Report: Giambi testified he used steroids, human growth hormone
December 2, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi injected himself with human growth hormone in 2003 and used steroids for at least three seasons, according to his grand jury testimony that was reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The testimony given in December 2003 to the federal grand jury investigating BALCO contradicts Giambi's public proclamations that he never used performance-enhancing drugs.
Baseball probably cannot punish Giambi. Penalties for steroid use began in 2004. Human growth hormone, or hGH, is not specifically banned by the major leagues.
Giambi described to grand jurors how he injected hGH in his stomach, testosterone into his buttocks, rubbed an undetectable steroid knows as ``the cream'' on his body and placed drops of another, called ``the clear,'' under his tongue, the Chronicle reported Thursday.
Giambi testified that he obtained several different steroids from Barry Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, one of four men indicted by the grand jury probing the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. He said he got the hGH from a gym in Las Vegas.
Anderson's attorney, Tony Serra, declined comment to the Chronicle, citing a court order.
Anderson, BALCO founder Victor Conte, BALCO vice president James Valente and track coach Remi Korchemny all have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include steroid distribution.
The Chronicle report came out the day before Conte is scheduled to speak on the ABC program ``20-20.''
On Wednesday, a federal judge refused to immediately dismiss the charges in response to accusations that prosecutors illegally searched BALCO headquarters and Anderson's house and car. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said she may conduct hearings into the matter in January.
Giambi was among dozens of elite athletes -- including Bonds, Gary Sheffield and track stars Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones -- who testified before the grand jury last year under a promise of limited immunity from prosecution.
Bonds, Jones and Montgomery deny using performance-enhancing drugs. Sheffield told Sports Illustrated and ESPN he used ``the cream'' and ``the clear'' from BALCO, but that he did not know they contained steroids.
Giambi told grand jurors that he didn't notice a ``huge difference'' in his performance after starting to use the drugs, the newspaper reported.
Giambi came to spring training this year looking noticeably trimmer as baseball began a steroid-testing program that included punishments for the first time. Asked in February whether he had ever taken performance-enhancing drugs, Giambi said: ``Are you talking about steroids? No.''
Giambi won the AL MVP in 2000 for Oakland and signed a $120 million, seven-year free-agent contract with the Yankees after the 2001 season. He hit 155 homers from 1999-2002 and batted over .300 each season, but injuries slowed him down the last two years.
Bothered by a balky knee, Giambi hit just .250 in 2003. Giambi batted .208 and played in only 80 games last season, missing time because of a tumor, which the New York Daily News reported was in his pituitary gland. Medical experts told the Chronicle that Clomid, a female fertility drug Giambi said he thought Anderson had given him, can exacerbate a tumor of the pituitary gland.
Giambi's younger brother, Jeremy, who last played in the majors with Boston in 2003, also testified that he used performance-enhancing drugs given to him by Anderson, according to the Chronicle.
