Mitchell Denies Knowledge of Leak

Correction Appended

A day after Indians pitcher Paul Byrd's name emerged as a recipient of shipments of human growth hormone, baseball's investigator of performance-enhancing drugs said he played no role in releasing the information.

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George J. Mitchell, who is leading the investigation on behalf of baseball and is expected to issue his report shortly after the World Series, said in a written statement that he and his investigators had no knowledge of Byrd's ties to the substances.

"Neither I nor any member of my investigative staff had anything whatsoever to do with the publication of the allegations about Mr. Byrd," Mitchell said.

On Sunday, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Byrd received multiple shipments of H.G.H. and syringes between 2002 and 2005 from an anti-aging clinic for nearly ,000.

The clinic, Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center, has been investigated by the Albany County district attorney's office on the suspicion that it is part of a scheme to illegally distribute performance-enhancing drugs.

The revelation about Byrd came the day the Indians lost Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox. Mitchell, a former senator, is a director of the Red Sox. Mitchell does not own a portion of the team, although as a director he is a paid adviser to the team's ownership group.

Mitchell, who was appointed by Commissioner Bud Selig to conduct the investigation, has said his position with Boston will have no impact on his findings.

The firm where Mitchell serves as a partner, DLA Piper, which has an office in New York, received several calls from angry Indians fans yesterday contending Byrd's name had been leaked to distract the team as it was on the cusp of reaching the World Series.

"We had no prior knowledge of those allegations, and we first learned of them, along with the rest of the public, through news accounts," Mitchell said. "Any information obtained in my investigation will not be made public until the report is released in the near future."

Since the investigation by the district attorney's office surfaced in February, the names of more than a handful of major league players connected to performance-enhancing drugs have been revealed in published reports.

Under the league's testing policy, a player must tell a team physician that he is taking the medicine, or a player can apply to the league's independent program administrator for a therapeutic use exemption. If the player fails to, the league can suspend him if he is found in possession of the drug or tests positive.

The league has never granted an exemption for a player to use human growth hormone and it is not known if the team doctor knew Byrd was taking the substances.

LA RUSSA STAYS WITH CARDINALS Tony La Russa will return for his 13th season as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, agreeing to a two-year contract after a difficult season in which his team failed to reach .500. "I'm real pleased it worked out," La Russa said yesterday at a news conference. "I'm thrilled to be back."

Speculation that La Russa would leave heightened when the Cardinals fired General Manager Walt Jocketty this month. Jocketty and La Russa have been close since both were with Oakland. The Cardinals have yet to replace Jocketty.(AP)

TICKET PROBLEMS Rockies officials said last night that their computer system for online-only World Series ticket sales was the target of an "external malicious attack" that required a temporary suspension of ticket sales.

The team said it had a backup plan that would allow online ticket sales to resume at 2 p.m. Eastern today.

The team spokesman Jay Alves could not immediately provide details of the attack, but said the Rockies' ticket Web site would be back up.

Yesterday, there were 8.5 million attempts to connect with the computers in the first 90 minutes after sales started, the team said, and only several hundred tickets had been sold before the system had to be shut down.(AP)

MARINERS HIRE STOTTLEMYRE The Mariners overhauled their coaching staff, hiring Mel Stottlemyre, Jim Riggleman and Norm Charlton. Stottlemyre, a former pitching coach with the Yankees and the Mets, took the same position in Seattle. Riggleman, a former manager in the majors, will be the bench coach. And Charlton, who spent 13 seasons as a relief pitcher in the big leagues, is the bullpen coach.

The Mariners asked Larry Bowa, the Yankees' third-base coach, to take the same job with them. Bowa has asked for time to take care of a private issue, but indications are he will accept. (AP)

Correction: October 24, 2007

A sports article on Tuesday about the latest developments in George J. Mitchell's investigation of performance-enhancing drugs on behalf of Major League Baseball referred incorrectly to his role with the Boston Red Sox. As a director, he is a paid adviser to the team's ownership group; his compensation does not include future equity rights and, if the team were sold, he would not receive part of the sale proceeds.