3759
by rusty2
Clark accuses Pujols of PED use
FOX Sports
UPDATED AUG 9, 2013 3:51 PM ET
Former major-league slugger Jack Clark, on his radio show Monday, accused Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols of using performance-enhancing drugs, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Clark is in his first week as co-host of an afternoon talk radio show on WGNU in St. Louis, where Pujols played through the 2011 World Series championship season of the Cardinals.
Clark said that while he was the hitting coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the early 2000s, he was told by Chris Mihlfeld, who was a conditioning coach with the Dodgers, that Mihlfeld “shot him up,” meaning Pujols.
Mihfeld denied that he told Clark the Pujols took PEDs, according to a report by ESPN.
Dan Lozano, Pujols’ agent, declined comment when reached Thursday about the allegations, according to the Post-Dispatch.
Mihlfeld was the baseball coach at the Kansas City junior college Pujols attended in 1998 and is a former personal trainer for Pujols, according to the Post-Dispatch.
Clark has mentioned Pujols in relation to PEDs on the air previously. On Aug. 2, after co-host Kevin Slaten said he has long believed that Pujols “has been a juicer,” Clark interrupted and said, “I know for a fact he was. The trainer that worked with him, threw him batting practice from Kansas City, that worked him out every day, basically told me that’s what he did,” according to the Post-Dispatch report.
Clark recalled a conversation with Mihlfeld, who has worked with several major-league clubs, when Clark was a Dodgers coach.
Mihlfeld “had told me what he was doing with ‘Poolie’ — threw him batting practice, worked him out, shot him up, all that stuff,” Clark said on the air.
In 2006 one of the players Mihlfeld trained, pitcher Jason Grimsley, admitted using PEDs and was suspended by MLB.
At that time, Pujols said: “I don’t resent this as much for myself as I do for Chris. He’s got no way to defend himself against somebody who puts something out there that’s not true.”
Pujols also defended himself.
“I’ve said before I have nothing to worry about. If they want to test me … then let’s go. I’ll do it tomorrow. No problem. But Chris has been put in a really unfair position. I know it bothers him. I hear it every time I talk to him.”
Pujols, who is on the disabled list with a foot injury, has never been known to fail a drug test.
Clark didn't stop with Pujols. He also expressed skepticism about Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, who signed a contract extension in the offseason and has not been as dominant this year as in previous seasons.
“Verlander was like Nolan Ryan, he threw 97, 98, 100 miles an hour from the first inning to the ninth inning,” Clark said on the air. “He got that big contract, now he can barely reach 92, 93. What happened to it? He has no arm problems, nothing’s wrong. It’s just the signs are there.
“The greed ... they juice up, they grab the money and it’s just a free pass to steal is the way I look at it.”
Clark played for the Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox in his 18-season major-league career. He finished with 340 homers.