From the San Francisco Chronicle’s Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wade.
Paul Byrd (above), the veteran pitcher who has helped the Cleveland Indians reach the brink of the World Series, bought nearly $25,000 worth of human growth hormone and syringes from a Florida anti-aging clinic that was targeted by law enforcement for illegally distributing performance-enhancing drugs, business records show.
Byrd made 13 purchases from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center between August 2002 and January 2005, according to the records. During those years, he pitched for the Kansas City Royals, the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Angels.
Paying with a credit card, Byrd spent $24,850 to buy more than 1,000 vials of growth hormone, an injectable prescription drug with muscle-building properties, and hundreds of syringes.
The records reviewed by The Chronicle included Byrd’s purchase and shipping orders, payment data and other information, including his birth date and Social Security number. The records were provided by a confidential news source, who said the orders were consistent with an athlete’s personal use of growth hormone.
You might recall the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center has been in the news a bit, recently, too, and it has nothing to do with Kelsey Grammer’s return to network televison.