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NEW YORK - As the New York Yankees made their successful 2000 World Series run, Roger Clemens was visited at home up to six times by his trainer to get steroid injections in his buttocks, a report said today.
That portrayal of steroid use, denied by Clemens, was among the goings-on that surrounded performance-enhancing drug use over nearly 20 years detailed in the Mitchell Report on steroids in baseball released this morning (NZ time).
Compiled by former US Sen. George Mitchell, the report is particularly exhaustive in its details about the use of steroids and Human Growth Hormone by Clemens, widely considered one of the greatest pitchers in history.
It details Clemens' relationship with trainer and strength coach Brian McNamee, who gave the injections to Clemens from 1998 to 2001 because "he was not able to inject himself."
McNamee told investigators he assumed Clemens used steroids and HGH during the second half of the six-month long baseball season so he would not tire, but the two did not discuss the issue directly.
But Clemens denied allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs and is outraged that his name is included in the report, his lawyer said in a statement on Thursday, saying the star "is being slandered today."
The report showed that the pressure to perform and to use steroids carried all the way down to baseball's minor leagues.
A former strength and conditioning coach for the Albuquerque Dukes -- then the top farm team for the Los Angeles Dodgers -- told investigators that he and five players that hoped to make the top team met at one of their apartments to use steroids together.
The report also showed steroid deals carried out among Major League Baseball players. According to Kurt Radomski, a former clubhouse attendant for New York Mets, six-time all-star Kevin Brown sent him envelopes of cash, sometimes as much as US$10,000, via overnight mail to pay for HGH.
Still, the taint was not on the players alone. Mitchell's report also laid some of the blame at management's feet and there is evidence throughout his report that team officials were aware of steroid use.
For instance, the report published notes from a meeting of Los Angeles Dodgers officials in October 2003, discussing catcher Paul Lo Duca's dwindling production.
He "got off the steroids," the notes said, which "took away a lot of hard line drives."
"If you do trade him, (he) will get back on the stuff and try to show you he can have a good year."
- REUTERS
