Baseball's own false positive

As we reach the halfway mark of this 2004 Major League Baseball season, we have celebrated many fine individual and team performances, and it has been exciting to follow.

But sometimes it is important to take stock of the health of the game of Major League Baseball. How it will continue to draw fans in the future and how the present era will stock up against others historically.

In that vein, sadly, the issue of steroid use in baseball is one that still continues to hover, with ties to other sports as well.

Weeks ago, little attention was paid by the press concerning actions taken by U.S. Track and Field and the banishment of sprinter Kelli White, the gold medal World Champion in 2003 in the women's 100 meter and 200 meter races.

As the result of the BALCO investigation and Grand Jury hearings held in late 2003 and early 2004, White will be prevented from competing for two years.

In addition, she will not be able to compete at the summer's Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, this August, and will be stripped of all of her medals going back to 2000.

She was the first casualty and sacrificial lamb in this media nightmare, regarding the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the BALCO investigation.

Her trainer, Remi Korchemney, was previously indicted for distributing illegal steroids, as was Barry Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson.

What is disturbing and unclear about this suspension was in the way in which any positive results were acquired or if indeed there were positive results.

White was taking the undetectable THG, which is now considered a steroid, and another growth hormone substance, EPO, at the time of the 2003 World Championships, and was not found to be positive when tested. However, at that time, there was no test available that could detect either substance.

It was only after the BALCO investigation reached the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee that the U.S.A.D.A. was able to request the Quest Diagnostics results and re-test them, now that there is a new test available for the suspected substances.

But, White was not banned because of a positive test result. She admitted her use and a positive test was never confirmed.

The reason she was banned was because the U.S.A.D.A. has reserved the right to go back to 2000 and re-test samples for any suspected athletes, if not all.

U.S. athletes can then be stripped of their previously won medals from years before and from taking part in future competitions including the upcoming Olympic Games.

"So what," you ask. "Who cares about Track and Field?"

Well, on the face of it, it remains at least scary, since according to Track and Field Rules and the U.S.A.D.A. they "allow athletes to also be suspended without a positive drug test if there's evidence they've purchased or used banned drugs."

In the past few weeks, they have just upped the ante to be able to ban athletes for life based on no positive tests at all, but rather on e-mail messages, phone calls and associations.

White's banishment, without a positive test, set the bar for the status of all suspected athletes.

Fortunately, MLB does not impose such banishment based upon circumstantial evidence.

At this time there is at least the appearance of impropriety on behalf of Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Benito Santiago based upon testimony, but at least MLB and all professional team sports require a positive test.

It is simply unacceptable to retroactively test for substances that were not on the "banned list" at such time they were used, and to ban athletes who didn't even necessarily use the drugs but may have given the appearance of having used them.

Track and Field athletes do not have a union to back them. Their only recourse is arbitration, not a court of law, which historically has always ruled against the athlete.

At the beginning of this season, MLB and the Players Association agreed in principle that all future testing should be done by the World Doping Agency and U.S.A.D.A., although it has not been officially documented as of yet. All such talk has since stalled with no explanation.

Additionally, the Senate Commerce Committee subpoenaed the 2003 test results from Spring Training, reserving the right to possibly re-test them using the new protocol for THG as well as other substances.

There is still dispute over whether those results will be publicly disclosed, although some results may be subpoenaed during the upcoming BALCO trial.

Perhaps there should be some middle ground here -- maybe test for the now known substances since the time at which the tests became available.

As far as the criminal case goes, that should stand on its own and if positive test results are made available to Major League Baseball for players who used now banned substances, they should be dealt with on a case by case basis. Had it not been for the BALCO case coming to light, MLB would not have even been implicated nor any of its players.

However, a little common sense must be applied for world class track athletes. It sets a terrible precedent for professional athletes of all kinds, and for other many industries as well. Both MLB and U.S. Track and Field are at opposite ends of the spectrum, and neither is in a healthy place on policy.

According to most polls, most baseball fans are not upset about possible steroid use by Major League Baseball players, although if there was a cohesive plan for the future I think fans would applaud it.

The Commissioner's Office cannot have it both ways. Either work with the Players Union to come up with a fair and equitable plan which has some bite to it, or simply take it off the table.

While it's important to clean up baseball for the good of the game and its future prosperity, MLB has been rather disingenuous about "cleaning up the game."

Right now it opens up an unwanted can of worms for the Commissioner's Office. MLB's players will never be banned for life should they test positive for steroid use, nor should they. After all, look at all of the chances ball players have gotten when testing positive for using illegal recreational drugs.

By the same token, we cannot destroy entire careers of the many unheralded Olympic athletes who largely participate for pride, based merely on suspicion.

The powers that be must do what is fair and right for all athletes concerned, as well as their fans and the future of sports.