Steroids & Baseball
Steroid use allegations plague Major League Baseball.
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Washington Post baseball writer Thomas Boswell claims Jose Canseco is "the most conspicuous example of a player who has made himself great with steroids." Canseco, coming off the first 40 home run-40 steal season in baseball history, denies using steroids before Game 1 of the ALCS at Fenway Park. The Athletics slugger wins the MVP award.
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The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 creates criminal penalties for those who "distribute or possess anabolic steroids with the intent to distribute for any use in humans other than the treatment of disease based on the order of a physician."
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Congress toughens its stance with the Anabolic Steroids Control Act, which places steroids in the same legal class as amphetamines, methamphetamines, opium and morphine.
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Commissioner Fay Vincent sends a memo to each team announcing that steroids have been added to the league's banned list. No testing plan is announced.
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Trainer Curtis Wenzlaff is arrested for steroids distribution. Wenzlaff later publicly admits helping Canseco and 20 to 30 other major leaguers obtain steroids, but refuses to discuss another former client, Mark McGwire.
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In an article by Los Angeles Times sports writer Bob Nightengale, Padres general manager Randy Smith is quoted as saying "we all know there's steroid use, and it is definitely becoming more prevalent." Also in the article, Tony Gwynn states: "It's like the big secret we're not supposed to talk about."
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Three teams — Baltimore, Seattle and Oakland — break the single-season home run record. Seventeen players hit at least 40 home runs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the previous high for a season was eight, back in 1961.
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A jar of androstenedione is discovered in the locker of Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, who, along with Sammy Sosa, is chasing Roger Maris' single-season home run mark of 61. McGwire admits using the drug and goes on to hit a record 70 home runs. The precursor to steroids is not yet illegal in Major League Baseball.
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Baseball implements its first random drug-testing program in the minor leagues. All players not on a team's 40-man roster are subject to random testing for performance-enhancing drugs. The penalty for a first positive test is 15 games. Players testing positive five times will receive a lifetime ban.
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Barry Bonds breaks McGwire's mark with his 71st home run off Chan Ho Park of the Dodgers. The 37-year-old, who has never hit 50 in a season before, goes on to hit 73.
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Ken Caminiti is quoted by Sports Illustrated as saying that he used steroids during his MVP season in 1996 with the San Diego Padres, when he hit a career-high .326 with 40 home runs and 130 RBIs. He estimates half the players in the big leagues were using them.
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The Wall Street Journal reports that Jose Canseco, who was circulating a book proposal, had told publishing houses that he took steroids.
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Players and owners agree to their first joint drug program since 1985, calling for survey testing to begin in 2003. If more than 5 percent of the tests are positive in 2003 or 2004, players would be randomly tested for steroids for a two-year period.
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Players and owners agree to labor contract running through Dec. 19, 2006, triggering start date of drug agreement.
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The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says several track athletes tested positive for tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), a steroid that until recently was undetectable. USADA chief executive officer Terry Madden called it a widespread "conspiracy" involving chemists, coaches and athletes that was brought to the agency's attention by an anonymous tip. Madden said the tipster contacted the USADA in June 2003 and identified the source of the THG as Victor Conte, founder of Bay Area Lab Cooperative of Burlingame, Calif.
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The commissioner's office and the players' association announce that of 1,438 anonymous tests in the 2003 season, between 5 and 7 percent were positive, triggering start of random testing with penalties in 2004. A first offense will lead to counseling and a second offense to a 15-day suspension.
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Barry Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson; track coach Remi Korchemny; Bay Area Lab Cooperative president Conte; and BALCO vice president James Valente are charged in 42-count federal indictment of running a steroid-distribution ring that provided performance-enhancing drugs to dozens of athletes.
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The Food and Drug Administration bans the sale of androstenedione. The FDA action automatically triggered a ban by baseball.
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The San Francisco Chronicle reports the New York Yankees' Jason Giambi testified to a federal grand jury on Dec. 11, 2003, that he had used steroids for at least three seasons and had injected himself with human growth hormone in 2003.
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The San Francisco Chronicle reports the San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds testified to a federal grand jury on Dec. 4, 2003, that he used a clear substance and a cream given to him by a trainer who was indicted in a steroid-distribution ring, but said he didn't know they were steroids.
