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Former home run king Mark McGwire, one of seven players subpoenaed to next week's congressional hearing on steroid use, reportedly has been linked to a steroid investigation from the 1990s.
Meanwhile, another report said Major League Baseball is trying to change the list of players called to testify, which includes McGwire, whistle-blower Jose Canseco and five current players.
The New York Daily News, citing unidentified FBI sources, is reporting in Sunday's editions that McGwire's name arose a number of times in a huge investigation in the early 1990s that led to 70 convictions.
The report said McGwire was not a target and was not investigated. However, two steroids dealers caught by the investigation told the Daily News that a third dealer gave steroids to McGwire and Canseco.
According to the report, a man named Curtis Wenzlaff injected McGwire with steroids several times at a California gym, an informant revealed to the newspaper.
McGwire's regimen included injecting himself in the buttocks every three days with two testosterone substances and weekly with another, an informant told the Daily News.
McGwire, who shattered the single-season homer record by belting 70 with St. Louis in 1998, repeatedly has denied using steroids.
Wenzlaff told the newspaper he had no comment about McGwire but said he transformed Canseco from a novice to an expert in steroid use. Representatives for the former teammates told the Daily News the sluggers did not remember meeting Wenzlaff.
Canseco's recently released book, 'Juiced,' a tell-all about steroid use during his days in baseball, has been dismissed as sensational by some current players but notes occasions when he injected McGwire with steroids when they played together for the Oakland Athletics in the early 1990s.
Baseball did not have a steroid policy in place until earlier this year.
In the other report, the San Francisco Chronicle cited unidentified sources with knowledge of negotiations between baseball's executives and the House Government Reform Committee to change the players subpoenaed to testify.
Active players called to testify are Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa and Frank Thomas. Subpoenas also were issued to four baseball officials - Players Association chief Donald Fehr, MLB Baseball executive vice presidents Rob Manfred and Sandy Alderson and San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers.
Sources told the Chronicle that baseball executives were trying to change the list so players could avoid the embarrassment of answering questions about steroid use. In exchange, baseball would have to consider using the Olympic drug-testing agency for its recently implemented steroid program.
Any witnesses appearing before the committee can exercise their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Absent from the witness list is home run king Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, who has been embroiled in controversy since reports surfaced that the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative - supplied him and other athletes, including Giambi, with steroids.
Bonds, who hit 73 homers in 2001 and is 52 shy of Hank Aaron's all-time record, testified to a grand jury in December 2003 that he used a clear substance and cream but maintained he did not know they were steroids.
Source: AP
Meanwhile, another report said Major League Baseball is trying to change the list of players called to testify, which includes McGwire, whistle-blower Jose Canseco and five current players.
The New York Daily News, citing unidentified FBI sources, is reporting in Sunday's editions that McGwire's name arose a number of times in a huge investigation in the early 1990s that led to 70 convictions.
The report said McGwire was not a target and was not investigated. However, two steroids dealers caught by the investigation told the Daily News that a third dealer gave steroids to McGwire and Canseco.
According to the report, a man named Curtis Wenzlaff injected McGwire with steroids several times at a California gym, an informant revealed to the newspaper.
McGwire's regimen included injecting himself in the buttocks every three days with two testosterone substances and weekly with another, an informant told the Daily News.
McGwire, who shattered the single-season homer record by belting 70 with St. Louis in 1998, repeatedly has denied using steroids.
Wenzlaff told the newspaper he had no comment about McGwire but said he transformed Canseco from a novice to an expert in steroid use. Representatives for the former teammates told the Daily News the sluggers did not remember meeting Wenzlaff.
Canseco's recently released book, 'Juiced,' a tell-all about steroid use during his days in baseball, has been dismissed as sensational by some current players but notes occasions when he injected McGwire with steroids when they played together for the Oakland Athletics in the early 1990s.
Baseball did not have a steroid policy in place until earlier this year.
In the other report, the San Francisco Chronicle cited unidentified sources with knowledge of negotiations between baseball's executives and the House Government Reform Committee to change the players subpoenaed to testify.
Active players called to testify are Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa and Frank Thomas. Subpoenas also were issued to four baseball officials - Players Association chief Donald Fehr, MLB Baseball executive vice presidents Rob Manfred and Sandy Alderson and San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers.
Sources told the Chronicle that baseball executives were trying to change the list so players could avoid the embarrassment of answering questions about steroid use. In exchange, baseball would have to consider using the Olympic drug-testing agency for its recently implemented steroid program.
Any witnesses appearing before the committee can exercise their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Absent from the witness list is home run king Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, who has been embroiled in controversy since reports surfaced that the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative - supplied him and other athletes, including Giambi, with steroids.
Bonds, who hit 73 homers in 2001 and is 52 shy of Hank Aaron's all-time record, testified to a grand jury in December 2003 that he used a clear substance and cream but maintained he did not know they were steroids.
Source: AP