MESSIN' WITH THE SOBS.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

Somebody has to say this about the major-leaguers linked in various ways to muscle-building drugs. A lot of them are SOBs.

That is, they're sons of ballplayers. Why, what did you think I meant?

When Gary Matthews Jr.'s twice-famous name popped up in a federal investiga-

tion recently, the Angels center fielder became at least the sixth second- and third-gene-

ration major-leaguer implicated one way or another -- deservedly or not -- in baseball's ongoing scandal.

Without calculating the actual percentages this represents, I think we can say a half-dozen is a lot, especially if you always imagined ballplayer sons being raised to have such heightened respect for the game that seeking an unearned edge would be out of the question.

Bobby Bonds' son Barry heads the list, of course. He's followed by Bob Boone's boy Bret, Buddy Bell's son David and Jerry Hairston's kid JerryJr.

Those three are not only sons but grandsons and brothers of major- leaguers -- and Hairston also is the nephew of a major-leaguer. Then there's Diego Segui's son David, since retired from the game.

Making no assumption about anybody's guilt or innocence, but guessing there's something to at least some of these charges, the question is whether this is a coincidence.

In Vero Beach, Fla., with the Dodgers last week, I sought the wisdom of baseball people. None of them thought it was a coincidence. This week, I phoned a pioneering sports psychologist. He didn't think it was a coincidence.

Dr. Thomas Tutko imagines sons reacting to expectations to live up to their fathers' sports legacies.

"They (sons of ballplayers) carry an additional burden, trying to overcome the pressures their fathers put on them, even if the fathers do it unintentionally," Tutko said from his San Francisco BayArea home.

"The father may have trained them to play ball, but the father didn't prepare them for the psychological pressures."

Barry Bonds' relationship with Bobby Bonds was famously rocky from childhood until the latter's death in 2003. Among other things, Barry resented the fact that all the way through college, his baseball success was viewed as the inevitable result of gene power.

The pop psychologist in me sees why any son of a famous baseball father might regard those pro-athlete genes as a blessing and a curse.

Heredity gives him a leg up but also defines the limit of his athletic potential.

How to improve on nature except unnaturally? So hand over the needle.

"Barry Bonds represents the model for the others," Tutko theorized, "because he outdid his father (as a player). That's rare."

It's not just about father-and-son psychology. It could involve sibling rivalry, too.

On top of Bret Boone (brother of Aaron), David Bell (Mike) and Jerry Hairston Jr. (Scott), brothers in arms -- 20-inch arms -- include no less than Jose Canseco and Jason Giambi. Their brothers Ozzie and Jeremy also were implicated.

And don't forget, Mark McGwire's brother Dan was a Seattle Seahawks quarterback.

I guess you can find examples to back up any theory on a thing like this, but looking beyond the white lines, there are a few cases of famous people's children taking the coarser course to prominence. Nathaniel Benchley wrote children's books, his son Robert Benchley wrote witty criticisms -- and his son Peter Benchley wrote "Jaws." George H.W. Bush went to war but preferred diplomacy -- George W. Bush went to war and can't stop. The Hiltons trade in hotel rooms -- Paris Hilton ought to get one.

Heightened respect for the game? When Jerry Hairston Jr. was reported in 2004 to have received performance- enhancing drugs, his denial included a reference to his baseball heritage.

"I would never do anything like that to jeopardize my career," Hairston was quoted saying, "or my family's name."

Maybe it's like this for the ballplayer son of a ballplayer: He's a kid going into the family business (say it with a "Sopranos" accent, and this line of thinking sounds even better).

His view of the sport is less romantic than other people's. He knows how hard it is to make a go of this line of work.

That knowledge, mixed with the pressure to live up to his name, can produce a potent concoction. Perhaps an illegal one.

"It's easy to cast aspersions (at abusers of steroids and human growth hormone)," said Tutko, the sports psychologist. "It's harder to be sympathetic."

Harder indeed. Maybe they're some other kind of SOB.

heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com

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Barry Bonds is just one of several second- and third- generation ballplayers linked with banned substances.

Stephen Dunn/Associated Press