Players and owners send "a clear message" with considerably harsher penalties, beginning next season.
By wire services
Published November 16, 2005
Major-league baseball players and owners Tuesday reacted to months of embarrassing scandals and congressional pressure by reaching a landmark agreement aimed at purging the game of anabolic steroids and amphetamines.
The new policy, scheduled to take effect next season, sharply increases penalties for steroid abuse to a 50-game suspension for a first offense, 100 games for a second offense, and a lifetime ban for a third. It also establishes mandatory random testing for amphetamines for the first time in the nation's major professional sports leagues. Under the current policy, steroid abusers face suspensions of 10 days for a first offense, 30 days for a second, and 60 days for a third.
Baseball's penalties for steroid abuse are the harshest among American professional sports.
Devil Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman applauded the move.
"I think it's a clear message we're sending to everybody that we're not going to let this issue compromise the integrity of the game," Friedman said. "I think it's a great message."
Commissioner Bud Selig said: "This is an important step to reaching our goal of ridding our sport of performance-enhancing substances and should restore the integrity of and public confidence in our great game. This has been an historic day in baseball."
Congressional leaders generally expressed satisfaction with the policy, indicating they may ease their push to impose a sweeping, federal antidoping program on the major professional sports. Citing baseball's current program as one of the weakest, legislative leaders had gained support for their antidoping initiative when prominent sluggers Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield were implicated in the BALCO steroid scandal and Rafael Palmeiro became the game's first major star to test positive for illegal steroids.
"This is what I had hoped for all along, for the two private parties to come to an agreement on their own without Congress having to do it for them," said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky, a baseball Hall of Famer who is a chief sponsor of the Integrity in Professional Sports Act.
Bunning said the new policy is "not as tough as I would like," yet he seemed prepared to accept the program barring any unforeseen problems. Players and owners are expected to ratify the agreement with little dissent.
Players made several striking concessions to achieve the deal, including reopening their collective bargaining agreement, which otherwise is in force through 2006. They also backed off their proposal for less stringent penalties for steroid abusers (20 games for a first offense, 75 games for a second and disciplinary action set by the commissioner for a third).
Amid congressional pressure and public concern over the integrity of the game, the players ultimately accepted Selig's initial terms.
"This agreement reaffirms that major-league players are committed to the elimination of performance-enhancing substances and that the system of collective bargaining is responsive and effective in dealing with issues of this type," said Donald Fehr, executive director of the players association.
The agreement is expected to remain in force through the duration of the collective bargaining agreement that succeeds the current pact, or about 2010.
The league began testing for steroids in 2003, despite indications the game had been altered since the mid 1990s by illegal performance-enhancing drugs. But baseball was even slower to respond to the widespread use of amphetamines, which has gone unfettered since the 1950s. Amphetamines are considered far more prevalent in the major leagues than steroids.
Major leaguers agreed to subject themselves to more drug tests than ever before. While the current plan calls for players to undergo at least one test from the start of spring training to the end of the regular season, the new policy will require players to be tested during spring training and submit to at least one unannounced test during the regular season. They also will be subject to year-round random tests.
Rays free agent Eduardo Perez termed the new policy "impressive."
"I think it's going to even out the playing field," he said. "Guys will go out there and play with what they have, their God-given ability. Hopefully we can put everything behind us and play the game without worrying about if someone is doing something."
Times staff writer Marc Topkin contributed to this report.
