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Baseball News:

After listening to criticism from Congress, baseball players and owners agreed to drop the possibility of fines for steroid use and leave suspensions as the only discipline.

Members of Congress repeatedly pummeled baseball officials for the fine possibility during Thursday's hearing before the House Government Reform Committee. Management told the committee it was willing to eliminate the fine provision, held over from baseball's first drug-testing agreement in 2002, but union head Donald Fehr said he would have to consult with players.

"We do have an agreement with Don that the language after the disjunctive in the various disciplinary levels is going to be eliminated," Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president for labor relations, said Sunday. "It will be just the straight suspension, which everybody knew was going to happen anyway. To the degree there was any doubt, I think this change should put to rest any concerns in that regard."

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More Baseball News:

What a shame that the drug problem has been swept under the carpet, year after year, by Major League Baseball. What a disgrace that baseball finally had to be dragged in front of Congress, to respond to the legitimate interests of legislators to know what has been going on and why the problem has not been effectively addressed. What puerile arrogance to claim that it did not exist or had been solved. Both claims are simply wrong.
.
This is not a problem that requires nuance. The calculus is quite simple: does Major League Baseball want to be drug free, or does it not care?
.
If its public utterances are to be believed, it wants a drug-free environment. The words are fine. They roll easily off the tongue. The obvious disconnect is that if Major League Baseball and the players union really wanted it, an effective drug policy would have been put in place. Instead, baseball has been dragged, kicking and screaming, into adopting a half-baked policy that is both illusory and insulting to the intelligence of the American public.
.
Actions speak louder than words. The previous collective bargaining agreement was rushed through before the matter of drug use could be addressed in unequivocal terms. Each side was willing to bury the problem. Only congressional pressure forced baseball, reluctantly, into agreeing to determine if there was, in fact, a drug "problem."
.
In a farcical charade, baseball first warned players that they would be tested, but only for steroids and only during the season - so much for an element of surprise. Then, if they tested positive, they would be given a second chance. If the second test was negative, the first positive result would be annulled. If at the end of this process there were a total of 5 percent positive cases (after the second-bounce negatives), Major League Baseball would be willing to acknowledge that there was a problem. Even under these stacked conditions - failing a drug test was tantamount to failing an IQ test - the number of positives far exceeded the outrageous threshold of 5 percent.
.
Baseball's response was to introduce a program that would require five positive tests before a player could be suspended for as long as a year. How baseball thought that would lend weight to its pious proclamations of a drug-free sport is inconceivable. President George W. Bush, in his 2004 State of the Union address, drew attention to the issue and called upon Major League Baseball, along with other professional sports organizations, to deal with it. Senators John McCain of Arizona and Joseph Biden of Delaware took up the case.
.
In the face of this attention, baseball finally adopted a minor sanction for cheaters caught for the first time - a 10-day suspension - and declared the problem solved. Then the House of Representatives held hearings last week.
.
There are reasons this smoke screen is insulting and, worse, dangerous as a matter of public health and integrity.
.
Baseball has deliberately not addressed the issue of stimulants, or greenies, drugs whose use has long been known to be a serious and addicting problem.
.
Supposed tests for other substances, like human growth hormone, are not effective.
.
Major League Baseball players are not subject to around-the-clock, all-year liability for testing, but Olympians and other athletes are. Many drugs are taken during preparation, not during games.
.
Sanctions are slaps on the wrist to multimillion-dollar athletes.
.
Drug use is not confined to players in Major League Baseball. Since it is known that use is implicitly condoned in the major leagues, as shown by the ineffective testing program, it has spread to minor leagues, colleges and even high school teams, and to other sports. Remember the huge increase in the sales of androstenedione the year after Mark McGwire's acknowledgment that he used it? This has serious implications for the youth of the country and for public health. It is a particularly legitimate concern for Congress.
.
Side effects of many drugs are not sufficiently understood, but there is no doubt that anabolic steroids, among others, have serious implications for the health of athletes.
.
The integrity of the game and of its players will continue to decline. People may continue to watch freak shows for a while, but they will not want their children to have to become chemical stockpiles to play their national sport.
.
What a pity that those who lead Major League Baseball were unwilling to deal decisively with a problem they had known about for years. One might have hoped they could understand that drug-free sport is good for the country, for the game and for the young athletes who will be the players of the future.
.
If they fail, then someone else will have to take the lead. If it is Congress, then the U.S. public should make it clear that they insist on drug-free sport.
.
.
.
Richard W. Pound is chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
.
.
See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune.
.
< < Back to Start of Article What a shame that the drug problem has been swept under the carpet, year after year, by Major League Baseball. What a disgrace that baseball finally had to be dragged in front of Congress, to respond to the legitimate interests of legislators to know what has been going on and why the problem has not been effectively addressed. What puerile arrogance to claim that it did not exist or had been solved. Both claims are simply wrong.
.
This is not a problem that requires nuance. The calculus is quite simple: does Major League Baseball want to be drug free, or does it not care?
.
