ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.–Blue Jays third baseman Troy Glaus almost certainly will be forced to defend his name and major-league career now that he has been linked to steroids, his teammates say.
A report surfaced on SI.com yesterday regarding an investigation into a Florida pharmacy that was alleged to have illegally distributed performance-enhancing drugs to pro athletes, Glaus among them.
"You never want to think someone has done something like that, you just don't judge people like that, but Troy will have to deal with everything ... with his name being brought into this," Jays centre fielder Vernon Wells said yesterday.
The Sports Illustrated report involved a year-long investigation into Florida-based Signature Pharmacy, which is alleged to have mailed shipments of testosterone and nandrolone between September 2003 and May 2004 to a Corona, Calif., address linked to Glaus. At the time, he was a member of the Anaheim Angels and in rehab from season-ending shoulder surgery.
Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice-president of labour relations, said the league has requested meetings with Glaus and the Cardinals' Rick Ankiel.
The St. Louis slugger was said to have received shipments of human growth hormone (HGH) in a separate report yesterday.
Neither Glaus nor Ankiel are accused of taking the illegal substances they are alleged to have received. Ankiel, according to yesterday's report, stopped receiving the HGH shipments in 2005, just before baseball banned the substance.
Recent examples indicate the pair could be in for a rough ride.
In the wake of the recent U.S. Senate investigation into steroid use, former major-league slugger Mark McGwire all but disappeared behind a gated community in California.
And inclusion in the Hall of Fame for both McGwire, who pleaded the Fifth Ammendment when summoned to testify, and Rafael Palmiero, the former Baltimore Oriole whose steroid use was alleged in a book by Jose Canseco, is jeopardized.
Active players linked to steroid use, such as Jason Giambi and Sammy Sosa, face daily ridicule from fans almost every time they step to the plate for an at-bat.
Yesterday, Glaus pulled out minutes before a press conference he was to attend regarding the SI.com report.
A team spokesman said Glaus was uncomfortable with making a statement at this time.
Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi, reached at his home outside Boston, and manager John Gibbons refused comment on Glaus, the 2002 World Series MVP.
Jays president and CEO Paul Godfrey released a statement saying "the accusations made today in the media regarding Blue Jay Troy Glaus are simply accusations. I am in no position to make comment on information that is attributed to an unnamed source."
Glaus batted in his usual No. 5 spot in the lineup against Tampa last night and was taunted with chants including "juicer" and "steroids" when he stepped to the plate.
His name is the latest in a long line of major leaguers implicated in steroid use following the 1994 strike in which the game "got big" and saw its cherished home run records smashed by muscled stars such as McGwire, Sosa and Barry Bonds.
Glaus is the first Blue Jay major leaguer to be linked to illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
However, three Jays in the minor-league system have been suspended for performance-enhancing drug use: Matt Roney (50 games earlier this year), Matt Whiteside (15 games in 2005) and Edward Rodriguez (50 games in 2006).
Glaus suffered through failed comebacks in 2003 and 2004 from a shoulder injury and underwent season-ending surgery in '04 for a torn labrum and muscle fraying in his right shoulder.
Dr. Christiane Ayotte, who heads an anti-doping lab in Montreal which has performed drug testing for the league, said she can't understand how Glaus could have avoided detection if he had been using nandrolone.
In 2005, MLB instituted random drug testing on its players.
"Everybody knows that nandrolone pharmaceutical preparations are long-lasting," Ayotte said
"It should have been detected ... unless he was not tested or never took it. Nandrolone is easy to detect and our anecdotal reports show it lasts up to 20 months in the system."
Testosterone, the other drug linked to Glaus, has a much shorter lifespan in the system, sometimes as short as 12 hours for some oral preparations. Injections generally last two to three weeks.
