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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2009 > January > 24
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Braves prospect Schafer denies using HGH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If Jordan Schafer was concerned that his reputation in baseball would forever be tarnished by last year’s 50-game suspension for using human growth hormone, the cleansing process probably started Saturday.
Schafer, the Braves’ top prospect and potential future center fielder, denied ever taking HGH or any other performance-enhancing drug for the first time Saturday. He blamed the suspension on “being caught hanging around a bad group of people,” and not speaking up when he was aware that doping was going on around him.
Schafer initially balked at discussing specifics about the suspension, which came down last April, saying: “There’s not much to say about it. I took my penalty. I took my punishment. Really I’m just trying to move on.”
He reiterated previous comments about “accepting responsibility,” apologized to the Braves and added, “I should’ve made better choices with my life. Now I choose my friends wisely.”
But when pressed about his use of performance-enhancing drugs and failing a test, he said: “I’ve never failed a test. I’ve taken 20 drug tests, and I’ve never failed one. I didn’t take anything.”
Baseball tests for performance-enhancing drugs but not HGH. Schafer was suspended for anecdotal evidence in an investigation of HGH. It has never been disclosed what that evidence was.
Schafer said he spoke to Braves general manager Frank Wren last April before the suspension was announced, commenting, “Frank told me what was going to happen and he wanted to know, ‘Are you going to apologize?’ At first it was really rough for me to accept. I was thinking, ‘This isn’t right.’ I wanted to fight it. But I was told there was nothing I can do. I really couldn’t appeal it. And I didn’t want to go to the media, where I was like Barry Bonds or Rogers Clemens. People think poorly of them just because all they do is deny, deny, deny. Whereas [Andy] Pettitte came out and took responsibility for his actions and the fans are giving him a second chance.
“So I was taking responsibility for what I did — and I was wrong for being around that. I should’ve never gotten around the situation. I never took a steroid or anything to make me better. But at the same time, I knew what was going on and I hung around those people and I didn’t say anything.”
He declined to go into further detail about what he knew, but said: “Somebody out there was trying to get me. Somebody was trying to attack me. It was totally wrong. But again, nobody forced me to make those decisions and hang around those people. I accept that responsibility.”
Wren did not directly respond to Schafer’s claims, saying, “My only comment is that Jordan has handled the past year appropriately. He has been working hard to be a part of the club. We want to look forward.”
Schafer was considered the Braves’ heir apparent to Andruw Jones in center field. The acquisition of Mark Kotsay last season was viewed as a one-year bridge to the rookie. But the suspension knocked out 50 games and set Schafer back. He hit .269 with 10 homers and 51 RBI in 84 games with Double-A Mississippi.
Even with the position unsettled going into spring training, Schafer acknowledges that he might have to start the year with Triple-A Gwinnett. But he is OK with that.
“I’m just glad it’s all behind me and I can have fun again,” he said. “Before I always wondered what people thought of me.
“It feels good to kind of get this off my chest. This is me. I don’t want people to think badly about me. But I understand some will have their own opinion. Some will talk behind your back. I can understand why some people wouldn’t like me or wouldn’t want me to succeed. But at the same time, I’ve moved on.”
He repeated apologies. He repeated that he was “around stuff, and I shouldn’t have been there.”
“Like they say: If ‘You hang around dogs long enough, you’re going to catch fleas,’” he said.
He also understands why players would be tempted to use performance-enhancing drugs.
“There’s always pressure in the game,” he said. “Unless you’re Chipper [Jones] or a Hall of Famer, there’s always somebody there to take your job. Unfortunately people make bad decisions.”
He is only 22. For some reason, he feels older.
“The past year really has made me grow and mature a lot,” he said. “You find out who your friends are. You find out who you can trust. You find out a lot about yourself as a person, what kind of character you have, and sometimes you want to fight back and get mad at them. But you have to step back. You made your own choices. You made your own mistakes. You have to blame yourself for things that happened.”
More on Schafer
• Schafer suspended for 50 games
• Schafer was targeted of baseball’s new investigative department
• Schafer returns swinging from suspension
• Braves’ prospect talks about his time in the minors
• Schafer injured in winter ball
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