Congressman Tom Davis, R-Va., said Friday that former Baltimore Orioles slugger Rafael Palmeiro was likely telling the truth about not intentionally using steroids.
“We asked him about that and a lie-detector test showed he was probably telling the truth,” Davis said.
Davis said the lie-detector test was given as part of the congressional investigation into the use of steroids and that he believes that Palmeiro may have inadvertently injected steroids while using a shot of B-12.
Palmeiro, who batted .288 and hit 569 home runs during a 20-year career, testified in March 2005 at a congressional hearing on performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball and was firm in his assertion that he never used any Performance Enhancing Drugs as alleged in a book by former major league star Jose Canseco. In July, just four months after Palmeiro’s testimony, he tested positive for steroid use and was suspended in August. His career never recovered.
“We weren’t out to ruin careers,” said Davis of the reason why there was no presentation of this information at the time.
During the summer of 2005, Palmeiro remained adamant that he had never “knowingly” used steroids and expressed to various media outlets that he would never have used steroids in a season where he was going to knock in his 3,000th hit along with his 500-plus home runs to assure himself consideration for the Hall of Fame.
President George Bush, who was an ownership partner of the Texas Rangers when Palmeiro played in the Lone Star state, said at the time that he considered Palmeiro a friend and believed he was being truthful before Congress and during his denials after testing positive.
Calls to the Orioles seeking comment were not returned.
