Yesterday we learned that
an active player had voluntarily arranged to meet with Sen.
George Mitchell in the very near future to talk about the good senator's
feckless investigation into performance enhancing drugs. Today, we have a name, as well as a report that at least one other player will follow. From
Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times:
The baseball season has come and gone since Gary Matthews Jr. was alleged to have ordered a shipment of human growth hormone. Today, the Angels' center fielder is scheduled to discuss that report behind closed doors at baseball's New York headquarters.
Paul Byrd, the pitcher formerly with the Angels and currently with the Cleveland Indians, is expected to follow Matthews to the commissioner's office later this month. Byrd has acknowledged using HGH but said he did so under doctor's orders and with baseball's consent; baseball officials have denied the latter claim.
I guess we've come full circle, haven't we? After all, Matthews name was splashed all over the newspapers and the internet this spring when
reports of his alleged HGH purchase first surfaced following a federal bust at an "anti-aging clinic" in Orlando, FL. I was hoping the player set to meet with Mitchell would be a guy not actually implicated with PEDs, since he might actually be able to shed new light on their usage. Instead, with guys like Matthews and Byrd on the docket, I'm expecting little more than the same denials and explanations already recycled in the media.