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Players and owners reach new drug-testing agreement calling for more banned substances and for a 10-day penalty for first-time offenders.
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The New York Daily News reports that Canseco says in his book, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big" that he injected McGwire with steroids and introduced several other sluggers to the drugs. The book is released Feb. 14.
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At a hearing of the House Government Reform Committee, Mark McGwire evades questions about steroid use as he testifies alongside Canseco, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, who denies having used steroids. Lawmakers scold commissioner Bud Selig and union head Donald Fehr, saying baseball's penalties are too lenient. Some congressmen say legislation could be necessary.
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Tampa Bay outfielder Alex Sanchez becomes the first player suspended for steroids under the major league program.
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Selig asks players to agree to a 50-game suspension for first-time steroid offenders, a 10-game ban for second offenders and a lifetime ban for a third violation. He asks that amphetamines be tested for, that there be more frequent testing and that administration of drug testing be shifted to an independent person from the management-union committee.
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Conte and Anderson plead guilty to steroid distribution and money laundering, and Valente pleads guilty to one count of distributing illegal steroids.
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Korchemny pleads guilty to one misdemeanor count of doling out the sleep-disorder drug modafinil.
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Palmeiro is suspended for 10 days for testing positive for stanozolol, becoming the most prominent player to be penalized for steroids. Twelve players in all were suspended in 2005, each for 10 days.
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Fehr counters Selig by proposing a 20-game suspension for first offense, a 75-game penalty for second and leaving the penalty for a third positive to the commissioner's discretion. Union says it would agree to test for amphetamines.
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Career home run leader Hank Aaron and four other baseball Hall of Famers accompany Selig to Senate Commerce Committee hearing, where Sen. John McCain criticizes Fehr for inaction.
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Conte is sentenced to four months in prison and four months' home confinement, Anderson sentenced to three months in prison and three months in home confinement and Valente sentenced to probation.
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A congressional committee announces it does not have enough evidence to pursue perjury charges against Palmiero. Palmeiro testified to a congressional panel in March that he had never used steroids, then failed a drug test in May.
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Spurred by the threat of federal legislation, players and owners agreed to increase the penalties for steroid use to a 50-game suspension for a first offense, 100 games for a second and a lifetime ban for a third. Players for the first time gave management the right to test for amphetamines, viewed by baseball management as a bigger problem than steroids.
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Baseball owners vote unanimously to
approve the toughened steroids policy agreed to with the players' association earlier in the week.
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An excerpt from a book written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters claims Barry Bonds used a vast array of performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids and human growth hormone, for at least five seasons beginning in 1998. The excerpt of "Game of Shadows" appears in the March 13 issue of Sports Illustrated. Bonds, who testified before a San Francisco federal grand jury looking into steroid use by top athletes, has repeatedly denied using performance-enhancing drugs.
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Baseball launches probe into steroids use by Barry Bonds and others. Commissioner Bud Selig raised eyebrows with his choice of former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell — a director of the Boston Red Sox — to lead the inquiry. Mitchell said he will not resign his position. The probe will be limited to events since September 2002, when the sport banned performance-enhancing drugs. No timetable for the investigation was announced.
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A noted scientist in the sports nutritional supplement world pleads guilty to supplying the Bay Area Laboratory-Cooperative with the performance-enhancing drug known as "the clear." A San Francisco federal grand jury had indicted Patrick Arnold in November of conspiring with BALCO founder Victor Conte to distribute the once-undetectable substance tetrahydragestrinone. This comes as a grand jury investigates whether Barry Bonds, the San Francisco Giants' star slugger, lied about using "the clear" to another grand jury.
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A California grand jury indicts home run king Barry Bonds on perjury and obstruction of justice charges for allegedly lying when he said he did not use performance-enhancing drugs.
LINK: Bonds Indictment
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Baltimore outfielder Jay Gibbons and Kansas City outfielder Jose Guillen were suspended for the first 15 days of the 2008 season by Major League Baseball for violating the sport's drug program.
