Affidavit

Now can we all stop taking the simplistic, easy-to-swallow approach to steroids in baseball? Can we all admit that this is way more complex than we've been treating it over the years? All of us. Baseball and union officials. Fans. Media. The Justice Department. Congress. It is obvious now, more than ever, that we don't know what we're dealing with. How much more proof do we need that we, the entire baseball-observing public, have handled the issue of performance-enhancing drugs all wrong?

If the original release of the infamous Jason Grimsley affidavit - with the names of the alleged steroid and amphetamine users blacked out for public nonconsumption - helped pull the cover off baseball's performance-enhancement scandal, the release of the unredacted version Thursday might have been an even bigger blow to the integrity of the sport. Think about it. When the feds decided to throw those last few names into the public arena, they probably never considered how the surprising absence of several well-known players might undermine the credibility of the Mitchell Report and create a new layer of uncertainty about the steroid era. Of course, it isn't the job of federal investigators to worry about the effect of their work on a private enterprise, even one that is considered to be the national pastime.

Three prominent 2007 Orioles who were named as steroid users last year in a Los Angeles Times report on the infamous Jason Grimsley affidavit were never mentioned as using performance-enhancing drugs in that document, which was unsealed by federal prosecutors yesterday. Current Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts and outfielder Jay Gibbons were not included at all in Grimsley's sworn testimony and neither were New York Yankees pitchers Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, who also were implicated in the Times report.

The whisper campaign started almost as soon as news broke that federal agents had raided the home of former Orioles pitcher Jason Grimsley and a document existed that included the names of current and former major league players who may have been involved with steroids, human growth hormone and amphetamines. That was four months ago, and only in the past few days have those whispers taken the shape of real people with real reputations who have - fairly or not - been damaged by the published reports that they were identified as steroid users in the infamous Grimsley affidavit.

The attorney for former Orioles reliever Jason Grimsley told The Arizona Republic that Grimsley did not attribute steroid use to Orioles Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts or Jay Gibbons in an interview with federal investigators in April. "As to all five players [including the Houston Astros' Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte] named, Jason did not attribute steroid use to any of them," the attorney, Ed Novak, said in yesterday's edition of the Republic. "There was no mention of Roberts or Gibbons at all," Novak said.

Even the most optimistic Orioles fan would have to concede that the team ended the regular season in a truly brutal manner. Not only did the O's lose 9-0 to the Red Sox on Sunday, but they finished the season 27 games back and their 70 wins were the fewest since 2002. And then there's the IRS agent's affidavit (reported this past weekend by the Los Angeles Times) containing relief pitcher Jason Grimsley's claim that three current Orioles have used anabolic steroids. Naturally, it had to be three of the team's top players: Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons.

The U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco issued a statement yesterday questioning the accuracy of a Los Angeles Times report published over the weekend. The story identified major league baseball players, including three Orioles, whose names had been blacked out of a steroid investigation affidavit filed earlier this year in federal court. The Times report described a search warrant affidavit signed by an IRS special agent investigating steroid use in professional baseball. The affidavit, based on statements to investigators allegedly made by pitcher Jason Grimsley, implicated a number of his former teammates as users of performance-enhancing drugs.

BOSTON -- The Orioles closed this season much as they did the previous one, with a disappointing record on the field and drug allegations hanging over the clubhouse. Last year, it was Rafael Palmeiro, the first prominent major leaguer to test positive for anabolic steroids. This year, three pillars of the team - shortstop Miguel Tejada, second baseman Brian Roberts and outfielder Jay Gibbons - stand accused of taking steroids by former teammate Jason Grimsley. Their names became public in a Los Angeles Times report yesterday that also listed Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte as players linked to performance enhancers in the affidavit Grimsley gave to federal agents this spring.

ATLANTA -- Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte denied allegations that they had used performance-enhancing drugs, with Clemens saying he was angry and Pettitte saying he was embarrassed by a report that first appeared in the Los Angeles Times. "I'm not embarrassed at all," Clemens said in the Houston clubhouse yesterday before the Astros were eliminated from playoff contention during a 3-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. "I'm angry about it. It just shouldn't happen." Clemens and Pettitte, his Astros teammate, were among six players named in a federal agent's affidavit connected to former teammate Jason Grimsley.

Three of the Orioles' most popular and highest-profile players were accused of being anabolic steroid users by former teammate Jason Grimsley in a federal affidavit earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times is reporting in today's editions. Grimsley said All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada, second baseman Brian Roberts and designated hitter Jay Gibbons "took anabolic steroids," the Times reported. All three Orioles vehemently denied the report in interviews with The Sun after last night's 5-4 victory against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.