Jack Clark Challenges Albert Pujols To Dual Lie-Detector Tests Over Steroid Allegations In Lawyer Letter

Just weeks after Albert Pujols announced that he would sue Jack Clark for defamation, the former St. Louis Cardinals player and radio host offered to take a lie detector test -- so long as Pujols agreed to do the same.

Clark, who played for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1985 to 1987, made headlines in August when he claimed on his short-lived radio show that he knew “for a fact” that Pujols had used steroids during his stint in St. Louis. He also stated that Pujols’ former personal trainer, Chris Mihlfeld, had admitted to administering performance-enhancing drugs to the slugger in 2000, the St. Louis Dispatch reports. Pujols sued Clark for defamation, and asked for a determination in court in which Clark would be forced to admit that his statement was false.

However, Clark refuses to back down from his accusations. In a letter drafted by his attorney, Al Watkins, Clark suggests (with quite a bit of snark) that both he and Pujols subject themselves to lie-detector tests to ascertain the truth behind their respective statements, the St. Louis Dispatch reports.

According to the terms set forth in Clark’s letter, Pujols would be asked whether "he is being deceptive when he asserts that he has never used steroids or performance enhancing drugs while in the minor and major leagues,” the St. Louis Dispatch reports. On the other hand, Clark would be questioned regarding the truthfulness of the conversation during which Mihlfeld allegedly claimed that Pujols had “juiced.”

In the letter, Clark also admits, through his lawyer, that his use of the phrase “juiced” was not an apt description in regards to Pujols’ alleged steroid use. The letter notes that nearly anything, including Viagra, could be considered a performance-enhancing substance in the right context.

If Watkins’ letter is any indication, Clark is quite confident that he’d be able to pass a polygraph test. “If Mr. Clark is found to be deceptive and Mr. [Pujols] is found to be deceptive, Mr. Clark will climb to the highest mount in a loin cloth (read: issue a public statement) fully retracting all objectionable statements, apologizing to the world, and promising never to prospectively cast Mr. [Pujols] in any disparaging light to dispose of the case,” Watkins wrote. The entire letter from Clark's lawyer to Pujols can be read here.