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Jim Parque, briefly with Rays in 2003, admits HGH use

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The Associated Press

Published: July 23, 2009

CHICAGO - Retired pitcher Jim Parque says he used human growth hormone "about six times" after he was cut by the Chicago White Sox in 2002 and before a brief comeback with the Tampa Bay Rays the following season.

Parque made five starts for Tampa Bay in 2003, compiling an 11.94 ERA. He never pitched again in the majors. In 2007, he was named as a drug user in the Mitchell Report.

Parque made his confession in a lengthy, first-person account printed Thursday in the Chicago Sun-Times. He says he tried HGH in a bid to recover from a shoulder injury that he blames for derailing his career.

"It never gave me more strength or bulked me up, but it provided quicker recoveries," Parque wrote. "I began to throw harder because my shoulder felt no pain. I was able to withstand more throwing, creating a work environment that I had not experienced in two years."

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