Chapter[ VIII. Information Obtained Regarding Other Players’ Possession or Use of
Steroids and Human Growth Hormone ]
Section[ Paul Lo Duca ]
Paul Lo Duca
Paul Lo Duca is a catcher who has played with three teams in Major League
Baseball since 1998, the Los Angeles Dodgers (7 seasons), Florida Marlins (2 seasons), and
New York Mets (2 seasons). He has appeared in four All-Star games.
Todd Hundley referred Lo Duca to Radomski when Lo Duca played for the
Dodgers. Radomski estimated that he engaged in six or more transactions with Lo Duca. In
some transactions, Radomski sent the performance enhancing substances by overnight mail to
Lo Duca’s home or to the Dodgers clubhouse and Lo Duca sent Radomski a check a week or so
later.
415 See Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim, Documents: Hairston received HGH;
Bogus prescriptions at heart of probe; Player ‘baffled,’ SI.com, Mar. 2, 2007.
416 Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim, Rx for Trouble: Inside the Steroid Sting,
Sports Illustrated, Mar. 12, 2007, at 62.
417 Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim, Documents: Hairston received HGH;
Bogus prescriptions at heart of probe; Player “‘baffled,” SI.com, Mar. 2, 2007.
208
Radomski produced copies of three checks from Lo Duca, each in the amount of
$3,200. All are included in the Appendix. Radomski said that each check was in payment for
two kits of human growth hormone.
Lo Duca’s name, with an address and telephone number, is listed in the address
book seized from Radomski’s residence by federal agents. During that search, federal agents
also seized a note from Lo Duca to Radomski. It read:
Kirk,
Sorry! But for some reason they sent the check back to me.
I haven’t been able to call you back because my phone is TOAST! I have
a new # it is [Lo Duca’s phone number is listed here]. Please leave your #
again because I lost all of my phonebook with the other phone.
Thanks
Paul
In 2002, Lo Duca was quoted by Sports Illustrated in an article responding to Ken
Caminiti’s admission of steroid use. Lo Duca was reported to have said: “If you’re battling for a
job, and the guy you’re battling with is using steroids, then maybe you say, ‘Hey, to compete,
I need to use steroids because he’s using them . . . Don’t get me wrong. I don’t condone it. But
it’s a very tough situation. It’s really all about survival for some guys.”418
According to the notes of an internal discussion among Los Angeles Dodgers
officials in October 2003 that were referred to above, it was reportedly said of Lo Duca during
the meetings:
Steroids aren’t being used anymore on him. Big part of this.
Might have some value to trade . . . Florida might have interest.
. . . Got off the steroids . . . Took away a lot of hard line drives.
. . . Can get comparable value back would consider trading. . . . If
you do trade him, will get back on the stuff and try to show you he
418 The Steroid Fallout: Baseball Tries to Figure Out How to Deal with Latest Scandal,
SI.com, May 29, 2002.
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can have a good year. That’s his makeup. Comes to play. Last
year of contract, playing for 05.419
On June 26, 2004, Lo Duca wrote a check to Radomski for $3,200. On July 30,
2004, the Dodgers traded Lo Duca, Guillermo Mota, and Juan Encarnacion to the Marlins.420 On
August 7, 2004, Lo Duca issued another check to Radomski for $3,200. In January 2005,
Lo Duca signed a three-year contract with the Marlins.
The handwritten note shown below on Dodger Stadium stationary from Lo Duca
to Radomski was seized from Radomski’s house during a search by federal agents. Radomski
said that this note was included with a check Lo Duca sent Radomski as payment for human
growth hormone.
419 See supra at 131 (discussing notes and meetings).
420 See Jack Curry, Johnson Stays, but Garciaparra Goes to Cubs, N.Y. Times, Aug. 1,
2007, at Sports 1.
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In order to provide Lo Duca with information about these allegations and to give
him an opportunity to respond, I asked him to meet with me; he declined.
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