NEW YORK – A day after the last home opener at the House that Ruth Built was washed out, the Yankees were hit with a much bigger bombshell: a former player says that shortstop and team captain Derek Jeter, the face of the franchise for the past decade, took steroids and other performance-enhancing substances.

The source of the allegations is ex-Yankee pitcher Dan Naulty, who was named in the Mitchell Report and has since admitted his use of steroids. Naulty has been outspoken in his statements that steroid use was rampant in the major leagues during the time that he pitched. Naulty appeared in 33 games for the Yankees’ World Series-winning squad in 1999, when Jeter was in his fifth season with the Bombers.

According to Naulty, Jeter was a regular user of steroids as well as human growth hormone (HGH), a substance that former Yankee Andy Pettitte has admitted to using once. Naulty said that Jeter “always looks cool on the outside, but believe me, it was eating him up to see guys like [Mark] McGwire and [Sammy] Sosa get all the headlines. He’s human, just like the rest of us.”

When asked why he had remained silent about Jeter until this point, Naulty said that despite the steroid use, he “respected Jeter a lot, especially the way he plays the game,” and did not want to tarnish the Yankee great’s legacy. But upon further reflection, he decided that “the truth was going to come out one way or another, and it might as well be now. It’s just not fair that he gets a free pass and the spotlight is on [Barry] Bonds and [Roger] Clemens.”

Jeter is hardly the first Yankee to be tainted by allegations of steroid use. Clemens, Pettitte, and Jason Giambi, as well as several lesser players, were all named in the Mitchell Report. But if proven, these allegations would almost certainly be the most significant ones yet to rock baseball, given Jeter’s reputation as a clean player and leader of the most celebrated franchise in the sport.

Neither general manager Brian Cashman nor manager Joe Girardi would comment on the allegations.

tags: Sports

Source: Ex-Yankee: Jeter Used Steroids, HGH

                        

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