Ex-clubhouse attendant played key role in Mitchell’s probe

ST. JAMES, N.Y. — As the names in the Mitchell Report were made public Thursday, the man who implicated many of the players remained in the shadows.

Former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges that he dealt steroids to pro baseball players for a decade. He then retreated to his auto-detailing business on Long Island while cooperating with former Sen. George Mitchell on his report on performance-enhancing drugs in the sport.

At Radomski’s shop Thursday, an athletic-looking man in a black jacket who identified himself as Radomski said he had no comment. “Talk to my lawyer,” he said. “This is private property. Please leave.”

Radomski runs the Pro Touch Detail Center. The doors were locked Thursday morning, but workers could be seen in the two-bay garage through the tinted windows.

Radomski has not spoken publicly about the investigation as he awaits sentencing, but he outlined his steroid dealing to pro ballplayers during four meetings with Mitchell.

The report said Radomski provided steroids and human growth hormone linked to several prominent players, including Roger Clemens, Paul Lo Duca, Mo Vaughn, Lenny Dykstra and Andy Pettitte.

Radomski worked for the New York Mets as a batboy and then clubhouse attendant for a decade beginning in 1985. He later used the contacts he made while with the Mets to go into business selling steroids and other drugs to ballplayers.

The report shows how cozy Radomski was with his clients. He sent steroid shipments directly to players’ homes. And there’s a copy of a note to Radomski purported to be from Paul Lo Duca on Dodgers Stadium stationery saying, “THANKS, CALL me if you need Anything! Paul.”

One of Radomski’s main contacts was former New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays conditioning coach Brian McNamee. He bought steroids from Radomski and gave them to Clemens, Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch, personally injecting Clemens on several occasions, according to the report.

McNamee occasionally acknowledged good performances by Knoblauch or Clemens by “dropping hints” to Radomski, such as “he’s on the program now,” the report said.

Radomski also sold human growth hormone to Vaughn to help him recover from an ankle injury in 2001. He said he did not sell Vaughn steroids because the former Red Sox slugger was “afraid of the big needles,” according to the Mitchell report.

The Mitchell report also contains copies of checks sent from several ballplayers to Radomski.

Another glimpse of Radomski’s influence over the steroids scandal was contained in federal court papers as part of his criminal case. The papers, while heavily redacted, show how an FBI informant connected with Radomski and learned he was a major figure in dealing steroids to ballplayers.

In a conversation on Sept. 30, 2005, Radomski gave the informant a clue into how deep the steroid scandal ran in baseball.

The informant quoted Radomski as saying that if you “thought Jose Canseco’s steroid tell-all book was big,” he could write a “similar book that would be far more significant than Canseco’s.”