Game of Shadows (Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams)

The book Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams explores the use and abuse of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) within Major League Baseball (MLB). Published in 2006, the text exposes the rampant use of these substances by individuals, including record-setting players Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire in their race to set the single-season home run record. The authors also examine the relationship between the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) and MLB players.

Something was happening in the late 1990s into the early 2000s. MLB was faltering. It was still reeling from the longest players’ strike, which had ended in 1995. Attendance at games was low, and fan apathy was hurting revenue in the major ...