Veteran major-league outfielder Jose Guillen, who played part of the 2003 season for the division-champion A's, bought thousands of dollars of steroids and human growth hormone from a troubled Florida anti-aging clinic and had some of the drugs shipped to the Oakland Coliseum, business records show.
Two other major-league players who have since retired also bought performance-enhancing drugs from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center, which was targeted this year in a law-enforcement investigation of suspected illegal drug sales.
Matt Williams, the Giants' star third baseman for 10 years, bought $11,600 worth of growth hormone, steroids and other drugs in 2002, when he was playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks, according to the records. In a phone interview Monday, Williams said a doctor advised him to try growth hormone to heal a serious ankle injury he suffered during spring training in 2002.
Journeyman pitcher Ismael Valdez bought $11,300 worth of performance-enhancing drugs in 2002 after he was traded from the Texas Rangers to the Seattle Mariners, the records show.
Guillen, an 11-year veteran who played for the Seattle Mariners last season, ordered more than $19,000 worth of drugs from the center between May 2002 and June 2005, according to the records.
Some prescriptions for the three players were written not by a doctor but by a Florida dentist whose license later was suspended for fraud and incompetence, records show. The same dentist prescribed growth hormone to Paul Byrd, the Cleveland Indians pitcher previously identified by The Chronicle as buying nearly $25,000 worth of growth hormone through the same anti-aging clinic. Byrd acknowledged using the substance but said it was prescribed by a doctor to treat adult hormone deficiency, a rare condition that affects about 1 in 8,500 adults in the United States.
Two other major-league players who have since retired also bought performance-enhancing drugs from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center, which was targeted this year in a law-enforcement investigation of suspected illegal drug sales.
Matt Williams, the Giants' star third baseman for 10 years, bought $11,600 worth of growth hormone, steroids and other drugs in 2002, when he was playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks, according to the records. In a phone interview Monday, Williams said a doctor advised him to try growth hormone to heal a serious ankle injury he suffered during spring training in 2002.
Journeyman pitcher Ismael Valdez bought $11,300 worth of performance-enhancing drugs in 2002 after he was traded from the Texas Rangers to the Seattle Mariners, the records show.
Guillen, an 11-year veteran who played for the Seattle Mariners last season, ordered more than $19,000 worth of drugs from the center between May 2002 and June 2005, according to the records.
Some prescriptions for the three players were written not by a doctor but by a Florida dentist whose license later was suspended for fraud and incompetence, records show. The same dentist prescribed growth hormone to Paul Byrd, the Cleveland Indians pitcher previously identified by The Chronicle as buying nearly $25,000 worth of growth hormone through the same anti-aging clinic. Byrd acknowledged using the substance but said it was prescribed by a doctor to treat adult hormone deficiency, a rare condition that affects about 1 in 8,500 adults in the United States.
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