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Giants coaches contacted in probe

SAN FRANCISCO -- Members of the San Francisco Giants' coaching staff have been contacted by former Sen. George Mitchell in his independent investigation of steroids in baseball.

"I understand some guys were supposed to (talk to him)," Giants manager Felipe Alou told The Associated Press on Monday. "That's all I know. That is very personal. I don't ask these guys."

Several people within Major League Baseball confirmed that coaches on Alou's staff had heard from Mitchell. They spoke on condition of anonymity after being asked not to discuss the investigation publicly. Harvey Shields, one of Giants slugger Barry Bonds' personal trainers, who works for the team, also was being sought by Mitchell.

The former Senate majority leader was appointed in March by commissioner Bud Selig to head the league's investigation into steroids in the sport.

Bonds, second on the career home run list behind Hank Aaron, is among the players being investigated.

Alou said he had not yet been contacted by Mitchell, "but I probably will."

A Giants spokesman said the entire coaching staff declined to comment about Mitchell's investigation because Major League Baseball asked teams not to discuss the subject publicly to protect the integrity of the probe.

Selig has said he was prompted to launch an investigation in part by the spring release of the book "Game of Shadows," by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters who detailed Bonds' alleged use of steroids, insulin and human growth hormone.

There is no timetable for completing the investigation.

Authors Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada wrote that Bonds started using steroids because he was jealous of the attention paid to Mark McGwire's home run race with Sammy Sosa in 1998.

The 41-year-old Bonds, who passed Babe Ruth with his 715th career home run last month, has always denied using steroids of any other performance-enhancing drugs -- insisting everything he has accomplished is a product of natural talent and hard work.