Baseball's Steroid Era

The Mitchell Report

• REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER OF BASEBALL OF AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO THE ILLEGAL USE OF STEROIDS AND OTHER PERFORMANCE ENHANCING SUBSTANCES BY PLAYERS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL (pdf)
  By George Mitchell - MLB - December 13, 2007
  The two and a half year study was released to great controversy.

Articles (13)

• Hitting the mark: FBI informants say McGwire was juiced
  By Michael O'Keefe, Christian Red, T.J. Quinn - New York Daily News - Mar. 12, 2005
  FBI led Operation Equine was a landmark anabolic steroids investigation that led to 70 trafficking convictions in the early 1990s. Two dealers caught in the operation told the Daily News that Curtis Wenzlaff provided Canseco and McGwire, among others, with illegal anabolic steroids. One informant in the case says Wenzlaff injected McGwire at a gym in Southern California on several occasions, and supplied advanced cocktails of performance-enhancing drugs.
• Gen XXL
  By Jeff Bradley - ESPN - April 2000
  In what seems to be the first large scale media implication of steroid use in Major League Baseball, Jeff Bradley described how a his brother Scott was tempted to try using steroids when a teammate suggested they might help him in 1990 or 1991. The unnamed player reportedly said "There are things available now that weren't available when I played. With all the money at stake in the game today, I know I'd be looking for any edge I could find.. I'd definitely be taking steroids." Bradley reportedly never used steroids and was out of baseball by 1993.
• GUESSING THE SCORE: OPEN SECRET - Steroid Suspicions Abound In Major League Dugouts
  By James C. McKinley Jr. - New York Times - Oct. 11, 2000
  Very early special report about steroid use claims Manny Alexander's name was on the envelope containing the steroids found in his car in the June 2000 arrest of Carlos Cowart.
• Team Thought it was Protected by Broader Language
  By ESPN NEWS SERVICES - ESPN - Feb. 15, 2005
  ESPN report about the Yankees having removed all mentions of steroids from Jason Giambi's contract in 2001. The club protests it was protected by 'broader language' referencing 'controlled substances' instead of steroids.
• Between the Seams: Dykstra Accused of Using Steroids
  By The Associated Press - Seattle Times - Apr. 25, 2005
  Lindsay Jones, a longtime friend and business partner, is suing Dykstra to regain an interest in their lucrative Southern California car wash business. In the lawsuit, Jones alleges Dykstra used steroids and advised him to gamble an average of $2,000 per game on select Phillies contests in 1993. The suit contained a sworn statement from a Florida bodybuilder and convicted drug dealer, Jeff Scott who said Dykstra paid him $20,000 plus "special perks" during their eight-year association to "bulk up" the leadoff hitter.
• Who Knew? ESPN Special Report
  By Shaun Assael and Peter Keating - ESPN - Nov. 2005
  In depth report covers all aspects of the steroid era with close attention to players such as Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Ken Caminti, Rico Brogna, and Wally Joyner.
• BAG MEN. Gonzalez & trainer linked to 2001 steroid probe
  By Michael O'Keefe, Christian Red, T.J. Quinn - New York Daily News - July 30, 2006
  Gonzalez' trainer, Angel Presinal was questioned by Canadian police when he picked up an unmarked bag containing anabolic steroids and Clenbuterol in 2001. He told the police that the bag belonged to Gonzalez, then with the Indians. He later said that he confronted Gonzalez about what had happened to which Gonzalez said he would take care of everything.
From BALCO
• Bonds Used Steroids in 2003, Trainer Says on Secret Recording
  By Lance Williams & Mark Fainaru-Wada - San Francisco Chronicle - October 16, 2004
  The 'illegally obtained' tape recording of Greg Anderson describing Bonds' use of steroids. Anderson also describes how he knows when the testing will be for Bonds and that what he was taking was completely undetectable in a drug test.
• What Bonds told BALCO grand jury
  By Mark Fainaru-Wada & Lance Williams - San Francisco Chronicle - Dec. 3, 2004
  The infamous leaked grand jury testimony. The article states that Bonds admitted to using steroids unknowingly, believing what he was taking was flax seed oil (the Clear) and an Arthritis balm (the Cream). 'When he said it was flaxseed oil, I just said, 'Whatever.'' The article also says three former giants admitted to getting steroids from Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson, and how the Giambis (who later admitted to using steroids) were 'drawn to Anderson because of Bonds' success.'
• Sheffield's Side: Bonds told him to use The Cream and The Clear, saying, 'Don't ask any questions, just trust me'
  By Mark Fainaru-Wada & Lance Williams - San Francisco Chronicle - Dec. 3, 2004
  The infamous leaked grand jury transcripts. The transcript says Sheffield admits to using 'the Cream' and 'the Clear' without knowing they were steroids. He claimed Bonds told him to use 'the cream' and 'the clear,' saying, 'Don't ask any questions, just trust me.' The article also quotes Sheffield describing a strange relationship between he and Bonds while working out together before the 2001 season.
• Steroid Affidavits Implicate Trainer
  By Mark Fainaru-Wada & Lance Williams - San Francisco Chronicle - Dec. 3, 2004
  The infamous leaked grand jury transcripts. Agents found what the affidavit characterizes as a trove of evidence of drug dealing: "steroids, syringes and other paraphernalia"; $60,000 in cash; and files containing names of pro athletes, along with calendars appearing to note "daily doses of steroids and growth hormones."
• Doping Scandal Swirls at Feet of a Giant: Bonds' Former Girlfriend Testifies
  By Mark Fainaru-Wada & Lance Williams - San Francisco Chronicle - Mar. 20, 2005
  Kimberly Bell testified for two hours about Bonds use of steroids, tax evasion etc. She says in 2000 Bonds confided in her that he had been using steroids. She had witnessed some physical manifestations but no actual drugs. She also testified that he had given her large sums of money tax-free.
• Prosecutors Can't Keep a Secret in Steroid Case
  By Adam Liptak - New York Times - June 23, 2006
  The Justice Department, using Adobe's web-standard PDF format to publish court documents, failed to properly black out sections the public was not supposed to see. The computer-generated filing system used an flawed method of redacting evidenciary portions. As a result, the redacted portions could be easily read by copying them into a word processing program. The document contains the government's evidence and reasoning as to why Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada should be exempt from divulging their source of the BALCO court documents to the grand jury. Published were excerpts from an e-mail correspondance between BALCO founder Victor Conte and Fainaru-Wada discussing specific details of athletes' grand jury testimony.

