Several non-playing members of the Baltimore Orioles organization are scheduled to be interviewed next week as part of the investigation led by former Senate majority leader George J. Mitchell into performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. Although the Mitchell investigation has requested interviews with personnel from all 30 teams, the Orioles' indirect involvement in the two biggest drug controversies of the past 12 months could make them of particular interest.

According to multiple team sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because team personnel have been asked not to discuss the investigation, investigators will interview Orioles Manager Sam Perlozzo, strength and conditioning coach Tim Bishop and at least one member of the front office.

H. Russell Smouse, the Orioles' general counsel, declined to comment about the interviews. However, one source said the team will be providing legal counsel for its personnel, and that Smouse has scheduled a meeting with them next Tuesday in advance of the interviews. No firm date has been set for the interviews, but a source with knowledge of the scheduling said they likely would take place in the middle of next week.

The Orioles would be at least the second team to be interviewed by the Mitchell investigators, who began their probe for Major League Baseball in March in the wake of allegations of steroid use involving San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds.

Minnesota Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire and two coaches met with investigators for about 90 minutes on Tuesday, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

John J. Clarke Jr., an aide to Mitchell, declined to comment on the investigation. However, he told the Kansas City Star last week that the investigators "have requested interviews of on-field coaches and front-office executives" of all 30 teams.

The Washington Nationals are in the process of scheduling team personnel interviews with investigators, according to team president Tony Tavares. The Oakland Athletics are trying to schedule interviews with investigators and will be providing legal representation to their employees, according to a team source.

The Mitchell investigation also is seeking to interview players, but those efforts have been hampered by the publicity stemming from an IRS raid on the home of then-Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jason Grimsley this month, as well as the ongoing federal investigation into Bonds.

Grimsley, who pitched for the Orioles in 2004 and 2005, acknowledged using steroids, amphetamines and human growth hormone, according to a search warrant affidavit released to the media, and allegedly also named other players who used the drugs. Grimsley's lawyer later said investigators asked Grimsley to wear a recording device in an attempt to implicate Bonds.

"Unfortunately, it creates an issue for Senator Mitchell. People don't want to talk to him if they think they'll be exposed to a federal criminal investigation," said Washington lawyer Stanley M. Brand, who represented MLB at the March 2005 hearing by the House Government Reform Committee into steroid use in professional sports. "And Mitchell can't do much [to compel testimony] because he doesn't have subpoena power."

According to multiple media reports, players' union chief Donald Fehr has sent two memos to players asking them to notify the union of any contact from the Mitchell investigation and warning them not to speak to investigators without legal representation. That stance "makes it very difficult" for the investigators, Brand said. "I'm not saying it's insurmountable. There are other people the Mitchell investigation can talk to."

According to player and team sources on several teams, clubs are urging players to cooperate with the Mitchell probe. However, it is unclear if players have received direction from the union about the degree to which they should cooperate. "The players so far are unconcerned. They know they can't be forced to talk," said a source close to the players.

One Orioles source yesterday stressed that the interviews scheduled for next week are a routine part of the Mitchell investigation's information-gathering process. However, at the very least, Orioles personnel could face more pointed and more voluminous questioning than those on other teams by virtue of the organization's indirect role in the Grimsley matter, as well as the steroids controversy last season surrounding veteran first baseman Rafael Palmeiro.

In the search warrant affidavit filed by IRS investigator Jeff Novitsky, Grimsley twice is quoted as discussing with investigators conversations that occurred last year with teammates regarding the use of amphetamines. By specifying "last year," Grimsley may have indirectly implicated his former Orioles teammates, since he spent the entire 2005 season in the Orioles organization. Names of other players were blacked out in the affidavit released to the media.

The Orioles also were at the center of last year's steroids controversy. In March, Orioles veterans Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa, both of whom were fingered as steroid users in a book by former player Jose Canseco, testified before the House Government Reform Committee and denied drug use.

In August, however, it was announced that Palmeiro had tested positive for Winstrol, a powerful steroid, earlier that season. In the ensuing perjury investigation by the House committee, Palmeiro implicated teammate Miguel Tejada, the Orioles' all-star shortstop who, according to Palmeiro, administered shots of vitamin B-12 to Palmeiro.

Palmeiro and Sosa no longer are in the major leagues.

Mike Flanagan, the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations, did not return a telephone message yesterday.
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