Ryan Zimmerman denies PED accusations in Al Jazeera America documentary

VIERA, Fla. — Ryan Zimmerman put forth an extended and steady defense of his name Tuesday morning in Space Coast Stadium.

For the first time since an Al Jazeera America documentary showed Charlie Sly naming Zimmerman as one of his clients for performance-enhancing drugs, Zimmerman publicly commented on the accusation, unequivocally denying that he has used PEDs or had any relationship with Sly.

“I’ve never met that guy,” Zimmerman said. “I’ve never heard of that guy. The guy that supposedly helps me train in the offseason. So, yeah, none of that stuff is true. I’ve never done any of that. I’ve never thought about doing any of that. It’s a tough spot. You do everything the right way. You work. You think something like this will never happen, and then, for some reason, it does. We’re taking the right steps to ultimately clear my name, which is the most important part.”

Sly promptly recanted his statements in a YouTube video posted before the documentary first aired.

For 20 minutes, Zimmerman sat in the home dugout of the Washington Nationals’ spring training complex. The club’s longest-tenured player lamented the challenges of resurrecting a reputation once it’s publicly tainted. He was thankful playing baseball allowed him to pay for the lawyers in a defamation suit. Zimmerman doesn’t expect dealing with the suit filed against Al Jazeera America and two reporters on Jan. 5 in Washington’s U.S. District Court will interfere with his baseball responsibilities.

The process has swung Zimmerman through a range of emotions. His agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, called him before the documentary aired to inform him he was being named.

“I don’t want to say it was a laughable conversation, but we know each other almost like brothers, so it was a conversation we thought we’d never have to have,” Zimmerman said.

That phone call first produced shock. Then, Zimmerman became angry.

“After that all wears off, you realize everything that this entails, and it becomes real, real fast, I guess is the best way to put it,” Zimmerman said. “After the first week or two, when all the shock and the media and all that wears off and now you just have to live with it and go through it when there’s no attention really, it becomes part of your daily life, which I would say at the beginning it almost consumed me because you’re so upset about it and you’re so worried about making it right. Also, that’s kind of the personality I have. I’m a very type-A person. I’m very scheduled and regimented and to have something like this happen, it was almost to the point where I just wanted to do whatever I could to show people my innocence, to the point where my wife had to tell me to take it easy.”

He decided the defamation lawsuit — notoriously difficult to win — would be the strongest statement of his innocence. It will open his emails and phone calls to the discovery process and can include depositions and court testimony, should the case reach trial. For the first time in his life, Zimmerman hired a lawyer.

The Nationals’ steady-toned first baseman — who said he spoke briefly to Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, who was also named in the documentary and has filed a suit — said he assumes a link to Sly, then to him, came through trainer Jason Riley. Zimmerman has worked with Riley for “years,” though he said he is unsure if he will work with him after the suit. Howard, and several other baseball players, have worked with Riley.

“His reputation is one of, if not the cleanest reputation trainers have,” Zimmerman said. “I can’t speak for what happens with who he’s involved with, things like that, but Jason’s always been great with me and obviously has never given me or I’ve never taken any of those things that they’ve talked about. I would assume that that’s the link. It’s kind of reckless. A lot of people have worked with trainers and things like that. It’s hard to just throw peoples’ names out there without really having any sort of proof.”

Zimmerman, 31, has concerns about his reputation. He’s long been active in the Washington community, and wonders what kids and families he met think after seeing the accusations. He walked into the stadium Tuesday morning with Nationals manager Dusty Baker, then followed him into the manager’s office, surprising Baker.

“I could see the hurt in his voice,” Baker said. “He explained it to me, which he didn’t really have to, but he wanted me to know what was going on. And, how sad and kind of angry but embarrassed about the whole situation — because he’s a guy that really cares about kids and about other people and how they think of him and the influences that he may have on young people. He’ll be exonerated.”

Zimmerman’s immediate family, he said, has supported him throughout. They told him the people who know him best know the truth, and to ignore the others.

Still, Zimmerman was compelled to file the defamation suit. He noted Tuesday that other people may not have the financial benefits he enjoys, which is among the reasons he felt the suit important. He’s trying to set two standards: First, he pointed out that many people have claimed their innocence of past accusations, but have not taken the same emphatic steps he is to clear his name. Second, he hopes that the lawsuit will be a marker for future reports.

“We need reports, we need investigations, because I’m one of the biggest advocates for getting things out of sports,” Zimmerman said. ” I think people need to be a little bit careful before they just start throwing peoples’ names out there, I guess, is the way I feel. I know that’s a fine line. But, in my case, and that’s the only case I’m talking about personally, to do things right your entire life and to have something like this just kind of happen out of the blue, it’s frustrating.”

A little more than an hour after his extended talk with reporters, Zimmerman walked onto the field in a crisp white uniform. It was his day to smile and have his photo taken by the team.