WASHINGTON (AP) - Retired slugger Mark McGwire Thursday told a congressional panel investigating drugs in baseball that he would not "participate in naming names" of players who used steroids.
McGwire did not say in his opening statement to the House Government Reform Committee whether he used steroids.
Two current players, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, said they never used steroids. That duo and McGwire were accused of using performance-enhancing drugs by Jose Canseco in a best-selling book that helped prompt the hearing.
It was an extraordinary sight, under the bright lights of congressional hearing drama, in which some of the foremost household names in the baseball appeared in business suits, in stark contrast to the colorful uniforms fans associate with them.
In a tense scene, Canseco sat at the same table as the other players as he told the lawmakers that he could not fully answer their questions because of concerns his testimony could be used against him.
Choking back tears, his voice cracking, McGwire said he knows that steroid use can be dangerous and will do whatever he can to discourage young athletes from using them.
"What I will not do, however, is participate in naming names and implicating my friends and teammates," said McGwire, who ranks sixth in major league history with 583 homers.
The hearing featuring came after committee members accused baseball of ignoring its steroids problem for years and then, only under congressional pressure, embracing a weak testing program.
Lawmakers were particularly critical of the plan's penalties, including a provision allowing for fines instead of suspensions. A first offense could cost a player $10,000 instead of 10 days out from a 162-game season.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig sat with arms crossed and lips pursed for much of the hearing. He craned his neck to get a better view as the players spoke.
In prepared testimony he planned to give later in the day, Selig defended the steroids policy drawn up in January, saying it's "as good as any in professional sports" and adding that he agreed to shorter bans "on the theory that behavior modification should be the most important goal of our policy."
Baseball had fought attempts to compel the players to testify, but committee chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., and ranking Democrat Henry Waxman of California threatened to pursue contempt charges if they did not appear.
More than four hours after the hearing began, the players walked in one by one as spectators, lawmakers and media in the cramped hearing room fell silent.
Curt Schilling, the Boston Red Sox pitcher who's been outspoken against steroid use, was the first to enter. He sat at one end of the witness table, with Canseco at the other. Palmeiro, Sosa, McGwire and the players' lawyers were in between.
Schilling took a shot at Canseco, saying the former slugger's claims "should be seen for what they are: an attempt to make money at the expense of others."
