Reggie Jackson Says Steroids Are Used

Reggie Jackson challenged baseball’s whopping home run totals, and said some are the result of players taking steroids.

“Somebody definitely is guilty of taking steroids,” the Hall of Fame slugger told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for today’s editions.

“You can’t be breaking records hitting 200 home runs in three or four seasons. The greatest hitters in the history of the game didn’t do that,” said Jackson, who hit 563 home runs.

“Henry Aaron never hit 50 in a season, so you’re going to tell me that you’re a greater hitter than Henry Aaron?” Jackson said. “Bonds hit 73 [in 2001], and he would have hit 100 if they would have pitched to him. I mean, come on, now. There is no way you can outperform Aaron and Ruth and Mays at that level.

“There is a reason why the greatest players of all time have 500. Then there is that group that is above 550. There is a reason for that. Guys played 19, 20, 25 years. They had 9,000 to 10,000 at-bats, and it was the same for everybody.

“Now, all of a sudden, you’re hitting 50 when you’re 40.”

Jackson also criticized the baseball players’ association for not accepting a more stringent drug testing policy.

“The last I heard, [the illegal distribution of steroids and other drugs] was against the laws of the land,” Jackson said. “The players’ association talks about ‘my rights.’ My rights? Do you have the right not to pay taxes? You do something wrong, you pay the penalty.”

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Gary Sheffield, back at spring training in Dunedin, Fla., was upset the Yankees said this week that his torn thumb ligament might require surgery.

“That was out before anybody talked to me, and it’s going to be dealt with,” Sheffield said. “Everybody should have waited to see what happened before they made those statements.”

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The Chicago White Sox released outfielder Marvin Benard, deciding they couldn’t wait for his injured calf to heal.... No charges will be filed against Met outfielders Karim Garcia and Shane Spencer in their parking-lot dispute with a pizza deliveryman, police in Port St. Lucie, Fla., said.