A timeline of former Baltimore Orioles slugger Rafael Palmeiro's steroids suspension and congressional perjury investigation:

Feb. 14: Former baseball slugger Jose Canseco's autobiography, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big," is released. In the book, Canseco accuses several top baseball players of steroid use, including Palmeiro, a former teammate with the Texas Rangers.

March 17: Palmeiro, Canseco, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and other baseball players and officials testify under oath during a House Government Reform Committee hearing on steroids. Palmeiro points a finger in the air for emphasis and tells lawmakers: "I have never used steroids. Period."

April, exact date unclear: Palmeiro takes a shot of vitamin B-12, given to him by a teammate. Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada later acknowledges he was the teammate.

May 4: Palmeiro takes a Major League Baseball drug test.

May 19: Palmeiro is informed his test was positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol. It's the substance that sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for at the 1988 Olympics, costing him his gold medal and world record in the 100 meters.

May 27: Palmeiro takes a second test, which is negative for steroids.

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June 12: Major League Baseball tells Palmeiro he'll be suspended; he asks the players' association to file a grievance.

June 16: At an arbitration panel hearing, Palmeiro says he never knowingly took steroids. He offers a possible explanation for the failed test, saying a teammate gave him a vitamin B-12 shot. The vial was thrown away and never tested.

July 15: Palmeiro collects his 3,000th career hit, a double in the fifth inning of Baltimore's 6-3 victory at Seattle. He becomes the fourth player in major league history with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.

Aug. 1: After Shyam Das, baseball's independent arbitrator, denies the grievance, Palmeiro is suspended for 10 days by Major League Baseball, the highest-profile player punished under the sport's new steroids policy. He says he never intentionally took steroids. "Why would I do this in a year when I went in front of Congress and I testified and I told the truth?" he says. "Why would I do this during a season where I was going to get to 3,000 hits? It just makes no sense."

Aug. 2: In a telephone conversation with House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., Palmeiro agrees to allow Major League Baseball to give Congress documents related to his steroid tests.

Aug. 3: Davis says his committee will investigate whether Palmeiro committed perjury during the March 17 hearing. "If we did nothing," Davis tells the AP, "I think we'd look like idiots."

Aug. 11: Palmeiro returns to the Orioles after serving his suspension.

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Sept. 5: With two hits in 26 at-bats since the suspension, and hearing boos at home and road games, Palmeiro is sent home to Texas by the Orioles to rehabilitate injuries to his right knee and left ankle.

Sept. 23: The Orioles tell Palmeiro not to return to the team.

Oct. 28: Palmeiro becomes a free agent.

Wednesday: Davis' committee says it will release its report on the Palmeiro case on Thursday. About two hours later, Palmeiro's lawyers release a statement in which he takes responsibility for his failed test and offers the explanation of a tainted B-12 shot for the first time publicly.

Thursday: Congressional committee says it will not prosecute Palmeiro for perjury after finding insufficient evidence that he lied while under oath at the March 17 steroid hearing.