Jack Clark loses radio show after Albert Pujols PED allegation

Jack Clark, who accused Angels first baseman Albert Pujols of using performance-enhancing drugs early in his career during a radio show Friday, and cohost Kevin Slaten have had their show pulled from the air, according to reports Saturday morning in St. Louis.

Clark, who hit 340 home runs during an 18-year big league career, began working at WGNU-AM in St. Louis just last week. He based his accusation on conversations he said he had with Chris Mihlfeld, Pujols’ former personal trainer, who worked with the Dodgers when Clark was the team’s hitting coach in 2000.

Mihlfeld denied the allegations, while Pujols, who began his career in St. Louis, issued a statement in which he denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs and threatened legal action against Clark and his employer, which is technically InsideSTL Enterprises, a media company that WGNU contracted for the show.

InsideSTL Enterprises quickly distanced itself from Clark and Slaten. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the company issued a statement saying it had “terminated its relationship with Jack Clark and Kevin Slaten. As independent contractors, we want to make it clear that the opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of InsideSTL. Also as independent contractors, InsideSTL did not have editorial control over the show’s content.”

Pujols, who signed a 10-year, $240-million deal with the Angels before 2012, has never been known to fail an MLB drug test, and his name did not appear in the 2007 Mitchell Report, an independent investigation into alleged illegal PED use.

“It is irresponsible and reckless for Jack Clark to have falsely accused me of using PEDs,” Pujols, who is on the disabled list and did not travel with the Angels to Cleveland, said in a statement. “My faith in Jesus Christ and my respect for this game are too important to me. I would never be able to look my wife or kids in the eye if I had done what this man is accusing me of.”

The statement went on to say that Pujols is “currently in the process of taking legal action against Jack Clark and his employers at WGNU (920 AM). I am going to send a message that you cannot act in a reckless manner, like they have, and get away with it.”

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