Washington Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca apologized for using performance-enhancing drugs yesterday.
Sort of.
Addressing his inclusion in the Mitchell Report for the first time, Lo Duca acknowledged what he called “a mistake” – without explaining exactly what he was apologizing for.
The four-time All-Star was among the more prominent players cited in baseball investigator George Mitchell's report on drug use in the sport, which was released Dec. 13. That was two days after Washington announced it signed Lo Duca to a $5 million, one-year contract.
“You do something wrong in your life and you get away with it, you still have something inside you that burns,” Lo Duca said, his shoulders slumping and his fingers fidgeting with the folds of his orange T-shirt. “And, um, it's been a big relief for me to know that I've come to grips with it. That I made a mistake.”
His name appears 37 times in the 409-page report, which said he received shipments of human growth hormone from – and put other players in touch with – admitted steroid distributor Kirk Radomski.
Lo Duca was completely silent on the matter for more than two months. But yesterday, he issued a statement through the team in the morning, saying: “In regards to Senator Mitchell's Report, I apologize . . . for mistakes in judgment I made in the past.”
Even in an afternoon news conference, he was not very expansive.
Asked whether the Mitchell Report was accurate about him, Lo Duca said: “I'm not going to comment on that.”
When another reporter asked what he was apologizing for, Lo Duca replied, “Come on, bro'. Next question.”
He spoke about the Mitchell Report for about five minutes, before a team spokesman said the topic should change to “baseball questions.”
Rocket gets rung up
Roger Clemens' jersey was tossed from the Yogi Berra Museum in Little Fall, N.J.
Museum Director David Kaplan said the museum had removed Clemens' jersey last week from a display honoring the Yankees teams of the late 1990s that won four World Series championships in five years.
Kaplan said the decision to remove the jersey was not made to generate publicity, but was done in response to allegations of steroid use by Clemens that resulted in Wednesday's Congressional hearing.
“It was the fact that there are a lot of unresolved issues involving Roger and it was difficult for us to give answers to the kids coming through the museum,” Kaplan said.
The Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center, which opened in 1998, offers several educational programs for youths including one that focuses on sports medicine and nutrition and examines the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Cardinals eye elbow
St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and the Cardinals' medical staff will keep a closer eye this season on Albert Pujols' balky right elbow.
Pujols, who opted not to have surgery to repair a strained ligament after meeting with specialists during the offseason, is less concerned. The slugger said he will not change his routine as he prepares for Opening Day.
“If it blows out, it's going to blow out,” Pujols said. “You can't control that.”
The injury has bothered Pujols since 2003 and it flared up last season.
“It didn't make sense having the surgery and just clean it up, when cleaning it up it wasn't going to make it good,” Pujols said. “I had to do something in the ligament.”
