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Lawmakers Grill Baseball Over Steroid Use
1 hour, 27 minutes ago
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers grilled a star-studded lineup of baseball players and officials on Thursday about steroid use in the national sport, and said Major League Baseball needed to do more to rid itself of illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
Photo
Reuters Photo
AP Photo Photo
AP Photo
Slideshow Slideshow: Sports Doping Issues
In a showdown between Congress and baseball, lawmakers complained a new drug policy by MLB and its players association was laced with loopholes, and accused the sport of abusing the public's trust.
"For 30 years, Major League Baseball has told us to trust them, but the league hasn't honored that trust," Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), a California Democrat, said at a hearing by the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee to probe drug abuse in the game.
The all-day hearing featured a number of often testy exchanges between lawmakers and some of the biggest names in baseball.
Chairman Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, closed the hearing, telling MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, "We appreciate the advancements that baseball has made, but we think it fell short of the mark."
"We are going to be watching this very closely," said Davis, adding his investigation of steroids has just begun.
Selig defended baseball's approach, but said he was pushing for it to be even more effective.
"Baseball's policy on performance-enhancing substances is as good as any in professional sports," Selig said, rejecting criticism to the contrary.
"Notwithstanding the quality of our new policy, baseball will not rest and will continue to be vigilant on the issue of performance-enhancing substances as we move toward my stated goal of zero tolerance," Selig said.
According to MLB, fewer than 2 percent of tests for steroids were positive last year, down from 5 to 7 percent in 2003, the first year of testing.
But critics question the validity of the tests.
The two leading U.S. major professional sports, baseball and the National Football League, have been seen as lagging behind much of the rest of the world in tackling the issue of illegal drug use and imposing penalties.
Steroids have been linked to a number of health problems, including liver and heart damage and violent mood swings.
Baseball announced in January that offenders would be suspended and identified. But language in its new policy shows they could instead be fined, starting with $10,000 for a first offense, and not identified. Baseball officials attributed that language on Thursday to a "drafting error."
Selig told dubious lawmakers: "I will suspend any player who tests positive for an illegal steroid. There will be no exceptions."
A half-dozen current and former players, including home-run kings Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, who were forced to appear at the hearing, advocated zero tolerance for steroids in baseball, but appeared to disagree about the scope of the problem.
Sosa, through his lawyer, and Rafael Palmeiro denied using steroids, while McGwire, who revitalized the sport when he set a home-run record in 1998, declined to say whether he had used steroids.
"I'm not here to talk about the past," McGwire said, adding he wanted to look ahead and warn young people not to use steroids.
Baseball has come under increased scrutiny following allegations arising from the BALCO lab case in California that some top players enhanced their performance with muscle-building steroids, and accusations by former drug-using slugger Jose Canseco of widespread use of steroids in the game.
"Why did I take steroids?," Canseco, who retired a few years ago, said in a statement to the committee. "The answer is simple. Because myself and others had no choice if we wanted to continue playing. Because MLB did nothing to take it out of the sport."
Questioning the sport's new commitment to eradicate drug use, committee members suggested a national anti-steroid policy. They also warned that Congress could revoke the sport's antitrust exemption that has shielded it from competition.
(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan)
1 hour, 27 minutes ago
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers grilled a star-studded lineup of baseball players and officials on Thursday about steroid use in the national sport, and said Major League Baseball needed to do more to rid itself of illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
Photo
Reuters Photo
AP Photo Photo
AP Photo
Slideshow Slideshow: Sports Doping Issues
In a showdown between Congress and baseball, lawmakers complained a new drug policy by MLB and its players association was laced with loopholes, and accused the sport of abusing the public's trust.
"For 30 years, Major League Baseball has told us to trust them, but the league hasn't honored that trust," Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), a California Democrat, said at a hearing by the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee to probe drug abuse in the game.
The all-day hearing featured a number of often testy exchanges between lawmakers and some of the biggest names in baseball.
Chairman Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, closed the hearing, telling MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, "We appreciate the advancements that baseball has made, but we think it fell short of the mark."
"We are going to be watching this very closely," said Davis, adding his investigation of steroids has just begun.
Selig defended baseball's approach, but said he was pushing for it to be even more effective.
"Baseball's policy on performance-enhancing substances is as good as any in professional sports," Selig said, rejecting criticism to the contrary.
"Notwithstanding the quality of our new policy, baseball will not rest and will continue to be vigilant on the issue of performance-enhancing substances as we move toward my stated goal of zero tolerance," Selig said.
According to MLB, fewer than 2 percent of tests for steroids were positive last year, down from 5 to 7 percent in 2003, the first year of testing.
But critics question the validity of the tests.
The two leading U.S. major professional sports, baseball and the National Football League, have been seen as lagging behind much of the rest of the world in tackling the issue of illegal drug use and imposing penalties.
Steroids have been linked to a number of health problems, including liver and heart damage and violent mood swings.
Baseball announced in January that offenders would be suspended and identified. But language in its new policy shows they could instead be fined, starting with $10,000 for a first offense, and not identified. Baseball officials attributed that language on Thursday to a "drafting error."
Selig told dubious lawmakers: "I will suspend any player who tests positive for an illegal steroid. There will be no exceptions."
A half-dozen current and former players, including home-run kings Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, who were forced to appear at the hearing, advocated zero tolerance for steroids in baseball, but appeared to disagree about the scope of the problem.
Sosa, through his lawyer, and Rafael Palmeiro denied using steroids, while McGwire, who revitalized the sport when he set a home-run record in 1998, declined to say whether he had used steroids.
"I'm not here to talk about the past," McGwire said, adding he wanted to look ahead and warn young people not to use steroids.
Baseball has come under increased scrutiny following allegations arising from the BALCO lab case in California that some top players enhanced their performance with muscle-building steroids, and accusations by former drug-using slugger Jose Canseco of widespread use of steroids in the game.
"Why did I take steroids?," Canseco, who retired a few years ago, said in a statement to the committee. "The answer is simple. Because myself and others had no choice if we wanted to continue playing. Because MLB did nothing to take it out of the sport."
Questioning the sport's new commitment to eradicate drug use, committee members suggested a national anti-steroid policy. They also warned that Congress could revoke the sport's antitrust exemption that has shielded it from competition.
(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan)
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