May 9, 2007NEW YORK (AP) -- The medical records of Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro are being sought by investigators in baseball's steroids probe, The New York Times reported in Wednesday's editions.
The investigation, led by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, is seeking the files of dozens of other players, an unidentified baseball official with direct knowledge of the request told the Times.
Sosa and Palmeiro both played for Baltimore in 2005. The Times said investigators have also asked the Orioles to send medical records pertaining to Jason Grimsley, David Segui and Fernando Tatis to those players, hoping they will release them to Mitchell.
The Daily News reported in Wednesday's editions that Mitchell's panel wants information from former Orioles player Jerry Hairston Jr., along with Palmeiro, Segui and Tatis.
Major League Baseball and the players' union reached an agreement earlier this week that players will decide whether to release their medical records, unidentified baseball sources told the Daily News reported.
Under the compromise, when Mitchell asks for a player's history, the team will give it to the player. After that, the player will decide whether he wants to cooperate.
"We can't comment on any of that, the medical records," Mike Flanagan, the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations, told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.
Asked if he had been contacted by Mitchell's panel, Flanagan replied, "I have not."
Mitchell's staff has interviewed at least nine members of the Orioles' front office and training staff, and has checked at least six of their personal computers for evidence pertaining to performance-enhancing drugs, the Times said.
Mitchell told the Times on Tuesday: "While it is our practice not to comment on the investigation, any suggestion that the investigation is focused on any single team is incorrect."
Sosa, now with the Texas Rangers, declined to answer any questions after Tuesday night's game at Yankee Stadium.
Earlier Tuesday, Michael Weiner, general counsel for the players' union, told the AP there had not any developments in Mitchell's requests for interviews with active players or medical records.
Earlier this month, Mitchell said he expected interviews with active players to begin soon.
Mitchell, picked by commissioner Bud Selig last year to lead the investigation, does not have subpoena power and has faced resistance in his effort to interview players and get medical records.
Mitchell has not set a timetable for his report.
Updated on Wednesday, May 9, 2007 2:28 am EDT
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