he unknowingly took steroids, and that's it. He's been drug-tested rigorously and has not ever been caught."

Kruk said his opinion will change if Bonds is proven to have been a habitual steroid user.

"Then I'll recognize Hank Aaron as the all-time home run leader. But until then, Barry Bonds is," said Kruk, who added that seeing Bonds break Aaron's mark was "just as special to me" as watching Aaron break Babe Ruth's record in 1974.

Kruk said he was most impressed by Bonds in 1986.

"He was unbelievable. When I was coming up, there were three guys who were going to be the best you'll ever see -- Barry, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez," he said. "They had a special sound come off their bat, and they did things on the baseball field players like myself couldn't even fathom doing.

"Great players would look at Barry and say, 'Oh, my goodness, this guy will be a freak when he figures it out.' "

Unless Bonds hits well more than 800 homers, Kruk said, Rodriguez "absolutely" should pass him as the career home run leader, provided he stays healthy. But he hopes A-Rod won't have to endure the same steroid allegations that have dogged Bonds.

"I just hope Alex doesn't have to answer the question 'Is he or isn't he on something?' every time he hits a home run," Kruk said.

"Anytime someone does great things they have to be on something?" Kruk said. "Hank Aaron and Willie Mays did it (naturally), so why can't A-Rod and Barry? A lot of people who say this stuff are 100 percent jealous of the talent they have, that's the biggest thing."