He sought the advice of Segui, who has since admitted to using steroids for strength and fitness purposes and hGH with a prescription for medical purposes. Segui taught him how to properly inject performance enhancers, but Bigbie said using steroids was his choice and his only - neither Segui nor anyone else pushed him into it.
"I had the opportunity to be an everyday player, and I was trying to make the most of it," said Bigbie, who was a .267 hitter in parts of six major league seasons. "Obviously, it is something I am ashamed of."
Through Segui, Bigbie met Radomski, the Mets clubhouse attendant at the time who became the central figure in the steroid scandal as a distributor to various players.
By 2003, Radomski was supplying Bigbie with performance enhancers and hGH. But Bigbie doesn't believe he was one of the 104 players who failed an anonymous test that year, the one that eventually led to Yankees great Alex Rodriguez's admitting last week to his previous steroid use.
"No one ever told me I had failed, so I don't think so," Bigbie said.
Because he switched to hGH, which is undetectable by urine tests, Bigbie said he has never tested positive for any banned substances.
By 2005, Bigbie said Bogdan asked whether he could help him get steroids and hGH, and Bigbie made a call to Radomski on his buddy's behalf.
Radomski, in his book, admits to sending shipments to a "friend of a friend" who ended up being the federal informant. The Novitzky affidavit confirms this. It was the key break the investigation needed.
Bigbie said he never asked Bogdan why he wanted the drugs.
"A lot of guys made fun of like how he was a little guy and maybe he got tired of people ragging on him. That was what was in my head," Bigbie said. "I was thinking like, 'It's a waste; you're wasting your money.' But I wasn't thinking: 'Why, dude? Are you trying to turn me in or something?' But I wish I was thinking that way."
Caught in the sting by the informant, Radomski began working with the federal government, sending out packages tracked and seized by Novitzky. One went to Grimsley, another to Bigbie.
"I knew they had me because the package came to my door and they followed the package in," he said. "It wasn't 10 minutes later that they came in."
Novitzky told Bigbie he needed to cooperate, and he did.
