MAJOR LEAGUE SCANDAL Indians’ Byrd, Reds’ Stanton only current Ohio pros revealed

CLEVELAND (AP) — Indians pitcher Paul Byrd and Cincinnati reliever Mike Stanton were among those named Thursday in the Mitchell Report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

They were the only current players from the Indians and Reds named in report.

Byrd acknowledged taking Human Growth Hormone after the San Francisco Chronicle reported he spent nearly $25,000 on the banned drug and syringes from 2002-05. The 37-year-old claims he was taking it for a medical condition. The revelation came the morning of Game 7 of the AL championship series in Boston.

The Mitchell Report didn’t provide any new information on Byrd except to say that neither Mitchell nor his investigative staff had knowledge of allegations against the right-hander before the newspaper report.

He has not yet met with Major League Baseball to discuss his use of the drug and could face a possible suspension.

Byrd was 15-8 with a 4.59 ERA in 31 starts during the regular season and won two playoff games for Cleveland. It was his highest win total since 2002, when he was with Kansas City. The Indians last month picked up his $7.5 million club option for 2008.

The allegation against Stanton comes from former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, who said he twice sold him HGH in 2003 while Stanton was with the Mets, the report stated.

Stanton, 40, joined the Reds as a free agent and struggled much of last season, going 1-3 with a 5.93 ERA in 69 games, with no saves. The left-hander is signed through next season by the Reds.

The report said Stanton declined an invitation to meet during the investigation to discuss the allegations.

During his 18-year major league career, Stanton has pitched for Atlanta, Boston, Texas, the Yankees, the Mets, Washington and San Francisco.

The Reds declined immediate comment.

Indians president Paul Dolan released a statement applauding baseball commissioner Bud Selig’s assertion that he will clean up the sport.

“Our organization has been committed to eliminating the use of performance enhancing substances from the game of baseball,” Dolan said. “We have fully supported the adoption and implementation of the Major League Baseball and Major League Baseball Players Association Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, and will continue to educate our players of the dangers of performance enhancing substances.”

Byrd held a news conference on Oct. 21 at Fenway Park, where he said he was taking HGH for a pituitary tumor. He wouldn’t elaborate on his condition and would not answer questions about whether he still was taking the drug.

He strongly denied hiding his use of HGH, banned by baseball in 2005. The newspaper reported Byrd made his final purchase of HGH a week before the ban began.

Byrd said baseball officials knew he had been taking the drug, but baseball officials said they were unaware of Byrd’s use of HGH.

Former Indians catcher Tim Laker told Mitchell investigators he used steroids and acknowledged four transactions with Radomski involving Deca-Durabolin and testosterone beginning in 1995 when he played for Montreal.

Laker, who made his managerial debut last season with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, told investigators he was convinced it would improve his performance and stopped taking them in 2000, a year before he joined the Indians.

Laker is now a roving catching instructor for the Indians’ minor league system.

Other former Indians linked to performance-enhancing substances when they weren’t with the club are outfielders David Justice, Glenallen Hill, Chad Allen and Mark Carreon; pitchers John Rocker, Kent Mercker, Steve Woodard, Jason Grimsley and Ron Villone; and infielders David Segui, David Bell and Matt Williams.

The report also said that former Reds first baseman Hal Morris allegedly bought steroids from Radomski in 1999 while Morris was with the Reds and near the end of his career. Morris played 10 seasons for the Reds, the last in 2000.

The report states that Morris, through his attorney, denied any use of steroids during his major league career.

Among other former Reds linked in the report to use of performance-enhancing substances when they weren’t with the club are outfielder Jose Guillen, catcher Benito Santiago, infielder Mike Bell and pitchers Ryan Franklin, Josias Manzanillo, Denny Neagle, Scott Schoeneweis, Ricky Stone, Todd Williams, Mercker and Villone.

The report also notes that former Reds catcher Ryan Jorgenson, who played in four games with the team last season before being sent back to Triple-A, was suspended for 50 games in September under Major League Baseball’s drug program. The announcement at the time did not cite a failed drug test, leaving it unclear why he was suspended, and the Mitchell report said only that it was based on “non-analytic evidence” that he violated the program.

The report accuses Major League Baseball of missing warning signs of steroid use and mentions several instances, including one involving former Indians outfielder Juan Gonzalez.

On Oct. 4, 2001, Canadian border officials at Toronto’s airport found steroids and syringes in an unmarked bag that came from Gonzalez’s entourage.

Gonzalez denied knowledge about the bag’s contents to a customs officer and Toronto police and claimed he sent it to be included in the team’s luggage at the request of his personal trainer, Angel Presinal.

Presinal told law enforcement he packed the steroids and helped administer them to Gonzalez. When interviewed this year by the Mitchell investigation, Presinal denied he made such a statement.

The case was reported to the Major League Baseball’s commissioner’s office but was not investigated.