Retired pitcher Turk Wendell implied that he believes Sammy Sosa used steroids to become an instant home run slugger, the Daily Herald of suburban Chicago reported Friday.

"C'mon. Of course. There are so many guys who did and it's all going to come out,'' said Wendell. "Here's a guy [Sosa] who goes from 30 homers to 60 homers every year, and just as fast he's out of baseball. Can't get a job. How's that work?

"Baseball people know this is going to get worse and nobody wants anything to do with the guys who were on the stuff. We would sit there in the clubhouse and laugh. How's a guy gain 30 pounds of solid muscle in three months [over the winter]? It's physically impossible without the juice.''

Wendell also said be believes players who have used steroids are risking their lives.

"You still see Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto and Johnny Pesky around, but this era of players is going to be dying early,'' Wendell told the Herald. "The stats don't lie. The stuff will kill you.

"Who cares if you have unreal numbers? You need that bad to be 'the man' for a few years? Those guys will pay later.''

Two years ago, Wendell accused Barry Bonds of doing steroids.

"Obviously, he did it," Wendell said. "... It's clear just seeing his body."

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"Everybody in Chicago knew what was going on, just like everybody in baseball knows about Bonds,'' Wendell told the Herald. "The coaches knew. So did the managers and owners. How could they not know?

"Then, Jose Canseco comes out and says it and everybody rips him, and now everything he said was true. A lot more will come out about guys who nobody's talking about yet, too.''

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"It was funny to see the guys who were on steroids and then got off them,'' Wendell added. "You're watching on TV and you see a guy hit a ball and you go, 'That's gone.' But the thing is, it used to be gone, and now it's a routine fly ball that the year before the guy hit 10 rows into the bleachers.