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Former National Bennett Says HGH Use Was 'Stupid Decision'
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Bennett, who originally left a message for a Post reporter Thursday -- the day Mitchell released his report -- said he wrestled with two decisions: Whether to take HGH and how to handle the fallout from the report.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]"It's embarrassing," Bennett said. "There's no doubt about it."
Mitchell's report said that in 2003, when Bennett was a member of the San Diego Padres, he bought two kits of human growth hormone from Kirk J. Radomski, the former clubhouse attendant for the New York Mets who was the star witness for investigators. The report contained a copy of a $3,200 check from Bennett to Radomski.
Bennett said he came to use HGH because he was battling a sprained right knee that kept him on the disabled list from April 17 to May 23. When he came back, he continued to have problems.
"The knee kept barking," Bennett said. "We went into July, and I thought that this might be something that could help me heal. . . . Quite frankly, I wasn't playing very well. I was horrible offensively. Defensively, it was a struggle to move around behind the plate. So I wrestled with it for about a month. And finally I decided, 'I'm going to try it.' "
Bennett would not go into details about how he got in touch with Radomski, referring instead to the accuracy of Mitchell's report. The report said that pitcher Denny Neagle -- a teammate of Bennett's in Colorado in 2001-02 -- referred him to Radomski.
"I think a lot of it was just being frustrated," Bennett said. "For me, I was frustrated the way I was playing, frustrated the way my knee was feeling. They said this can help you heal, help the body's recovery. I hoped it would take away the frustration, and I would start feeling better and playing better."
Bennett, a .242 career hitter who has since played for Milwaukee, Washington and St. Louis, said he never used HGH or other banned substances after 2003. He has not had another trip to the disabled list since the knee injury sent him there with San Diego.
Asked yesterday why he thought other players hadn't stepped forward, Bennett said: "I can only speak for myself. It's the truth, so I thought I should say so."
