Doubt Shadows Palmeiro

Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for one of the oldest and easily detected steroids, two New York newspapers reported in today’s editions, casting doubt upon Palmeiro’s suggestion that he was tripped up by a tainted dietary supplement.

The Baltimore Oriole slugger tested positive for stanolozol, the New York Times and Newsday reported, citing unidentified sources. The steroid is most notably associated with Ben Johnson, the Canadian sprinter whose positive drug test cost him his gold medal in the 100 meters at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Palmeiro, one of four players in major league history with 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, was suspended on Monday for violating baseball’s new steroid policy. He said Monday that he had “never intentionally used steroids” and said he “wasn’t able to explain ... how the banned substance entered my body.”

Stanolozol, also known under the brand name of Winstrol, can be taken in pill form or via injection, said Don Catlin, head of the anti-doping laboratory at UCLA, which conducts Olympic-style drug testing.

Catlin said supplement contamination is occasionally associated with nandrolone, another steroid, but rarely with stanolozol. “It’s certainly not at all common, nothing like nandrolone,” Catlin said.

Gary Wadler, a New York University medical school professor and a noted steroid expert, told Newsday: “If it’s stanolozol, it was a deliberate act. The likelihood of sabotage is remote and improbable.”

In his book “Juiced,” Jose Canseco wrote that Palmeiro had used Winstrol when the two played together with the Texas Rangers. In testimony before Congress on March 17, Palmeiro said, “I have never used steroids. Period.” and added, “The reference to me in Mr. Canseco’s book is absolutely false.”

The injectable form of stanolozol could be detected in the body for as long as three to four weeks, Catlin said. The steroid has been readily detectable in drug tests for two decades.

“It’s a very straightforward kind of case,” Catlin said.

The Baltimore Orioles arrived in Anaheim on Tuesday. Palmeiro, their suspended slugger, left the team and returned to his Texas home.

“We support him,” Baltimore shortstop Miguel Tejada said. “We’re going to wait for him to come back and treat him the same way.”

Tejada said the positive test surprised him.

“It’s not only me -- everybody is surprised,” he said. “Anybody can make a mistake in this game. He just made a mistake. He didn’t kill anybody.”

Palmeiro’s contention, whether true or false, revived debate in clubhouses about whether players should risk taking supplements. The Angels’ Adam Kennedy said he no longer uses them.

“In the past, I have,” he said. “At this point, I’m a little hesitant.”

Seattle Mariner pitcher Ryan Franklin, whose suspension was announced Tuesday, said he had stopped taking supplements after being notified of his positive test.

“I’ll never take them again,” he said in Detroit. “I won’t even take a vitamin until I’m done with baseball.”

Catcher Josh Paul, the Angels’ representative to the players’ union, said players have no excuse for not knowing what they put into their bodies. A list of banned substances is distributed in spring training, he said.

“There’s 30 or 40 names on that list and you can’t pronounce most of them,” Angel pitcher Paul Byrd said.

If a player is confused, trainers can check a product label against the list of banned substances. The union also works with players who wish to send out suspicious products for independent testing, Paul said.

He also said the union was working with the commissioner’s office to license a manufacturer to produce supplements certified free of banned substances.

That might not ease all the concerns of Byrd, who keeps a shelf full of nutritional supplements in his locker. Today, he trusts these powders and capsules to help his career. Tomorrow, who knows? If Byrd consumes what he believes are clean products and then tests positive for steroids, explanations and excuses will not be tolerated.

“You know what my biggest fear is?” Byrd said. “You’re on the road, and somebody -- maybe a clubhouse kid, or somebody from another team -- could put something in your supplements that wasn’t originally there.

“I could plead my case, but who would believe me? That would scare me. That’s the biggest fear I have in this. What do you do if that happens? How do I plead my case?”

Times staff writer Alan Abrahamson contributed to this report.