Former Oriole David Segui is mentioned continually throughout baseball's newly released Mitchell Report on steroids, but what irks him most is that his ex-teammate Brian Roberts also is implicated as a performance-enhancing drug user based on what Segui believes is a combination of hearsay and inaccuracies from a trusted mutual friend.
Roberts, the Orioles' All-Star second baseman, was included in the scathing report after ex-Orioles outfielder Larry Bigbie relayed a 2004 conversation to investigators in which Roberts allegedly admitted injecting himself with steroids "once or twice" in 2003.
Former Sen. George Mitchell, who led the investigation, said that he attempted to meet with Roberts but that the second baseman declined. So the reference to Roberts in Mitchell's report is based solely on Bigbie's testimony.
And that has angered Segui, who considered Bigbie "a little brother" and allowed Bigbie and Roberts to live with him free of rent during the 2001 season.
"By far, that's the thing that's bothered me the most about the whole entire thing," Segui said yesterday. "[Bigbie] threw Brian Roberts' name out on complete hearsay. Calling it hearsay would be giving it more credibility than it deserves. I'm at a loss as to why Brian Roberts' name would come out of his mouth."
Bigbie, who has signed to play in Japan in 2008, could not be reached for comment. Roberts and his agent did not return phone calls to The Sun.
In the Mitchell Report, Bigbie makes assertions about his own drug use and said it was Segui who introduced him both to steroids and to Kirk Radomski, the former New York Mets clubhouse attendant who has admitted to supplying dozens of players with human growth hormone and performance-enhancing drugs.
Segui said that much is true, and he admitted to educating Bigbie on steroids - after the rookie persisted - and giving Bigbie a sample of his own stash while Bigbie waited on his first shipment from Radomski.
But Segui contends that several other statements were fabricated, including the large quantity of steroids Bigbie initially took and allegations that Segui injected Bigbie and oversaw the rookie's drug cycles.
The most egregious inaccuracy in the testimony, Segui said, is Bigbie's recollection of a lunch in New York during the 2003 season. Bigbie told Mitchell that he, Segui, Radomski and Roberts dined together and then later Bigbie sat in Radomski's car and watched Segui buy "performance-enhancing substances and paraphernalia." Bigbie said Roberts was not in the car at the time.
