Steroid Nation: Paul Byrd: Flying Cleveland to the World Series with Growth Hormone (HGH)?

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Documents obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle indicate Paul Byrd -- 15-8, 4.59 with the Cleveland Indians in 2007 -- purchased thousands of dollars of Internet pharmacy HGH from 2002-2005. That's not good news for a team now engaged (effectively) in a one game elimination match at Boston today; the winner of the Tribe-Sox ACLS game seven earns a 2007 World Series berth. (Update: Byrd told Fox a doctor prescribed HGH; the SF Chronicle says a disbarred dentist in Florida wrote two of the prescriptions. After the jump see quotes) (links: Babes)

Paul Byrd, the veteran pitcher who has helped the Cleveland Indians reach the brink of the World Series, bought nearly $25,000 worth of human growth hormone and syringes from a Florida anti-aging clinic that was targeted by law enforcement for illegally distributing performance-enhancing drugs, business records show.

What an incredible distraction for a team that led the ALCS 3-1, which now sits on the brink of losing 3 straight to the Red Sox. The past 2 games looked like the Indians didn't rise out of bed. Did the Tribe players know something was going down with their ace pitcher?

Byrd made 13 purchases from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center between August 2002 and January 2005, according to the records. During those years, he pitched for the Kansas City Royals, the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Angels.

Paying with a credit card, Byrd spent $24,850 to buy more than 1,000 vials of growth hormone, an injectable prescription drug with muscle-building properties, and hundreds of syringes.

The records reviewed by The Chronicle included Byrd's purchase and shipping orders, payment data and other information, including his birth date and Social Security number. The records were provided by a confidential news source, who said the orders were consistent with an athlete's personal use of growth hormone.

Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, authors of the Game of Shadows, write the piece on Byrd. The pitcher appears caught in the same legal investigations that nailed Gary Matthews Jr., Troy Glaus, Rick Ankiel, Scott Schoeneweis, and others.

The writers says HGH was formally banned in 2005; of course illegal PEDs were first banned by Fay Vincent in 1991. PED use has been illegal for decades.

Byrd put together a good 1999, going 15-11, which stood out from his early career; he was 17-10 over 4 years with 3 teams. However after 1999, the pitcher struggled to 2-9 and 6-7 years with Philly and KC.

Suddenly in 2002, Byrd compiled a 17-11 record with 228 innings pitched, a remarkable maturation at age 31. The first records of HGH delivery occurred in 2002, according the Chronicle. Regardless of whether HGH improved his performance, doubts will now circulate about the influence of the PED on Byrd's pitching.

Here are some answers to Scout.com questions; note Byrd's answers about his 2002 troubles:

Q: Would you talk about how you developed your wind up, the old fashioned, over the arms, can you talk about how that developed.

PAUL BYRD: Yes.
I started doing that in '02 when I was coming back from labrum surgery. I had labrum surgery in 2000, and my shoulder was bothering me. I don't say this to convert anybody, but I'm a Christian and I just prayed -- I could see the writing on the wall. I couldn't throw the ball very hard. So I went out when nobody was around, and I just prayed and said, hey, I'm not looking at You here for healing or anything like that, but I'd love to stay in the game. I don't know how that's possible because I'm throwing 81 and I need to do something to shake it up and be deceptive.

So I started swinging my arms kind of as a trial and error thing out on the back mound. Next day I took that into batting practice. Hitters said they didn't like it at all, they couldn't pick up the ball. I thought maybe I'm onto something here, and the motion in my delivery before I started gave me a little momentum, and I think that's helped, helped me through the years be deceptive and is kind of a neat way how I was able to stay in the game just by doing something totally different.

Q: Spring training 2002?
PAUL BYRD: Yeah, '02, and I had a good year with Kansas City, but I still had some significant shoulder pain. I never really threw the ball hard I'll say, but it did give me a little bit more zip on my fastball. Carlos Beltran was one of those guys that hit off me in batting practice, and they came over to me and said, hey, you may want to stick with that. It's really hard to pick up the ball.

So that's where it all started. Now that's sort of my trademark, and in a very average career, that's something that I've become known for a little bit.

With the help of prayer and HGH, Byrd composed a nice comeback from injury.

Several other questions:

How did the Chronicle obtain the documents; the paper has been relatively silent about the Internet pharmacy busts?
The 2002 Royal's roster included HGH/steroid busted pitcher Jason Grimsley; who else off that team might have been using PEDs?
Any links to Kansas City trainer Chris Mihlfeld, who was linked to Grimsley and other Royal players in the early 2000s? Mihlfeld worked as a trainer for the Royals until 2004.

From Fox Sports (note the bogus 'Adult HGH Deficiency'):

Yes, Indians right-hander Paul Byrd admits to taking human-growth hormone. In his upcoming book, "The Free Byrd Project," he even writes about resisting the temptation to use an increased dosage with the hope of throwing harder.

Byrd says he never hid his use of HGH because it was prescribed to him under a doctor's care. He paid for the substance with his own credit card. At one point, he had it sent in his name to the Braves' spring-training facility in Kissimmee, Fla.

And, he says, he no longer uses it.

But now, as Byrd prepares to possibly pitch in relief for the Indians Sunday night in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, his past use of HGH is an issue.

In an exclusive interview with FOXSports.com, Byrd did not dispute a San Francisco Chronicle report stating that he received nearly $25,000 worth of HGH and syringes from a Florida anti-aging clinic that was targeted by law enforcement for illegally distributing performance-enhancing drugs.

Byrd said that three different doctors diagnosed him as suffering from adult growth-hormone deficiency. In spring training, he said, he was diagnosed with a tumor on his pituitary gland at the base of his brain, a condition that may have contributed to his deficiency, doctors told him.

"I have not taken any hormone apart from a doctor's care and supervision," Byrd said. "The Indians, my coaches and MLB have known that I have had a pituitary gland issue for some time and have assisted me in getting blood tests in different states. I am currently working with an endocrinologist and will have another MRI on my head after the season to make sure that the tumor hasn't grown."

From the Chronicle:

Two of Byrd's prescriptions for growth hormones were not written by a physician, according to a law enforcement source. Instead, the prescriptions were written by a Florida dentist, said the source, who asked not to be quoted by name because he was not authorized to comment. The dentist's license was suspended in 2003 for fraud and incompetence, state records show.

Comments

How about getting a picture of Paul Byrd instead of Jake Westbrook? I know white people all look alike

Posted by: mike | 10/21/2007 at 14:54

Gosh darn it. Sorry about the mix up. This entire story caught everyone by surprise this morning; we rushed this out perhaps too soon. Thanks for the head's up.

This isn't so bad; once we put Kyle Farnsworth's pic for Mark Prior.

We guess all white people do look alike.

Posted by: GRG | 10/21/2007 at 16:11