Former Arizona Diamondbacks Pitcher Admits to Steroid Use

June 7, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO — Former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jason Grimsley admitted using illegal performance-enhancing drugs and named other players who used banned substances, according to court documents filed by federal investigators.

Grimsley also told investigators that some players use amphetamines "like aspirin."

Grimsley's home in Scottsdale, Ariz., was raided Tuesday by federal agents searching for evidence of drug use, including records of sales, addresses and phone numbers, according to Internal Revenue Service Agent Mark Lessler.

Lesser would not say what agents found. Grimsley, who signed with the Diamondbacks on Dec. 22, has not been arrested and no charges are pending, Lessler said.

The search came weeks after Grimsley received two "kits" of human growth hormone at his home, according to documents filed May 31 in U.S. District Court in Phoenix. At that point, he was confronted by IRS agents, who are leading the steroid investigation, and agreed to cooperate.

In a two-hour interview with federal investigators on April 19, Grimsley named "several other Major League Baseball players by name whom he suspected of using anabolic steroids or human growth hormone," which are illegal under league rules. The names of those players were blacked out on the search-warrant affidavit, which was obtained Tuesday by The Arizona Republic newspaper.