King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Rafael Palmeiro "comes clean" about steroids: Hey, it wasn't my fault. Plus: NBA attendance fun, boxing.

Nov 10, 2005 | On the eve of the release of a congressional report on whether Rafael Palmeiro lied when he denied under oath that he'd ever used steroids, the slugger finally came clean with an explanation.

Jabbing his finger, Palmeiro said "I have never had sex with a pair of Carolina Panthers cheerleaders in the restroom of a Tampa nightclub. Period."

No, wait, that's not right.

Palmeiro told a congressional committee in March that he'd "never used steroids. Period." He jabbed his finger at the lawmakers as he said this, which, as Bill Clinton taught us, is a sure sign of lying.

On Aug. 1 he was suspended after testing positive for steroids. Two days later, House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., said the committee would investigate whether Palmeiro lied under oath.

With that report due Thursday, Palmeiro released a statement through his lawyer that said -- nothing.

Actually it contained quite a bit of stuff. The Baltimore Orioles might want to use it to make the outfield grass grow at Camden Yards. But there was no explanation of anything.

Palmeiro said he's been cooperating with the investigation into his positive test since May "because I have nothing to hide." He said, "Now that the House Government Reform Committee is finishing its work, I will address the facts as I have always said I wanted to do."

And then he repeated the cockamamie story that, according to an anonymous source, he'd told to baseball investigators during the hearing on his appeal of the suspension back in May.

"I have never intentionally taken steroids," Palmeiro said in the statement. "But I must also acknowledge that Stanozolol, a banned substance, was found in my system in May. Although I do not know how this substance came into my body, it is possible that a shot of vitamin B-12 I took sometime in April might have been the cause."

The source told reporters that Palmeiro said he'd gotten the shot from Miguel Tejada. But in September baseball cleared Tejada, saying the B-12 shot he gave Palmeiro was, in fact, nothing but B-12.

"They tested the stuff Miggy had and found out it was B-12 and cleared it and that's the end of the story," Orioles executive Jim Beattie said at the time.

Not for Palmeiro. He's sticking to that story. Thank goodness he was finally able to come clean.

Next Page: And what about those cheerleaders? Plus: NBA attendance, one or two games in. And: "Boxing's glory days all but over"

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