Baker: Suspicions Taint All Players

Dusty Baker thinks suspicions over which baseball players are using steroids smacks of a McCarthy witch hunt.

“I hate steroids. I knew Lyle Alzado,” the Chicago Cub manager said Tuesday, referring to the NFL star who died of cancer after acknowledging several years of steroid use.

Although Baker said, “I’ve got my own ideas about guys around the league,” he said all players are being tainted.

“It’s like McCarthyism or something. They’re looking to see who looks like a communist,” he said.

“I’ll probably get in trouble for that too, but that’s how I equate it,” Baker added. “ ‘Oh, he lost weight. He gained weight.’ ”

Baseball has been under a cloud of suspicion for steroid use for years, as players got bigger and offensive numbers skyrocketed. Anonymous survey testing last season showed 5%-7% of the tests were positive, and Barry Bonds’ personal trainer has told federal agents he gave steroids to several baseball players.

Bonds’ trainer, Greg Anderson, was among four men charged this month in an alleged steroid-distribution ring. All the men have pleaded not guilty, and no athletes have been charged.

*

Noticeably trimmer to most everyone at Yankee camp, Jason Giambi explained that better eating habits and hard workouts had left him leaner. He emphasized one more thing: Steroids had never been a part of his diet.

Giambi said he’d lost four pounds, down to 228, during the off-season by cutting back on fast foods and doing extensive rehab from knee surgery. His chest, biceps and legs appeared smaller -- enough so that many people did a double take when they first saw him walk through the clubhouse.

“My weight is almost exactly the same,” he said. “Just cleaning it up and losing some of that excess body fat I had.”

*

Free agent Travis Lee and the Yankees reached agreement on a $2.25-million, one-year contract, giving New York another option at first base in case Giambi’s surgically repaired knee is shaky.

The deal is pending the results of a physical. If the deal becomes official, it would raise the Yankee payroll to $186.7 million for 26 signed players.

*

Philadelphia closer Billy Wagner will be sidelined for a week because of an inflamed finger that caused pain during a workout.

Wagner reported soreness in his left hand after his 40-pitch session.

An MRI exam showed no structural damage to the middle finger of his throwing hand. Wagner was prescribed anti-inflammatory medicine and fitted with a splint.

*

Seattle reliever Rafael Soriano will be sidelined for three to four weeks after an MRI exam revealed a strained muscle on his left side.

The 24-year-old right-hander was throwing off the mound Monday when he felt a pinch in his left abdomen.

*

Nomar Garciaparra was hurt by Boston’s attempt to trade him during the off-season and was surprised to be back with the Red Sox for 2004.

At times, Garciaparra didn’t think he would be back. If the Red Sox had acquired Alex Rodriguez from Texas for Manny Ramirez, they planned to deal their longtime shortstop to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Magglio Ordonez. The White Sox, in turn, might have sent Garciaparra to the Dodgers.

“I was definitely hurt by a lot of it. I probably feel like anyone else would feel after spending their whole career in one organization,” Garciaparra said.