McGwire used ‘juice,’ dealers say

The recipe called for one-half cc of testosterone cypionate every three days; one cc of testosterone enanthate per week; equipoise and winstrol v, one-quarter cc every three days, injected into the buttocks, one in one cheek, one in the other.

It was the cocktail of a hardcore steroids user, and it is one of the “arrays” Mark McGwire used to become the biggest thing in baseball in the 1990s, sources have told the New York Daily News.

Long before Jose Canseco claimed he injected McGwire in the behind in his tell-all autobiography “Juiced,” the man known as Big Mac denied ever using illegal steroids. But according to FBI sources, McGwire’s name came up several times during “Operation Equine,” a landmark anabolic steroids investigation that led to 70 trafficking convictions in the early 1990s. No evidence against McGwire or any other steroid user was collected, and one former agent who worked undercover in the case says McGwire was not a target.

But two dealers caught in Operation Equine told the Daily News that a California man named Curtis Wenzlaff provided Jose Canseco and McGwire, among others, with illegal anabolic steroids. One informant in the case says Wenzlaff injected McGwire at a gym in Southern California on several occasions, and established “arrays” of performce-enhancing drugs such as the aforementioned cocktail.

Reached by the Daily News, a former member of the gym where Wenzlaff and McGwire allegedly worked out together – Racquetball World in Fountain Valley, Calif. – said he saw them work out together “maybe five times” and that the two discussed using steroids in his presence.

“No comment,” said Wenzlaff when asked to confirm the accounts.

Representatives for Canseco and McGwire said the former players did not remember meeting Wenzlaff, and were not aware their names came up in the FBI’s investigation, although an FBI source provided the News with previous telephone numbers for Canseco and McGwire and a pager number for Canseco from Wenzlaff’s old phone book.

Selig defends program, players

Commissioner Bud Selig is unhappy about the upcoming congressional hearing on steroids because he thinks baseball has already adopted a strong testing program.

The House Government Reform Committee has subpoenaed seven current or former players and four baseball executives to testify at a hearing March 17. The commissioner’s office has said it will fight the subpoenas.

“I am very protective of the players, and there has to be a sense of fairness,” Selig said. “If I sound a bit elevated, it is for that reason. We made agreements and we are doing the things we promised to do.”

Under pressure from Congress, baseball and its players agreed in January to a tougher steroid-testing program that added penalties for first-time offenders (10-day suspensions) and random, year-round tests.

Wells ready for anything

David Wells allowed two runs in his first outing of spring training Saturday, then looked ahead to his regular-season debut with the Boston Red Sox.

It could come on opening night against his old team, the Yankees, when the longtime rivals meet April 3 in New York. Boston ace Curt Schilling might not be ready yet after off-season ankle surgery.

“I don’t have any problem with it,” Wells said. “I don’t mind taking the ball in any game no matter what, especially a big game, and the first game of the season is going to be a big game. Boston’s coming in there world champions and New York is pretty bitter about what happened last year.”

Around the league

Texas Rangers closer Francisco Cordero is ready to face hitters for the first time this spring. The record-setting closer, who has been limited by a sore shoulder, is scheduled to throw a simulated game Monday. … Yankees right fielder Gary Sheffield missed an exhibition game against a Philadelphia Phillies spilt-squad with a right hip flexor injury. … Andy Pettitte of the Houston Astros was scratched from his scheduled start against the Cleveland Indians because of a sprained right ankle. … Phillies right-hander Vicente Padilla will be sidelined for two weeks, then have his tender right elbow re-evaluated. An MRI on Monday confirmed Padilla has triceps tendinitis. … Kansas City closer Jeremy Affeldt left with a strained left groin in the Royals’ 2-1 loss to San Francisco.