• Palmeiro suspended • Carlyle takes over Ducks Palmeiro suspended NEW YORK — Rafael Palmeiro poked his finger in the air for emphasis and raised his voice with all the indignation of a man falsely accused. “I have never used
• Palmeiro suspended
• Carlyle takes over Ducks
Palmeiro suspended
NEW YORK — Rafael Palmeiro poked his finger in the air for emphasis and raised his voice with all the indignation of a man falsely accused.
“I have never used steroids. Period,” he told a congressional panel in March.
On Monday, nearly five months later, the Baltimore Orioles slugger became baseball’s highest-profile player to be suspended 10 days for using steroids.
While he didn’t deny testing positive for the drugs, he insisted that ingesting them was an accident.
The 40-year-old Palmeiro became the seventh player to fail a test under the toughened major league policy that took effect in March, rules criticized by Congress as not being stringent enough.
On July 15, Palmeiro joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the only players with 3,000 hits and 500 homers. Baseball would not say when the positive test occurred.
Without giving specifics, the four-time All-Star left the impression that the banned substance was contained in a supplement that was not pre-scribed. He said it was an “embarrassing situation” and still did not know what caused the positive test.
Palmeiro, who is currently in ninth place on the all-time home runs list with 569, wouldn’t predict whether his chances of being elected to the Hall of Fame were damaged.
Carlyle takes over Ducks
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Randy Carlyle was selected Monday as the new Anaheim Mighty Ducks coach, completing the makeover of a team that also has changed owners and general manager this year.
Carlyle, 49, replaces Mike Babcock, who left the Ducks to become the Detroit Red Wings’ coach.
Anaheim general manager Brian Burke had said he wanted an aggressive coach.
Carlyle said Burke’s philosophy as a general manager will mesh with his style as a coach.
He spent last season as coach of the Manitoba Moose of the AHL after serving as an assistant with the NHL’s Washington Capitals. He also has been on the staff of the Winnipeg Jets.
Carlyle earlier coached Manitoba from midseason of 1996 through 2001.
He had a 222-159-52-7 record in five seasons as coach at Manitoba, while the team was in the IHL and later the AHL. The Moose went 44-26-3-7 last season and reached the semifinals of the Calder Cup playoffs.
He also served at times as the team’s president and GM.
Carlyle spent 18 seasons in the NHL.
