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Baseball to announce stronger steroid policy
Multiple random tests annually and suspensions for first-time violations
John Shea
Thursday, January 13, 2005
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Baseball doesn't expect people to laugh at its steroid policy anymore.
The commissioner's office and players' union have agreed on a more stringent drug-testing procedure, and the announcement will come today, The Chronicle has learned.
Commissioner Bud Selig will announce at the owners' meetings that the new policy will include more testing and harsher penalties for players testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
Under the new policy, which will be in effect for the 2005 season, players will be suspended for first-time offenses and be subjected to multiple random testing. There will be no set number of tests, a source said, and some players can be tested more frequently than others.
Testing will be year-round, including the offseason, and the list of banned substances will be longer.
The previous policy, considered virtually useless by medical experts, had players testing once during the season without fear of being suspended for their first offenses. Furthermore, users could wait to be tested, pass the test and then get back on steroids.
Some players tested positive in 2004, but their names weren't made public because none served a suspension. The only consequence was treatment.
"I think when it's announced, people will be very gratified," said Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer.
An amendment will be added to the collective bargaining agreement, which runs through the 2006 season.
The new policy is closer to the one used in the minor leagues, in which players are tested four times year-round and face a 15-game suspension for first-time offenses.
"I'm glad we could come to an agreement that was mutually agreeable and the right thing to do," Chicago Cubs pitcher Mike Remlinger told the Associated Press. "It was the right thing to do. I think it was something that needed to be done, and I think players understand it needed to be addressed."
The sides spent the past month negotiating the deal after the union's executive board gave its staff approval to pursue an agreement on a more rigorous testing program. Some in Congress threatened to take action unless baseball reached an agreement on its own.
"I think it's going to entail more testing, some out-season testing, yes, more in-season random testing and stiffer penalties," said New York Mets pitcher Tom Glavine, a senior member of the union.
Players and owners agreed to a drug-testing plan in 2002 that called for survey-testing for steroids the following year. Because more than 5 percent of tests were positive, random testing with penalties began last year. Each player was tested for steroids twice over a single five- to seven-day period.
A first positive test resulted in treatment. If a player tested positive again, he would have been subject to a 15-day suspension.
No player was suspended for steroid use in 2004.
Since the 2002 agreement, baseball has come under increased scrutiny for steroid use. Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield testified before a federal grand jury in San Francisco December 2003. Giambi and Sheffield admitted using steroids, according to reports by the San Francisco Chronicle. Sheffield said he wasn't aware when he used the substances that they contained steroids.
Bonds, according to the paper, admitted using substances prosecutors say contained steroids.
"Everybody believed that the program we had in place was having an effect and definitely it was doing what it designed to do," Glavine said, "but having said that, with the stuff that was going on and whatnot, it forced us to take a look at revising it or making it a little tougher. It was not a question anymore if that agreement was going to be enough. It was a question to address some of the new issues that came to light and get our fans to believe we were doing everything we could to make the problem go away 100 percent."
The Associated Press contributed to this story
©2005 San Francisco Chronicle
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One other thing because it's so utterly ridiculous.
Minnesota Viking owner Red McCombs asked Fox Sports to remove play-by-play announcer Joe Buck from Sunday's playoff game at Philadelphia because of his sharp criticism of wide receiver Randy Moss, and was turned down by the network.
After catching a touchdown pass in last weekend's victory at Green Bay, Moss celebrated in the end zone by pretending to pull down his pants and moon Packer fans. Buck immediately called it a "disgusting act."
McCombs said that statement was out of line. A two-sentence news release issued by the team said McCombs thought Buck's comments "suggested a prejudice that surpassed objective reporting."
Dan Bell, a Fox spokesman, said Wednesday the network had "no intention whatsoever" of removing Buck.
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