Johnny Damon found himself in the awkward position of defending himself from a rumor that bigger names than Rafael Palmeiro are about to be announced as testing positive for steroids. Damon, Houston's Roger Clemens and an unnamed Yankee player were Topic A, at least in cyber-space, on Thursday. ``No way,'' Damon said. ``If I tested something positive for anything, then someone threw something in the (sample). I think it's because of the way I'm built. I've had people thinking that since I was in high school.'' Damon believes reporters are trying to stir the pot. ``I think it starts with a rumor, a reporter somewhere wants to see if a player will crack,'' said Damon, who said he was tested both in spring training and some months ago. ``They'll say anything. They want to come after stars, they want to see how people react.'' Damon said being linked to the rumor mill is nothing new for him. ``I'm used to that stuff this year, with my personal life this year in Boston,'' he said. GM Theo Epstein scoffed at the rumor. ``The reporting of this steroid issue has taken on witch-hunt proportions and I think it's wrong,'' he said. ``That's a pretty severe accusation to be throwing around, whether it came from an Internet chat room or a newspaper. I'd like to think some actual reporting is going on.''