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Report: Giambi, Sosa, Schilling Among Seven To Be Subpoenaed

Posted: 12:37 am EST March 9, 2005

Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa and Curt Schilling will reportedly receive subpoenas to testify on March 17 before the House Government Reform Committee regarding steroids. The Baltimore Sun reported that subpoenas will start going out Wednesday, and Rafael Palmeiro, Frank Thomas, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire will also be called to appear at the hearing.

Tom Davis (R-VA), chairman of the Committee, and Henry Waxman (D-CA), ranking minority member, announced on Tuesday they received notice several medical experts and family members who have been affected by the use of steroids will testify at the hearing.

"I believe it is important for the Committee to hear from medical experts and impacted families on the scope of the steroid problem nationwide," Davis said.

The Sun reported baseball commissioner Bud Selig and union head Donald Fehr were also likely to appear at the hearing, but they may not receive subpoenas.

"These witnesses have voluntarily agreed to share their expertise and experiences with the Committee, and I hope the players and league officials will follow suit," Waxman added.

Last month brought the official release of Canseco's book entitled, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big." In it, Canseco, admits to using steroids during his career and accuses a number of ex- teammates -- notably Giambi, McGwire, Ivan Rodriguez, Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez -- of also using steroids.

Giambi, who turned 34 in January, clubbed 41 homers and drove in 107 runs in 2003, the season in which he admitted to using several steroids provided from Barry Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The newspaper reported Giambi, in his federal grand jury testimony, described how he used syringes to inject the human growth hormone into his stomach and testosterone into his buttocks.

Giambi issued a blanket apology during a press conference last month, but never admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs and said due to legal issues he wouldn't talk about his testimony given following the 2003 season.

Bonds and Gary Sheffield also testified before the grand jury and are also at the center of the BALCO controversy.

Some of the other key members to testify on March 17 will be Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse for the National Institutes of Health; Gary Wadler, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the New York University School of Medicine; and Kirk Brower, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Parents of two former high school/college athletes, who committed suicide after steroid abuse, will also testify. Donald Hooton, the father of high school baseball player, Taylor Hooton, who committed suicide after steroid abuse, will appear before the Committee. Taylor Hooton, a cousin of former major league pitcher Burt Hooton, committed suicide by hanging himself on July 15, 2003. Don Hooton has said it's likely that his son's secret use of anabolic steroids resulted in depression that was serious enough to cause Taylor, who was a standout pitcher in Plano, Texas, to take his own life.

Ray and Denise Garibaldi, parents of former USC baseball player, Rob Garibaldi, who committed suicide after steroid abuse, will also testify.

Major League Baseball's steroid testing program has come under fire in recent years, but a new testing in effect this year policy calls for tougher penalties. A first-time offender will be suspended for 10 days. Second-time offenders will be suspended for 30 days. Third-time offenders will be suspended for 60 days. Fourth-time offenders will be suspended for one year and all suspensions will be without pay.

Under the new agreement, every player will undergo at least one unannounced test on a randomly selected date during the playing season. There is no specific limit on the number of tests to which any player may randomly be subjected, and it includes random testing during the off-season.

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