Rays/MLB

Stars lash back at latest doping accusations

By TIMES WIRES
Published October 2, 2006

Roger Clemens called the report "dangerous and malicious and reckless." Andy Pettitte insisted he never took banned drugs. Miguel Tejada said he is being smeared again.

Some of baseball's biggest stars responded with denials and denunciations Sunday after a Los Angeles Times report in which former pitcher Jason Grimsley accused five players of using performance-enhancing drugs, according to a federal agent's affidavit. The other players cited were Baltimore teammates Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons.

Grimsley once played with Clemens and Pettitte on the Yankees and is now out of baseball. The reliever has admitted using a variety of banned substances and was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball.

Clemens and Pettitte, now teammates on the Astros, denied the allegations Sunday.

"I just think it's incredibly dangerous to sit out there and just throw names out there," Clemens said. "I haven't seen (the report), nor do I need to see it. ...

"For the people involved it is very dangerous and malicious and reckless on the part of somebody ... to put something out there with somebody else's writing on it."

Clemens said he has been tested "plenty of times" and passed every test.

Pettitte said he was "stunned" by the report.

"I played with Grimsley for a couple of years in New York and had a great relationship with him," the pitcher said.

"I've never used any drugs to enhance my performance in baseball. I don't know what else to say except to say it's embarrassing my name would be out there."

In June, federal agents searched Grimsley's home in Arizona after the pitcher admitted using human growth hormone, steroids and amphetamines. Grimsley later was released by the Diamondbacks.

In a search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, the Los Angeles Times reported, he said Grimsley identified other players who had used drugs. Those names were blacked out when the document was released.

All major-league players are tested at least twice a year for banned drugs.

According to the affidavit, the newspaper said, Grimsley told investigators Clemens and Pettitte "used athletic performance-enhancing drugs."

The affidavit also alleged Grimsley told federal agents that Roberts, Gibbons and Tejada, all with the Orioles, "took anabolic steroids."

"What can I do? I spent one morning last year with Grimsley," Tejada said Sunday. "I mean, I already got thrown under the bus with Palmeiro. No, I don't worry about that."

Rafael Palmeiro was suspended last season for using steroids and suggested the positive test may have been the result of a vitamin B-12 shot Tejada gave him, which Tejada denied.

ALOU NOT BURNED OUT: Felipe Alou said he would like to stay in baseball after this season, even if he is no longer a manager.

The Giants are expected to announce as soon as today that Alou, whose contract is up, won't return for a fifth season.

"I know I will get offers," Alou said. "I don't know if I will get managerial offers. I believe I would consider some of those offers."

JOHNSON UPBEAT: Yankees left-hander Randy Johnson was optimistic after a bullpen session that he will start Game 3 of the playoffs Friday night.

Johnson, who has had a stiff back, threw 41 pitches in front of manager Joe Torre, pitching coach Ron Guidry and bullpen coach Joe Kerrigan.

"It was surprisingly good," Johnson said. "Everybody was more pleased than I was, so I guess that's a good thing."

CUBS OFFICIAL OUT: Andy MacPhail resigned as Cubs president and CEO after failing to get the team to the World Series during his 12-year tenure. "This is the first thing I've ever done in baseball that I didn't have a high level of success at," MacPhail said. The Cubs have made two playoff appearances since MacPhail joined in 1994.

[Last modified October 2, 2006, 02:14:52]