Indians' Byrd bought $25K worth of HGH

[KFDM COOP]

Report: Indians' Byrd bought $25K worth of HGH

Substance not banned by MLB during time in question

BOSTON — Cleveland pitcher Paul Byrd, whose win in Game 4 of the ALCS moved the Indians within one victory of the World Series, bought nearly $25,000 worth of human growth hormone and syringes from 2002 to 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.

Byrd, known for his old-school windup and savvy, purchased the HGH from a Palm Beach, Fla., anti-aging clinic under investigation by authorities for illegally distributing performance-enhancing drugs, the paper said.

During the time of the alleged purchases, the 36-year-old Bryd was with the Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Angels. HGH was not banned by baseball then.

According to the Chronicle, which reviewed the clinic's business records, Byrd used his credit card and spent $24,850 on more than 1,000 vials of HGH, an injectable prescription drug with muscle-building properties. He also bought hundreds of syringes.

The allegations against Byrd came as the Indians prepared to play the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the AL championship series at Fenway Park on Sunday night.

"We aware of the story regarding Paul," general manager Mark Shapiro said in a statement. "I have spoken with Paul about the situation, however, at this time I don't feel I have enough information to make any further comments on the matter.

"He has been an important member of this organization — on and off the field — over the last two years and we support him in this process."

Byrd won Game 4 for the Indians at Jacobs Field on Tuesday. In the AL playoffs, he earned the victory in Cleveland's Game 4 series-clinching win over the New York Yankees.

[bullets13]

I'm getting kind of sick of the whole steroids issue... MLB has a good system in place now to punish those who are caught using, and i'm fine with that.  I'm not fine with all of this going back and punishing players who were using in the past (or making them give up other players to avoid punishment).  there were A LOT of players using 5 years ago, 4 years ago, 3 years ago, and it doesn't make sense to me to punish the few that are ratted out.  also, the whole congressional witchhunt is pretty rediculous.  baseball is a game where players do not rat out other players, and making them do so is bad for the player, and the game.  everyone knows the consequences now, but why punish a player who has straightened up and is now following all the rules.  if there are rumors that someone used a corked bat five years ago, should we suspend that player now?

[Ty Cobb]

I agree with bullets13.  What's in the past is the past.  Players shouldn't be punished for things they did 5 years ago, when HGH wasn't illegal in baseball 5 years ago.

[Guest Orangeboy]

I was more ticked off with the timing of the reporting. Can't they release that stuff after the Indians are through so it has no impact on the outcome of a series. Freakin' idiots.