It's so comforting to know that baseball's labor negotiations are progressing. The owners and the union have actually discussed whether the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays should be allowed to travel by bus when they play each other. And when so many of their players would prefer a limo.þþMaybe someday before the anticipated Aug. 1 or Oct. 1 strike date, the owners and the players' union will get around to the critical financial issues as well as to suddenly an even more compelling issue — steroids.þþAll the whispers in other years about steroid use in baseball, mostly about the suspected use by sluggers hitting more and more home runs, have recently turned into shouts that the owners and the union can no longer ignore. Especially the union. In the debate that the union should test for steroids, it's really the other way around: steroids are testing the union.þþIf the union doesn't agree to a testing procedure, it will be accused of condoning steroid use that could eventually create medical problems for its players. And liability problems for itself.þþþIn the union's vigilance to protect its players' free agency as well as their health benefits, it seems to have forgotten that it's also responsible for protecting their long-term health. Unless the union negotiates some form of testing, sooner or later a steroid user with medical problems will sue the union for not having protected him from himself. And if one steroid user wins his case, other former players would surely sue the union.þþTwo weeks ago, Jose Canseco, having finally retired with 462 home runs, promised to write a book in which he would disclose what he called ÿshocking namesÿ of players who use, or have used, steroids.þþIn this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, Ken Caminiti, now retired after a variety of injuries, confessed to having used steroids in 1996, when he was voted the National League's Most Valuable Player.þþCommissioner Bud Selig has acknowledged that ÿwe need to testÿ for steroids, as the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the International Olympic Committee do with their athletes.þþIn the most alarming worldwide incident, at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, the Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, the 100-meter winner, was stripped of his gold medal by the I.O.C. and suspended after he tested positive for anabolic steroids.þþBut so far, baseball's union has promised only to test the mixed feelings of its members. Some players agree that all major leaguers should be tested. Others disagree.þþStrangely, all minor leaguers are subject to random testing for steroids, but under the current collective bargaining agreement, major leaguers cannot be tested.þþAccording to Canseco, about 85 percent of big league players are using steroids. According to Caminiti, at least half the players are. Both estimates seem recklessly high.þþCaminiti, in radio interviews Thursday, tried to play down the commotion caused by his statements in Sports Illustrated. Like many other athletes, he probably didn't realize the impact of his statements until he saw them in print, and until others reacted to them.þþThe most credible voice in the Sports Illustrated article is that of Dr. James Andrews, the noted Birmingham, Ala., sports orthopedist who said he ÿseldom used to seeÿ muscle-tendon injuries. ÿBut over the last 10 years, that's changed,ÿ Andrews said. ÿYou'd have to attribute that — the bulking up and the increased injuries — to steroids and supplements.ÿþþSteroids are illegal in the United States unless prescribed by a physician. They are available over the counter in Latin America, notably in Mexico, only a short ride from San Diego, and in the Dominican Republic.þþ• þAccording to Sports Illustrated, some major leaguers are using other performance-enhancing drugs, such as human growth hormone and ephedrine-laced dietary supplements. The N.F.L. and its Players Association recently agreed to begin testing July 1 for ephedra, the first professional sports league to do so.þþThe memo posted in every N.F.L. locker room warns of ÿgrowing evidence linkingÿ certain stimulants — including ephedrine, the active ingredient in ephedra — ÿto several life-threatening conditions such as strokes, seizures, termo-regulatory disorders and heart arrhythmia.ÿ The I.O.C. and the National Collegiate Athletic Association also ban ephedrine.þþBut in baseball, instead of the union agreeing to test for steroids, the use of steroids is now testing the union.þþþ
Source: NY Times
