Clemens Denies Using Steroids

Pitcher Promises to Address Allegations

Pitcher Roger Clemens strongly denied charges that he has used steroids and human growth hormone, saying yesterday he never used those or any other banned substances and calling performance-enhancing drugs "a dangerous and destructive shortcut that no athlete should ever take."

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In a report released last Thursday by former Senate majority leader George J. Mitchell, Clemens's former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, testified that he injected Clemens with HGH and steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001. But in a statement issued through his agent, Randy Hendricks, Clemens said he has not used any banned substances "at any time in my baseball career or, in fact, my entire life."

"I am disappointed that my 25 years in public life have apparently not earned me the benefit of the doubt," the statement said. Clemens said he would address specific allegations in the report "at the appropriate time, in the appropriate way," and cautioned observers "not [to] rush to judgment."

In a telephone interview yesterday, Earl Ward, McNamee's attorney, said McNamee stands behind his testimony. In the Mitchell report, McNamee tells of injecting Clemens with steroids and HGH a total of 12 to 15 times between 1998 and 2001.

"He has read the denials by Clemens," Ward said of McNamee, "and his only response is that what is in the report is 100 percent accurate."

Clemens's denial came three days after former teammate and close friend Andy Pettitte, with whom Clemens shared McNamee's services, acknowledged using HGH in 2002, essentially confirming McNamee's testimony about him as contained in the Mitchell report.

Clemens, 45, was considered the biggest of the 92 names contained in the Mitchell report, as his baseball r¿sum¿ includes 354 career wins and an unprecedented seven Cy Young Awards. His unequivocal denial, in terms of impact, towered above the public statements -- equally mixed between denials and admissions -- by a handful of other players who were named in the report.

On the same day as Clemens's denial, Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts released a statement admitting he used steroids once in 2003 and apologizing for "that terrible decision."

"I never used steroids, [HGH] or any other performance-enhancing drugs prior to or since that single incident," Roberts said. "I can honestly say before God, myself, my family and all my fans, that steroids . . . have never had any effect on what I have worked so hard to accomplish in the game of baseball."

Among the other players who have reacted publicly to the report, former Washington Nationals catcher Gary Bennett and onetime utility player F.P. Santangelo admitted they had used HGH; utility player Alex Cabrera, reliever Brendan Donnelly and former all-star outfielder David Justice denied the charges in the report; and former all-star second baseman Fernando Vi¿a acknowledged HGH use, but denied he had used steroids.

In other developments yesterday, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation that would amend the Controlled Substances Act to classify HGH -- like steroids -- as a Schedule III substance, which would make possession a crime without a doctor's prescription.

"The real tragedy of the Mitchell report is that it shows how easy it is to beat the system," Schumer said in a statement. "The majority of players named in the report are accused of taking human growth hormone, a drug for which there is currently no reliable test. We have to do everything we can to keep dangerous substances out of young hands."

Also yesterday, the players' association responded favorably to a proposal by Commissioner Bud Selig that the sides begin discussions regarding the recommendations in the Mitchell report, according to a source familiar with the talks. Selig has said he would immediately implement the changes he could make unilaterally, but most of the recommendations must be bargained with the union.

Mitchell recommended that baseball create a department of investigations to look into allegations of drug use in the absence of a positive test, develop a more comprehensive program to educate players about the risks of performance-enhancing drugs and initiate an enhanced testing program administered by an independent company.

Staff writer Barry Svrluga and researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.