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Report: Palmeiro says teammate gave him substanceESPN.com news services
Rafael Palmeiro reportedly told a three-member baseball arbitration panel that a teammate gave him a substance that might be responsible for his positive steroid test, a source told the Baltimore Sun.
Palmeiro
A second source told the Sun that Palmeiro named the teammate when he presented his defense when appealing his suspension. However, a source told the newspaper that while he told the panel that he had received a substance from a teammate, he didn't make the case that the substance in question caused his positive test result.
The House Committee on Government Reform is investigating whether Palmeiro's statements to the panel have merit, the Sun reported, by interviewing people, including members of the Orioles such as Palmeiro himself and the team's head trainer, Richie Bancells.
Bancells confirmed to the newspaper that he had spoken to the committee.
The baseball arbitration panel denied Palmeiro's appeal, saying he failed to establish the positive test result was not his fault.
Baseball suspended Palmeiro for 10 days and the House committee is now examining arbitration hearing transcripts to determine whether Palmeiro lied to Congress when he testified he had never taken steroids.
Palmeiro stood by his statements to Congress, saying he didn't know what caused the test result.
Earlier this month, the Baltimore Sun reported that the House committee is uncertain whether there is enough evidence to refer the case to the Justice Department. However, the committee is considering several other options.
One scenario, officials familiar with the situation told the Sun, has the committee making the documents pertaining to Palmeiro's case public. The committee received the documents related to the first baseman's positive steroid test from Major League Baseball on Aug. 12. A document release could happen in the next two weeks and would allow the public to decide for itself about Palmeiro.
The documents include the results of Palmeiro's tests, the tests' dates and the record of secret proceedings before a three-member arbitration panel after Palmeiro appealed the results. The appeal was denied, and the documents would show how Palmeiro defended himself while not offering an explanation as to how the steroid entered his system.
The committee has also not ruled out sending the case to the Justice Department, which could bring a perjury charge against Palmeiro. But the Sun reported that that option is less likely than others because of the difficulty of proving Palmeiro had knowingly used the drug when he appeared before Congress.
Palmeiro said that he would never take a performance-enhancing substance intentionally after he tested positive for the steroid stanozolol. However, experts have said that is is unlikely stanozolol could have entered his system by accident. Palmeiro said he won't comment publicly on the matter until Congress finishes its review.
A congressional source familiar with the committee's work, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said several active players have spoken or will speak with the committee. That source would not identify who was interviewed.
But Colorado Rockies outfielder Jorge Piedra told The Associated Press that he spoke on the phone with the committee. He said investigators contacted him through his agent about a week ago, found out "all they wanted to know" in a matter of minutes and didn't plan to contact him again.
Piedra, the second player publicly identified under the sport's new steroid rules when he was suspended for 10 days in April, said the committee "had a few questions and I just answered them honestly."
"I told them I didn't have anything to do with Palmeiro," Piedra said after the Rockies played the Padres in Denver. "We only worked out a few times together."
The congressional source indicated that all the players asked to talk to the committee recently were chosen because they have relationships with Palmeiro -- such as teammates or workout partners -- and could have knowledge about whether he might have used steroids before his testimony.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
