"Baseball had to deal with this opposition in an extraordinarily difficult labor relations environment," Selig said. "Ultimately, the agreement we accepted on drugs was a compromise. We accepted less than we wanted because, in my judgment as the commissioner, we had pushed the MLBPA as far as it would go without a strike."
Fehr argued, as he has in the past, that Congress wants players to abstain from over-the-counter, performance-enhancing steroid precursors such as androstenedione, even though "a 9-year-old can walk into a store and say to a pharmacist, 'I want to buy this.' I'm still astonished that [legislation to ban over-the-counter, steroid-like nutritional supplements] is still puttering along."
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told players association executive director Donald Fehr that baseball "is about to become a fraud."
(Michael Robinson-Chavez - The Washington Post)
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| _____From The Post_____
• Baseball's top executives were warned to address the use of performance-enhancing drugs or possibly face federal legislation.
• Thomas Boswell: The showdown on Capitol Hill might accomplish something.
• The Orioles appear unenthusiastic about reopening bargaining negotiations over the severity of the current testing program.
• Barry Bonds's trainer, Greg F. Anderson admitted to authorities last September that he gave anabolic steroids to baseball players.
• The federal government issued indictments against BACLO's founder and Barry Bonds's personal trainer.
• President Bush calls for a crackdown on steroids in his State of the Union address.
• Timeline: Events leading up to the BALCO hearings.
• The FDA banned the controversial steroid THG in October.
• Drug-testing officials claim there is a widespread steroid "conspiracy" involving THG.
_____From FindLaw_____
• The text of the indictment that charges four people with distributing anabolic steroids to pro athletes.
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Several members of the committee said baseball players are public figures and should be held to a higher standard than the general public. "The union is wrong here," said Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), appearing as a witness. Biden is co-sponsoring legislation that would define steroid precursors as Schedule III controlled substances, like steroids, meaning they would be illegal to use without a prescription.
While condemning the use of performance-enhancing drugs, Fehr and the union have resisted indiscriminate testing on the grounds that, absent specific evidence, it violates a player's constitutional right to privacy.
"While the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures is not directly applicable to the private employment setting, the important principles on which it is based should not be lightly put aside," he told the committee.
Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who helped negotiate the collective bargaining agreement on behalf of the owners, said after the hearing that Fehr's concern over players' constitutional rights is "totally inapplicable."
"I don't think it merits the time it takes to listen to it," he said. "It simply adds nothing to the discussion. I think the senators made their positions very clear that this is a public matter. The public needs reassurance. This testing is calculated to accomplish that purpose. And it is owed to the public. It is owed to the game. And it seems to me that's the least that all the sports can do: give the public reassurance that they are getting a legitimate contest every time they pay their good money to see an athletic contest."
McCain, speaking after the hearing, did not detail what repercussions MLB might suffer if it does not curb drug use.
McCain praised the NFL and the U.S. Doping Agency, but said: "Baseball has got to get it. I don't want to act legislatively. . . . But to say someone is randomly tested only once a year is ludicrous. . . . I have great respect for Don Fehr. Of course, I'm frustrated. I'd like to see him adopt the same standards as the NFL."
McCain and Fehr have worked together on Olympics issues, and McCain last year asked Fehr to co-chair a panel to restructure the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Fehr, who is recovering from gall bladder surgery, said after the hearing that he was too weak to respond to reporters' questions. He said he understood the urgency the committee attached to addressing the steroids issue.
Staff writers Leonard Shapiro and Mike Allen, and researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
