In yesterday’s briefing, I pointed out the San Francisco Chronicle’s story about Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Byrd’s purchase of human growth hormone. Neither Byrd nor the Indians would comment for the Chron’s story, but yesterday afternoon, Byrd broke his silence.Byrd says he did nothing wrong, that the human growth hormone was a treatment for a medical ailment– a kind of inexact ailment, though. From the Associated Press:

Byrd promised to address his situation in more detail once Game 7 was completed.”I do have a pituitary issue,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what that means yet.” 

According to the Chron, two of Byrd’s prescriptions came from a dodgy dentist, known to be an abuser of the prescription pad. What that means exactly, we don’t know yet. Byrd’s hormone-by-mail days (2003-2005) include his time with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Of Orange County. Of California. Of… etc., etc. In another item in yesterday’s briefing, I linked to Veronique de Turenne’s coverage of the Malibu fires. Veronique has now linked to a new multimedia resource on the fire. The Times had a roundup of news on all the wildfires burning in Southern California.

Tags: Follow up, human growth hormone, Malibu, Paul Byrd, Sports, Veronique de Turenne, wildfires