MLB "Speed" Use Emerges In House Report

NOVEMBER 10--Already rocked by a steroid probe that has engulfed some of its biggest stars, Major League Baseball may now be entering phase two of its drug scandal, thanks to a new congressional report. While a House of Representatives committee announced today that it could not conclude that Baltimore Oriole Rafael Palmeiro perjured himself during a March 2005 hearing on steroids, the panel's report on the Palmeiro matter, an excerpt of which you'll find below, includes bombshell allegations about the use of amphetamines, or 'greenies.' In fact, one player (who is not named in the report) told federal investigators that the illicit use of speed is 'part of the baseball world.' The athlete added that he even steered clear of clubhouse coffee for fear that teammates had spiked it with amphetamines. 'I can guarantee you there has [sic] been players, when a team is struggling or a team is going through a bad streak, they will spike the coffee,' the player told House officials. Dan Wheat, a former Texas Rangers head trainer, told probers that the use of speed was 'prevalent' among big leaguers and he considered it a bigger problem than steroids. The report quotes Wheat recalling how he once asked a player, 'Of the nine players on the field, how many took greenies today?' Wheat said that the athlete responded, 'eight.' Click here to download a PDF of the entire 44-page Palmeiro report. (2 pages)