If its public utterances are to be believed, it wants a drug-free environment. The words are fine. They roll easily off the tongue. The obvious disconnect is that if Major League Baseball and the players union really wanted it, an effective drug policy would have been put in place. Instead, baseball has been dragged, kicking and screaming, into adopting a half-baked policy that is both illusory and insulting to the intelligence of the American public.
.
Actions speak louder than words. The previous collective bargaining agreement was rushed through before the matter of drug use could be addressed in unequivocal terms. Each side was willing to bury the problem. Only congressional pressure forced baseball, reluctantly, into agreeing to determine if there was, in fact, a drug "problem."
.
In a farcical charade, baseball first warned players that they would be tested, but only for steroids and only during the season - so much for an element of surprise. Then, if they tested positive, they would be given a second chance. If the second test was negative, the first positive result would be annulled. If at the end of this process there were a total of 5 percent positive cases (after the second-bounce negatives), Major League Baseball would be willing to acknowledge that there was a problem. Even under these stacked conditions - failing a drug test was tantamount to failing an IQ test - the number of positives far exceeded the outrageous threshold of 5 percent.
.
Baseball's response was to introduce a program that would require five positive tests before a player could be suspended for as long as a year. How baseball thought that would lend weight to its pious proclamations of a drug-free sport is inconceivable. President George W. Bush, in his 2004 State of the Union address, drew attention to the issue and called upon Major League Baseball, along with other professional sports organizations, to deal with it. Senators John McCain of Arizona and Joseph Biden of Delaware took up the case.
.
In the face of this attention, baseball finally adopted a minor sanction for cheaters caught for the first time - a 10-day suspension - and declared the problem solved. Then the House of Representatives held hearings last week.
.
There are reasons this smoke screen is insulting and, worse, dangerous as a matter of public health and integrity.
.
Baseball has deliberately not addressed the issue of stimulants, or greenies, drugs whose use has long been known to be a serious and addicting problem.
.
Supposed tests for other substances, like human growth hormone, are not effective.
.
Major League Baseball players are not subject to around-the-clock, all-year liability for testing, but Olympians and other athletes are. Many drugs are taken during preparation, not during games.
.
Sanctions are slaps on the wrist to multimillion-dollar athletes.
.
Drug use is not confined to players in Major League Baseball. Since it is known that use is implicitly condoned in the major leagues, as shown by the ineffective testing program, it has spread to minor leagues, colleges and even high school teams, and to other sports. Remember the huge increase in the sales of androstenedione the year after Mark McGwire's acknowledgment that he used it? This has serious implications for the youth of the country and for public health. It is a particularly legitimate concern for Congress.
.
Side effects of many drugs are not sufficiently understood, but there is no doubt that anabolic steroids, among others, have serious implications for the health of athletes.
.
The integrity of the game and of its players will continue to decline. People may continue to watch freak shows for a while, but they will not want their children to have to become chemical stockpiles to play their national sport.
.
What a pity that those who lead Major League Baseball were unwilling to deal decisively with a problem they had known about for years. One might have hoped they could understand that drug-free sport is good for the country, for the game and for the young athletes who will be the players of the future.
.
If they fail, then someone else will have to take the lead. If it is Congress, then the U.S. public should make it clear that they insist on drug-free sport.
.
.
.
Richard W. Pound is chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
.
.
See more of the world that matters - click here for home delivery of the International Herald Tribune.
.
< < Back to Start of Article What a shame that the drug problem has been swept under the carpet, year after year, by Major League Baseball. What a disgrace that baseball finally had to be dragged in front of Congress, to respond to the legitimate interests of legislators to know what has been going on and why the problem has not been effectively addressed. What puerile arrogance to claim that it did not exist or had been solved. Both claims are simply wrong.
.
This is not a problem that requires nuance. The calculus is quite simple: does Major League Baseball want to be drug free, or does it not care?
.
If its public utterances are to be believed, it wants a drug-free environment. The words are fine. They roll easily off the tongue. The obvious disconnect is that if Major League Baseball and the players union really wanted it, an effective drug policy would have been put in place. Instead, baseball has been dragged, kicking and screaming, into adopting a half-baked policy that is both illusory and insulting to the intelligence of the American public.
.
Actions speak louder than words. The previous collective bargaining agreement was rushed through before the matter of drug use could be addressed in unequivocal terms. Each side was willing to bury the problem. Only congressional pressure forced baseball, reluctantly, into agreeing to determine if there was, in fact, a drug "problem."
.
In a farcical charade, baseball first warned players that they would be tested, but only for steroids and only during the season - so much for an element of surprise. Then, if they tested positive, they would be given a second chance. If the second test was negative, the first positive result would be annulled. If at the end of this process there were a total of 5 percent positive cases (after the second-bounce negatives), Major League Baseball would be willing to acknowledge that there was a problem. Even under these stacked conditions - failing a drug test was tantamount to failing an IQ test - the number of positives far exceeded the outrageous threshold of 5 percent.
.

Baseball Tickets

Online Ticket Information. We buy and sell Baseball Tickets. Not only do we provide ticket prices, but updated news reports.

Online Ticket Information.
We buy and sell Baseball Tickets.
Not only do we provide ticket prices, but updated news reports.