Garner: PED use not new

WASHINGTON — Many sports fans equate baseball’s steroid era with the late 1990s and early 2000s. But did the sport start having a performance-enhancing drug problem more than a decade before that?

Ex-major league infielder and manager Phil Garner testified at the Roger Clemens perjury trial Thursday that he knew a player who was “stacking” steroids and human growth hormone in 1987, Garner’s second-tolast season as a player.

Garner also said he had firsthand knowledge of one other player using PEDs and another player told him of his steroid use when Garner was managing the Detroit Tigers in 2001. Both were position players, Garner said.

“Yes, I think we had a (drug) problem,” Garner said. “I had heard (Jose) Canseco and Ken Caminiti say the numbers were upwards of 50%; I didn’t think it was that much.

“You might argue that if two players were doing it, then it’s a significant problem. Somewhere between one or two and 50%, it was a problem we needed to take care of.”

Garner said he did not take any action against the players who admitted drug use to him, though he encouraged one to stop for health reasons. Garner also said he thought the drug use started with the younger players and “filtered up” to the veterans.

Garner said he didn’t know any pitchers were using steroids, except the ones he read about in the Mitchell Report.

“Are you aware Mr. Clemens was named in the Mitchell Report?” prosecutor Steven Durham asked, referring to the 2007 investigation, led by former Sen. George Mitchell, that named players alleged to have used steroids. “Yes,” Garner said. Clemens is charged with lying to Congress in 2008 when he said he never used performance-enhancing drugs. The perjury trial is in its seventh week.

Garner, a defense witness, spent a few hours regaling the courtroom with stories about Clemens’ pitching and leadership while Garner was managing Clemens for the Houston Astros from 2004 to 2006. He praised Clemens’ work ethic and said though his pitching wasn’t overpowering late in his career, Clemens outsmarted foes.

Garner said Clemens never discussed steroids with him. Garner said he was “totally surprised” to see Clemens’ name in the Mitchell Report.