Seedy side of baseball seen

Be careful who you let inside your clubhouse.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Imagine Barry Bonds’ trainer scurrying across the clubhouse to bring the star a snack, then sitting down to play cards before a game. Now picture Bonds’ former trainer smuggling illegal steroids into the San Francisco locker room.

Bit players among the major leaguers, they can be the ones who bring down the famous.

Kirk Radomski and Brian McNamee now, Howie Spira and Chef Curt then.

Until recently, members of Bonds’ entourage had their run of the Giants’ clubhouse with nearly the same privileges as the players themselves. Some even got their own lockers right next to No. 25.

But that setup was far from the exception.

Back in the mid-1980s, former Philadelphia Phillies caterer Curtis Strong and six men were convicted of distributing cocaine to players in what became known as the Pittsburgh drug trials. The clubhouse regular known as “Chef Curt” served jail time in an episode that exposed a seedy side of baseball.

Much of the damning evidence in this month’s Mitchell Report came from Radomski, a former Mets clubhouse attendant, and McNamee, a personal trainer who worked with Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.

George Mitchell himself acknowledges there probably were plenty more just like them.

Not to mention the occasional sketchy salesman allowed in the clubhouse by players to hawk cars, jewelry, electronics, shoes or other equipment.

The testimony of men like Radomski and McNamee threw a shadow of suspicion around top names, and what they told investigators could contribute to costing players the Hall of Fame.

A pair of interviews by Mitchell’s staff with former Giants athletic trainer Stan Conte revealed the problem Bonds’ former trainer, Greg Anderson, caused in the clubhouse, along with the movement of performance-enhancing drugs into locker rooms in the Bay Area.

The report said that in San Francisco, Conte told general manager Brian Sabean in 2002 that a player had come to him with questions because he was considering buying steroids from Anderson. Longtime equipment manager Mike Murphy discovered syringes in the locker of catcher Benito Santiago, it said.

The report, the culmination of a 20-month investigation into steroids and drug use in baseball, said Conte went to Sabean early on to say he wanted Anderson and others like him removed from the locker room. Sabean wasn’t willing to do it.

Bonds’ trainers, including Harvey Shields and Greg Oliver, were employees of the Giants but primarily worked with Bonds. They could roam around the clubhouse, into the players’ cafeteria and go into the training room.

Some players acknowledged being uncomfortable with their presence at times.

Radomski told Mitchell’s staff he sold performance-enhancing drugs to players.

McNamee worked for the Toronto Blue Jays and later the Yankees when Clemens pitched for them. McNamee, who was a strength coach, said he personally injecting Clemens with steroids several times, according to the report.

McNamee also told the Mitchell panel he injected Pettitte with HGH in 2002. Pettitte admitted he twice used HGH then to recover from an elbow injury — the substance wasn’t banned by baseball until January 2006.

Baseball has had its share of problems in the clubhouse for decades.

On Feb. 28, 1986, Joaquin Andujar, Dale Berra, Enos Cabell, Keith Hernandez, Al Holland, Lee Lacy, Jeff Leonard, Dave Parker, Lonnie Smith, Lary Sorensen and Claudell Washington were suspended for drug use, based on testimony from the 1985 trial of Strong.

The penalties — some for 60 days, others for a year — allowed the players to stay in the game if they donated to drug-prevention programs, performed community service and, in some cases, submitted to random drug testing.

In 1990, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was suspended by then-commissioner Fay Vincent after paying $40,000 to Spira. Steinbrenner paid Spira for information designed to discredit Dave Winfield; Spira had ties to Winfield’s agent and often was in the locker room as a freelance radio reporter.

In May 1992, trainer Curtis Wenzlaff was arrested for steroids distribution. He later publicly admitted to helping Jose Canseco and 20 to 30 other major leaguers obtain steroids, but refused to discuss another former client, Mark McGwire.