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A report prepared by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell details a troubling drug culture in baseball, and names 85 current and former players linked to performance-enhancing substances. Included are Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Miguel Tejada, Andy Pettitte and Eric Gagne.
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Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte are asked to testify before a congressional committee, along with their former trainer, Brian McNamee. Also invited to appear before the House Oversight Committee were former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, whose allegations were a central part of last month's Mitchell report on doping in baseball. Former All-Star second baseman Chuck Knoblauch was also asked to speak to the panel. The hearing date, originally Jan. 16, was changed to Feb. 13.
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Former Senate majority leader George Mitchell, author of a scathing report on the steroids era, baseball commissioner Bud Selig and union leader Donald Fehr headed to Capitol Hill to testify before a Congressional committee. Lawmakers were expected to follow two main lines of questioning: How did baseball's steroids era happen? What can be done now to further strengthen anti-doping efforts?
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Former NFL defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield pleaded guilty to lying to investigators in the BALCO steroids case, making him the first football player charged in the long-running federal probe that has ensnared baseball home run king Barry Bonds.
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Roger Clemens spoke under oath for about five hours to congressional lawyers Tuesday, then said he told them he did not use performance-enhancing drugs. His closed-door, sworn testimony on Capitol Hill came one day after his Yankees teammate and workout partner, Andy Pettitte, gave a deposition to committee staff for 2½ hours. Both players' interviews are part of preparation for a Feb. 13 hearing.
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Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee brought their vastly different stories to Capitol Hill, as the star pitcher met one-on-one with congressmen informally and his former personal trainer met with House lawyers for a sworn deposition ahead of a scheduled public committee hearing on Feb. 13.
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Former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski was sentenced to five years' probation, avoiding jail time after cooperating with baseball's investigation into performance-enhancing drugs. Radomski, who admitted giving dozens of major leaguers steroids and human growth hormone, also was ordered to pay a $18,575 fine. Radomski, who had no prior offenses, had faced no more than six months in prison.
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Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee testify before Congressional committee. In prepared statements, McNamee said he injected Clemens with performance-enhancing drugs more often than he previously claimed, while Clemens continued to deny the accusations that became public in December's Mitchell Report. In another development, Andy Pettitte admitted using human growth hormone in 2004 as well as 2002, saying it was supplied to him in '04 by his father.
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Congress asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Roger Clemens made false statements to a House committee. The chairman and ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said they sent a letter to Justice. "We believe that his testimony in a sworn deposition on Feb. 5, 2008, and at a hearing on Feb. 13, 2008, that he never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone, warrants further investigation," committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis wrote.
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Reprising the partisan nature the previous month's Clemens-McNamee congressional hearing, the leading Republican on that committee released a report questioning some of the Democratic majority's conclusions about the investigation. The 109-page report contains details Rep. Tom Davis believes could challenge the credibility of Brian McNamee, the personal trainer who testified under oath he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998-01. The report was to be passed along to the Justice Department.
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Baseball players and owners agree to amend their drug agreement, a decision that allows for more frequent testing and eliminates 15-day suspensions assessed in December against Jose Guillen and Jay Gibbons. The deal, reached after months of negotiations, strengthens the authority the independent administrator has over the drug program. But baseball did not heed advice from the World Anti-Doping Agency and turn drug testing over to an outside agency.
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According to report on Sports Illustrated's Web site, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two steroids in 2003. SI says “four sources have independently told Sports Illustrated” that Rodriguez was one of 104 players that tested positive as part of Major League Baseball’s “survey testing” that year. Those results were supposed to be anonymous but were seized by the government in April 2004 as part of the BALCO investigation.
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Alex Rodriguez, in an interview with ESPN’s Peter Gammons, admitted using a "banned substance" from 2001 to 2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers, 48 hours after the Sports Illustrated report surfaced. Rodriguez described some of the reasons he began using steroids, from the pressure of his massive $252 million contract to the draining heat of Texas.
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Houston Astros All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada is been charged with lying to Congress about steroids. He was scheduled to appear in federal court Feb. 11 and plead guilty. Tejada is charged with lying to investigators for the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in 2005. He denied knowledge of an ex-teammate's use of performance-enhancing drugs.
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Credits:
CBS, The Associated Press
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