Players OK Steroid Testing Talk
Baseball players gave their lawyers the go-ahead Tuesday to reach an agreement with owners on tougher testing for steroids.
After negotiations with management were outlined to the executive board of the players' association, union head Donald Fehr said the board "authorized us to attempt to conclude an agreement consistent with those discussions."
Commissioner Bud Selig repeatedly has called for more frequent testing and harsher penalties for steroid use, stepping up the intensity following reports of grand jury testimony in a steroid investigation that includes Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield.
Gene Orza, the union's chief operating officer, said Monday that discussions toward a new agreement had advanced but the sides were still apart. Management expects talks to resume next week.
"We're very pleased they're coming to the table, and we hope we can achieve a program that works," said Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer.
About 40 players were present at the meeting, union spokesman Greg Bouris said.
Fehr defended the current program, saying it would work if "it had been given time." Each player was tested once in 2004 during a period between the start of spring training and the end of the regular season.
In 2003, anonymous tests were conducted as a survey, and 5 to 7 percent came back positive. Fehr thought the number of positive tests declined this year but did not provide specifics.
"What you will see is a significant reduction," he said.
Recent reports have linked top players to steroid use. The matter became urgent after the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week details of players' testimony to a federal grand jury that indicted four people on charges of illegally distributing steroids to top athletes.
One of those indicted was the personal trainer of the San Francisco Giants' Bonds, whose 73 home runs in 2001 is the game's single-season record and who is 53 homers away from breaking Hank Aaron's all-time record of 755. Bonds told the grand jury he used a cream and a clear substance but said he didn't know they were forbidden substances.
The paper also reported that New York Yankees slugger Giambi injected himself with human growth hormone in 2003 and also used steroids for at least three seasons, according to his grand jury testimony.
Baseball's plans to market Bonds' pursuit of the home run record have been put on hold, fallout from the release of his grand jury testimony about steroids.
The commissioner's office and a corporate sponsor it was courting for the campaign canceled a meeting on the project. Baseball said it had hoped MasterCard International would sponsor the promotion.
"We continue to assess the ramifications that these issues will have on our business," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Tuesday. "It's another reason why we need to restore the confidence of not only our fans, but of our partners."
Baseball already had sent the company detailed materials and artwork pitching the campaign. But the meeting was called off following last week's report that Bonds testified he took substances that federal prosecutors say are steroids.
The San Francisco Giants' slugger finished the 2004 season with 703 homers, 52 shy of Hank Aaron's record, and at his recent pace he would reach the mark late next year or in 2006.
The program created by baseball called for a campaign in 2005 building to the game in which Bonds would break Aaron's record. A nationally televised on-field ceremony would offer significant exposure for a corporate sponsor. Teams the Giants visit would be invited to be part of the marketing plan.
Jeff Bernstein, Bonds' personal marketing representative, did not return a telephone call for comment.
Bonds was to be approached for his inclusion in the campaign, but plans had not progressed that far. He opted out of the marketing plan of the Major League Baseball Players Association last year, and he now controls his own image.