Gym Owner Sues Over Clemens Book

(MLB) - A former Houston gym owner on Monday filed a defamation lawsuit  against the reporters and publisher of a book about Roger Clemens,  according to multiple sources.

The day before he is scheduled to appear before a grand jury in  Washington, D.C., that will hear evidence against Clemens, Kelly Blair  filed a suit in a Houston district court naming Michael O'Keefe,  Christian Red, Teri Thompson and Nathaniel Vinton, the four New York  Daily News reporters who co-authored "American Icon: The Fall of Roger  Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime," as well as  publisher Knopf Doubleday, as defendants.

Also named, according to ESPN.com, was Robin Dobbins, a Houston  fitness consultant who Blair claims also was a source of falsehoods  printed in the book.

"There are allegations in the book about Kelly Blair that are just  completely not true," Houston-based attorney Jason Gibson, who  represents Blair, told ESPN.com. "They said he is basically a drug  dealer who was running an underground steroid network. There are a  number of statements of fact that were made that are false. The only  defense to allegations of defamation are that it was true. In this  case, it is not true."

According to the ESPN story, the falsehoods listed in the lawsuit are  claims that Blair sold steroids to Clemens and current Yankees left- hander Andy Pettitte and that he got drug shipments ready to send to  professional athletes.

"We have not received the complaint, but we do stand by our  reporting," Thompson told ESPN.com. Min Lee, an attorney for the  publisher, told the Web site she was waiting for the complaint to be  served and didn't comment further.

Doug Miller is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to  the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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