JUPITER, Fla. -- The Cardinals organization went to unusual lengths on Wednesday to defuse the situation surrounding recent comments made by radio broadcaster Wayne Hagin. Team president Mark Lamping faxed a statement to both the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News apologizing to Colorado first baseman Todd Helton, the Rockies and Rockies fans.

In an interview with St. Louis radio station KSLG, Hagin said that Helton used "the juice" earlier in his career. The term "juice" is commonly used to refer to anabolic steroids, though Hagin later said his comments were in reference to legal supplements such as creatine.

"I'm going to say something that is the absolute truth, and he will be mad at me for saying it if it gets out, but Todd Helton, a tremendously gifted baseball player, he tried it," Hagin said in the interview.

"I know he tried it because (former Rockies manager) Don Baylor told me. He (Baylor) said to me, 'I told him to get off the juice, that he was a player who didn't need that, get off it. It made him into a robot at first base defensively, and may have altered his swing.' He got off of it, but he is not unlike so many athletes who have tried it because they wanted to get into that level playing field."

Helton took umbrage at the comments.

"I've never used steroids and I don't know why he'd come out and say that, especially when he doesn't know what he's talking about," Helton told MLB.com. "I've been told he retracted it and said he didn't know what he was talking about. And all he did was cause me grief.

"I've worked hard my whole life to get to where I am and it's amazing one guy can say something, not knowing what he's talking about, obviously making a mistake and now I have to defend myself. And that's very unfortunate but that's the way it works. But, like I said, I've never used steroids and I never need to."

Hagin was in the booth Wednesday night calling the Cardinals game against the Mets.

The full text of Lamping's statement was as follows:

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"To Whom It May Concern:

"In a recent interview with a St. Louis radio station, Cardinals broadcaster Wayne Hagin tried to say something nice about Don Baylor. As evidence of Don Baylor's integrity, Hagin repeated a story meant to illustrate Baylor's antipathy to the use of performance-enhancing drugs and supplements. Whatever Hagin's original intention, his remarks were widely interpreted as suggesting that Todd Helton had used anabolic steroids.

"While we believe that Hagin legitimately confused the issues of legal supplements and illegal anabolic steroids, the implication that a great player had done something wrong was unavoidable.

"The Cardinals organization deeply regrets this.

"We apologize, without qualification, to Todd Helton and to his family; to the Rockies organization; and to Rockies fans for Hagin's ill-considered remarks.

"Sincerely,

"Mark Lamping"