Matthews hires former Simpson attorney Shapiro

Gary Matthews Jr. launched a high-powered defense Saturday, retaining one of the top criminal defense attorneys and perhaps the most noted crisis management firm in Southern California to represent him amid allegations he received an illegal shipment of human growth hormone.

Robert Shapiro, an attorney most famous for his work on O.J. Simpson’s legal “dream team,” said in a statement that he had met with the Angels’ center fielder and was “firmly convinced he has not violated any laws or rules established by Major League Baseball.”

The statement was issued late Saturday by Sitrick and Co., the firm described by the entertainment journal Variety as “Hollywood’s most prominent crisis specialists.” Sitrick represented Halle Berry when she faced hit-and-run charges and Rush Limbaugh amid an investigation into how he acquired the prescription painkillers to which he subsequently admitted his addiction.

In the statement, Shapiro said Matthews would cooperate with the Angels, MLB and “any other investigative agency that may look into this matter” and would tell “his side of the story” thereafter.

The statement did not say what agencies might be investigating or explain how Shapiro was convinced Matthews had not violated any laws or MLB rules. A message left with Sitrick’s after-hours service late Saturday was not immediately returned.

On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated reported that government investigators had found documents showing that, in 2004, Matthews had been sent a shipment of Genotropin, a synthetic growth hormone typically prescribed for unusually short children.

The documents cannot establish whether Matthews used -- or even received -- the shipment, according to the report.

Baseball did not ban human growth hormone in 2004 but does now. However, federal law prohibits possession of HGH without legitimate medical supervision.

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com