Well, this steroid-accusation showdown between Jack Clark and Albert Pujols sure escalated quickly.
It all started on Friday, when Dan Caesar of the Post-Dispatch reported that Clark, just a week into a new sports-talk job, had been accusing Pujols of using steroids. The retired All-Star slugger apparently reiterated his claims multiple times on the air, saying he knew Pujols had used PEDs “for a fact.”
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Clark says that in the early 2000s, when he was the hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pujols’ former personal trainer, Greg Mihlfeld, divulged that he had seen Pujols using steroids and had “shot him up.”
In an email to NBC Sports, Mihlfeld denied Clark’s claims. “I haven’t even talked to Jack Clark in close to 10 years. His statements are simply not true,” Mihlfeld wrote. “I have known Albert Pujols since he was 18 years old, and he would never use illegal drugs in any way.”
Late on Friday night, Pujols offered his own vehement denial saying in a statement, “I’ve said time and time again that I would never take, or even consider taking, anything illegal. I’ve been tested hundreds of times throughout my career and never once have I tested positive. It is irresponsible and reckless for Jack Clark to have falsely accused me of using PEDs.”
Pujols went on to say that he plans to sue: “I am currently in the process of taking legal action against Jack Clark and his employers at WGNU 920 AM. I am going to send a message that you cannot act in a reckless manner, like they have, and get away with it.”
Shortly after midnight on Saturday, the radio station decided to part ways with Clark and his co-host, Kevin Slaten, canceling their show, seemingly over concerns about the potential legal action from Pujols.
Now the radio hosts say they plan to sue, too. Slaten says he’ll sue insideSTL, the company that owns the radio show, for wrongful termination. Clark stands by his allegations and says he hasn’t decided exactly how to proceed, but he’s “doing something for sure.”
Clearly, the dust is far from settled.
So whom should we believe in this he said, he said? Should we trust the player and his trainer or the opinionated radio hosts?
Clark had a long and successful career in the major leagues, including a strong stint with the Cardinals from 1985–87. Since retiring, he’s made news several times with his bold opinions. Clark has said Mark McGwire should be banned from baseball for using steroids and has accused Tony La Russa of turning a blind eye to steroid use when he managed McGwire in Oakland and St. Louis. In 2010, when the team struggled late in the season and missed the playoffs, Clark went on the radio and called the Cardinals “quitters.” He even said, quite oddly, that the players had “poopy in their pants.” So yeah, his credibility is perhaps questionable.
Then again, can we really trust Pujols or Mihlfeld? How many times have we heard a baseball player deny, deny, deny, only to find out later he was guilty? When Ryan Braun’s positive steroid test and resulting suspension were overturned on a technicality, he gave an emotional speech about how it was a great day for “anyone who has been wrongly accused and everyone who stood up for what’s right.” He didn’t just deny using. He gloated.
Then it turned out he was using all along. It’s like the louder they protest, the guiltier they are.
Or look at Lance Armstrong. He spent years discrediting anyone who accused him of using PEDs. He sued people, ruined their lives, went on TV to defend his honor, again and again and again. Even as evidence against him mounted, he maintained his story. Many in the media stood by him. It all turned out to be an elaborate lie, a hollow show.
So should we trust Albert Pujols? I’d like to. In some ways, I’d like to go back to the naive age when we marveled at players’ home run statistics rather than scrutinizing the girth of their necks and the acne on their backs. I’d like to go back to the time when hitting a few home runs didn’t automatically make you a suspect.
But this is a skeptical time in baseball. Yes, testing has improved. But as this year’s Biogenesis scandal shows us, cheaters can find ways around the tests. It’s impossible to ever really know who cheated and who didn’t.
Whom can we trust? Pujols might be clean. Having not been present at his workouts, we have no way of knowing for sure. But we’re past the point of giving guys the benefit of the doubt, aren’t we? That’s the real crime committed by dirty players. Because of their lies, all players, even clean ones, have had their reputations besmirched simply by association. Not everybody is a cheater. But honestly, we can’t trust anybody anymore.
