TheDailyJournal

 

Rocker: Selig knew I was on ’the juice’

 

||| John Rocker claims he flunked a drug test ordered by Major League Baseball in 2000. He also said that he, Alex Rodríguez and other Texas Rangers were advised by management and union doctors following a spring training lecture on how to effectively use steroids.

 

The former pitcher, speaking on Atlanta radio station 680, said that commissioner "Bud Selig knew in the year 2000 John Rocker was taking the juice. Didn’t do anything about it."


Rocker was suspended for the first 14 days of the 2000 season by Selig for making racial and ethnic remarks the commissioner deemed insensitive. The penalty, originally set to cover 28 days, was reduced by an arbitrator following a grievance.


"As part of the disciplinary process, Mr. Rocker was referred to the confidential Employee Assistance Program," Major League Baseball said in a statement. "Any test of Mr. Rocker would have been conducted by professionals who ran the EAP. Those professionals were obligated to maintain the confidentiality of the result and to use it in developing a treatment and education program for Mr. Rocker. Further discipline was not an option legally available to Major League Baseball at that time."

 

Rocker said that doctors from management and the players’ association, following a spring training talk with the Texas Rangers about steroids and other topics, pulled himself, A-Rod, Rafael Palmeiro and Iván Rodríguez aside. Rocker was with the Rangers in 2002.


"Look guys, if you take one kind of steroid, you don’t triple stack them and take them 10 months out of the year like Lyle Alzado did," Rocker said the doctors told them. "If you do it responsibly, it’s not going to hurt you."


Rocker did not identify the doctors.


Baseball did not have a drug-testing agreement between management and the players’ union until September 2002 and did not have random testing with penalties until 2004.


Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the players’ association, declined comment.

 

 

SPORTS

 

Former star player Ilie Nastase resigned as head of the Romanian Tennis Federation on Tuesday, after newspapers criticized him for spending too much money on a Davis Cup match against France which Romania lost 5-0.

 

 Hamilton fastest in opening test session

 

Lewis Hamilton, who was racially taunted by fans 10 days ago in Barcelona, returned to Spain on Tuesday and was the fastest in opening a three-day test session. The 23-year-old McLaren driver completed 89 laps and had a best time of 1 minute, 19.102 seconds. Teammate Pedro de la Rosa was second, less than 0.2 seconds behind the Englishman.

 

 

 

 Knapp reaches Diamond Games quarters

 

Karin Knapp rallied to beat Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals at the Diamond Games. Two more seeded players fell in the first round on Tuesday. Julie Ditty upset eighth-seeded Alona Bondarenko 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Alisa Kleybanova beat Agnes Szavay, the No. 6 seed, 6-2, 6-3.

 

 

LIVING

A screenwriter has sued Mel Gibson and his production company, claiming he was misled by the actor-director into accepting a small payment for writing "The Passion of the Christ," and was refused extra money when the film became a blockbuster.

Emma Thompson: Rise in human trafficking

 

Human trafficking is on the rise, but making sure girls receive birth certificates can make it more difficult for them to fall victim to the crime, Emma Thompson said Tuesday. "It’s increasing big, big, big time - it’s the third largest shadow economy after drugs and small arms," the 48-year-old actress-screenwriter told reporters.

 

Paris Hilton’s brother arrested for DUI

 

Another Hilton has landed in the gray-bar hotel. Paris Hilton’s younger brother Barron Hilton was arrested Tuesday morning for allegedly driving under the influence. Barron Hilton was held at the Malibu station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. No other information was immediately available.