In an interview with the New York Daily News, Gary Sheffield says that it was the failing health of Bobby Bonds that brought him into a close friendship with Barry. "No one ever said anything about this (but) Barry's father was dying then," Sheffield said. "I was being a friend. I was there for him through tough times. Regardless of what was going on around him, I stayed there as a friend, took the abuse because of being a friend." He paused then for a moment and shook his head. "I could have left Barry," he continued. "I could have let him just drown in his own blood. But I didn't. I'm not that kind of person....As a man, I have to take all these shots that everybody comes at me with the steroids because I was there for him. If people want to attack, go ahead because you don't know. You don't know what kind of friend I am, what kind of person I am."