Court Documents - Affidavits, Indictments etc. (7)

• IRS CI Division: Memorandum of Interview with Victor Conte (PDF)
  By Jeff Novitzky - The Smoking Gun - Sept. 3, 2003
  In Novitzky's summation of his interview with Conte following the raid of BALCO laboratories, Conte identifiies 27 athletes who received illegal steroids--known as "the clear" and "the cream"--from his firm. Included on that roster were baseball players like Bonds, Gary Sheffield, and Jason Giambi, and track and field stars Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones.
• IRS CI Division: Memorandum of Interview with Greg Anderson (PDF)
  By Jeff Novitzky - The Smoking Gun - Sept. 3, 2003
  Bonds's personal trainer, who admitted giving "a small amount of steroids to people" and providing some athletes with testosterone and hGH. Anderson denied, however, giving steroids to Bonds, a childhood friend. The interview abruptly ended after agents searching Anderson's home discovered file folders labeled with the names of professional baseball players and containing apparent "details of steroid administration." When confronted with the folders, one of which carried Bonds' name, Anderson "stated that he didn't think he should be talking anymore because he didn't want to go to jail,"
• IRS CI Division: Memorandum of Interview with James Valente (PDF)
  By Jeff Novitzky - The Smoking Gun - Sept. 3, 2003
  In Novitzky's summation of his interview with Valente following the raid of BALCO laboratories, Valente also told federal agents that Bonds received steroids, noting that the San Francisco Giant "does not like how 'the clear' makes him feel." In addition, Valente told agents that Giambi once tested positive for steroids.
• Declaration of Tawny Julie Finley in Divorce Case Regarding Chuck Finley (PDF)
  By Tawny Julie Finley - The Smoking Gun - Apr. 2, 2002
  Tawny Finley, in a declaration to California's Superior court, claims her husband, Chuck Finley, used steroids amongst other drugs. She even details that Finley bought the steroids from a man named "Rob" from Mission Viejo, and that she has seen him inject himself. She also claims he bragged about being able to circumvent MLB's testing policy.
• Affidavit In Support of Search Warrant for Jason Grimsley (PDF)
  By Jeff Novitzky - ESPN - June 7, 2006
  The search warrant for the Arizona home of Jason Grimsley, who admitted using performance enhancing drugs and gave investigators the names of current and former major league players who have also used steroids and hGH. He began cooperating with agents, including head BALCO investigator Jeff Novitzky, after he accepted a $3200 shipment of hGH at his Scottsdale residence on April 19 from an undercover agent. These names of the players contained in the document had previously been redacted. An LA Times report from October 2006 publishing what they believed to be the redacted names proved almost completely false.
• Barry Bonds Indictment for Perjury and Obstruction of Justice (PDF)
  By Jeff Novitzky - San Francisco Chronicle - Nov. 15, 2007
  The full document charging Barry Bonds with four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. The indictment cites 19 statements Bonds made that the government will attempt to prove were perjurious.
• Roger Clemens Defamation Suit Against Brian McNamee (PDF)
  By Rusty Hardin and Associates, P.C. - ESPN - Jan. 08, 2007
  Clemens' civil suit against McNamee cites nearly every statement he made in the Mitchell Report regarding Clemens as "absolutely false and defamatory." The suit asks for damages to be decided in a trial by jury.

