Velarde testifies to use of HGH

He says trainer of Bonds supplied it

March 31, 2011|By Paul Elias, Associated Press

Randy Velarde leaves federal court after testifying in the Barry Bonds… (Paul Sakuma/Associated…)

Ex-major leaguer Randy Velarde testified yesterday that he purchased human growth hormone from Barry Bonds’s personal trainer throughout the 2002 season, making him the fourth big leaguer during Bonds’s perjury trial in San Francisco to admit drug use.

Velarde said the HGH gave him more “endurance and strength’’ and that personal trainer Greg Anderson would help him inject the performance-enhancing drug.

The 48-year-old Velarde was the latest athlete to testify about his desire to work with Anderson because of his connection to Bonds. The home run king experienced a surge in power after he teamed up with the trainer. Bonds owns the major league records for home runs in a career (762) and a season (73).

Velarde, who hit 100 home runs and batted .276 over a 16-year career, spent less than 15 minutes on the stand and testified that he never took two designer steroids that prosecutors allege Bonds knowingly used after getting them from Anderson.

Velarde, who played for the Yankees, Angels, Athletics, and Rangers, followed ex-Giant Marvin Benard to the stand. Benard, a Bonds teammate with the Giants, testified Anderson supplied him with the designer steroids dubbed the “clear’’ and “cream.’’

Prosecutors hope to use the players’ testimony to undercut Bonds’s position that Anderson misled him into using steroids by telling the seven-time MVP they were legal supplements.

At Humble, Texas, Roger Clemens said he’s eager to defend himself in federal court this summer on charges that he lied to a congressional committee about alleged steroid use.

The seven-time Cy Young winner was serving as a caddie for PGA Tour player Ryan Palmer in the pro-am event leading up to the Houston Open.

Clemens faces a trial in July on allegations that he lied to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in February 2008.

Prosecutors say Clemens lied when he testified he did not use steroids or HGH during his 23-season career.

“You almost hate to say you’re looking forward to it, but we’re looking forward to it,’’ Clemens said. “We’re going to have our say in a fair setting.’’