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Steroid talk now a public issue

Ex-MVP Ken Caminiti's disclosure has kick-started commentary from all corners.

By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer

© St. Petersburg Times
published May 30, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- Whether Ken Caminiti's confession that he used steroids taints his 1996 NL MVP award is going to be debated on talk shows and in roundtable discussions. But there is no question his admission, and accompanying accusation that half the current major-leaguers use steroids, creates another high-profile problem for an already troubled game.

"It definitely casts a shadow over everyone," said infielder Russ Johnson, who roomed with Caminiti when both were in Houston. "It puts a blanket over everybody when somebody comes out and says something like that."

There is no way to know if Caminiti is right about half the major-leaguers using steroids, which are illegal to buy without a prescription, or Jose Canseco's claim that it is as high as 85 percent, because Major League Baseball, unlike the NBA or NFL, does not test for them.

Caminiti's disclosure, in the upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated, could be considered the isolated comments of an individual player, one who has had problems with drug and alcohol abuse.

"I wouldn't say that it surprised me, but I wouldn't say it's something that was well known either," said catcher John Flaherty, who played who played with Caminiti in San Diego in 1996, as did teammates Greg Vaughn and Chris Gomez. "He did his thing, he worked hard, he played hard. Nowadays, who's going to surprise you and who's not?"

But steroid use for years has been one of the game's dark secrets. Now that it is out in public, speculation will be rampant. The acknowledgement that there are at least some players using them will cast aspersions on many.

Each powerful home run, each bid for a record, each player who looks more muscular than he did the year before, will be greeted with skepticism in the clubhouse, front office, press box and stands.

"Guys are going to be bigger, stronger and faster," said Seattle's Bret Boone. "It doesn't mean guys are taking steroids. There are a lot of nutritional supplements out there that aid, like creatine, stuff like that that a lot of people use that have no known side effects.

"Now with that out there, anyone that goes and works their butt off and gets stronger and gets in shape, it's going to be, 'Oh, he's got to be taking steroids.' It's sad, but that's life."

Barry Bonds, who hit a single-season record 73 home runs last year, has been asked several times about possible steroid use, and denied it. Now the questions will be more abundant.

"As hard as people train and prepare, it's going to take away from people that are really dedicated in the offseason," Vaughn said. "Like with Barry and (Gary Sheffield) they worked out eight, nine hours a day and all of a sudden Barry gets accused of steroids because of hard work. A lot of things will become issues now."

Johnson, who said he had no first-hand knowledge of Caminiti's use, said he could see why a player would try steroids.

"If you think about the situation I'm in, I'm hitting .200, it would be easy for me to say, 'You know what, it may be a good time for me to try that,' " Johnson said. "To me it's not worth it. I would never do it. ... But you put a guy in a pressure situation like the club's getting ready to release you and you need to do something. ... "

Rays general manager Chuck LaMar, who favors testing for all illegal substances, said you can't necessarily blame just the player, either.

"We have a system now where if a player plays X amount of years and performs at certain level he's going to make millions and millions of dollars," he said. "So what we do is increase that temptation to find a secret, if you would, to find something that will give them longevity."

Owners have proposed testing and will negotiate the issue with the players union as part of their dysfunctional labor talks. Both sides admit concern.

But Flaherty, the Rays' union rep, questions if either side wants to ban steroids if doing so will reduce the home run totals that draw the crowds which pay the bills.

"Maybe the owners don't want to acknowledge the problem if attendance goes up when they have a home run hitter or a team that hits a lot of home runs." Flaherty said. "That's just an argument. Maybe the union doesn't want to talk about it if the salaries are escalating."

Meanwhile, players will continue to use with no concern about punishment and what amounts to tacit approval from their colleagues.

"We all know it's part of the game for some players and now it seems like it's out in the open," Flaherty said. "In a way I'm kind of happy this has been brought up. Now it's an issue the media is talking about and the players can now talk about as well without feeling like you're opening up a bag of worms.

"It's already been open. Here it is. Is there a problem? How great is it? Obviously some guys are doing it so it's something that needs to be addressed."

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