‘I Will Not ... Participate in Naming Names’

Mark McGwire, a retired slugger who ranks sixth in major league history with 583 career home runs: “I will use whatever influence and popularity that I have to discourage young athletes from taking any drug that is not recommended by a doctor. What I will not do, however, is participate in naming names and implicating my friends and teammates.”

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Sammy Sosa of the Baltimore Orioles, in prepared testimony read by his lawyer: “Everything I have heard about steroids and human growth hormones is that they are very bad for you, even lethal. I would never put anything dangerous like that in my body. Nor would I encourage other people to use illegal performance-enhancing drugs.”

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Rep. Thomas M. Davis (R-Va.): “We’re not interested in embarrassing anyone or ruining careers or grandstanding. This is not a witch hunt. ... Today’s hearing will not be the end of our inquiry. Far from it. Nor will Major League Baseball be our sole or even primary focus. We’re in the first inning of what could be an extra-inning ball game.”

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Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles): “Over the past century, baseball has been part of our social fabric. It helped restore normalcy after war, provided the playing field where black athletes like Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, and inspired civic pride in communities across the country. Now America is asking baseball for integrity. An unequivocal statement against cheating. An unimpeachable policy. And a reason for all of us to have faith in the sport again.”

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Bud Selig, baseball commissioner: “Major League Baseball has always recognized the influence that our stars can have on the youth of America. As such, we are concerned that recent revelations and allegations of steroid use have been sending a terrible message to young people.”

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Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.): “Baseball’s policy needs to be one of zero tolerance and it needs to have teeth.”

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Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Assn.: “Playing major league baseball requires talent, drive, intelligence, determination and grit. Steroids have no place in the equation.”

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Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), a former pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996: “Go ask Henry Aaron, go ask the family of Roger Maris, go ask all of the people who played without enhanced drugs if they would like their records compared with the current records.”

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Donald Hooton of Plano, Texas, father of a high school baseball player who committed suicide in 2003 after steroid use: “Players that are guilty of taking steroids are not only cheaters, you are cowards.... Show our kids that you’re man enough to face authority, tell the truth and face the consequences. Instead, you hide behind the skirts of your union, and with the help of management and your lawyers you’ve made every effort to resist facing the public today.”

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Denise Garibaldi of Petaluma, mother of a college player who used steroids and committed suicide in 2002: “There’s no doubt in our minds that steroids killed our son. Ultimately we do blame Rob for his use.... However, with his sports heroes as examples, and Major League Baseball’s blind eye, Rob’s decision was a product of erroneous information and promises.”

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Jose Canseco, who has acknowledged using steroids during a career in which he hit 462 home runs. He also alleged in a best-selling book he wrote that McGwire and other major leaguers used steroids: “My heart and condolences go out to those families who lost their children to use of steroids.... After this hearing, I will be happy to work with them in whatever way I can to help convey to the youth of America the message that steroid use is unnecessary to be a great athlete and that they are harmful to use to those who take them.”

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Curt Schilling, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, referring to Canseco’s book: “The allegations made in that book, the attempts to smear the names of players both past and present, having been made by one who for years vehemently denied steroid use, should be seen for what they are: an attempt to make money at the expense of others.”