Transcripts (4)

• David Segui's Interview with ESPN's Jeremy Schaap
  By David Segui and Jeremy Schaap - ESPN - July 3, 2005
  David Segui appeared on ESPN's Off the Record just days after the Jason Grimsley story broke. Segui admitted being one of the names redacted in the IRS affidavit regarding Jason Grimsley. Segui claims he was taking HGH legally, as prescribed by a doctor, though he never told MLB.
• The Greg Anderson Wiretap Transcript
  By Greg Anderson and acquaintance - SF Chronicle/Game of Shadows - Sept. 3, 2003
  The 'illegally obtained' wiretap of Barry Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson, describing his steroid experience, his knowledge of MLB's testing policy, and specifically Bonds' steroid use. This article contains all the published parts of Anderson's voice from the telephone recording made by an acquaintance in the spring of 2003. The excerpts are in approximate chronological order.
• Roger Clemens on 60 Minutes
  By Roger Clemens and Mike Wallace - 60 Minutes - Jan. 6, 2008
  Clemens' long-awaited first interview since being implicated in the Mitchell report reaffirming his position that he never used performance enhancing drugs. Clemens admitted to getting injections from former trainer Brian McNamee, but instead of anabolic steroids or human growth hormone, Clemens said they were the painkiller Lidocane, and vitamin B12.
• Roger Clemens Recorded Phone Call with Brian McNamee
  By Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee - Jan. 8, 2008
  Clemens unveiled the taped conversation at his press conference following his 60 Minutes interview. The sometimes emotional call lasted 17 minutes, was full of drama, but proved little if anything. Clemens sounded as if he knew he was being recorded (he did) and McNamee souded like he was sorry for what he had done, but maintained that he did "what (he) thought was right.".

Books (3)

• Game of Shadows
  By Lance Williams & Mark Fainaru-Wada - Gotham Books - March 23, 2006
  The two San Fransisco Chronicle reporters privy to the BALCO transcripts and court documents published a book outlining the entire BALCO scandal. In it they described the laboratory's supply of 'undetecable designer' steroids (including The Cream and The Clear) to track and field athletes, football players and baseball players. Famous athletes such as Marion Jones, Tim Montgommery, Bill Romanowski, Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi had intimate details of their steroid use published. The reporters are now facing jail time for failing to reveal the source of the BALCO documents.
• Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big
  By Jose Canseco - Harper Collins - Feb. 1, 2005
  Ken Caminiti had already admitted his steroid use to Sports Illustrated, but it was Canseco's book that opened the flood gates. Canseco claimed to have educated and personally injected many players including Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez and Mark McGwire. Canseco described himself as a steroid guru, unabashedly championing steroid use as means to greater production as well as the fountain of youth. It was his book that ultimately led to the congressional hearings.
• Juicing the Game
  By Howard Bryant - Plume Books - July 7, 2005
  Bryant's book is about vastly more than just steroids. It is a pervasive critique of how the sport has changed over the past decade. After baseball was derailed by a bitter strike in 1994, team owners searched for ways to bring fans back into the stadiums. The incredible increase in home runs over the next few seasons offered such a motivation, and Bryant accuses managers and owners of actively ignoring the open secret of steroid use to keep sluggers like McGwire and Canseco in action. Bud Selig, who had the "moral authority" to invoke a stiffer steroids policy waited until he was forced into action by the US government. Bryant also considers how the rules were applied differently to favor hitters over pitchers, and details the intense battle between umpires and league administrators over attempts to reform the shrinking strike zone.