Selig Calls for Stricter Tests

Commissioner Bud Selig called again for stricter drug testing in baseball Thursday, attempting to pressure the players’ union into acceding to his plan for a three-strikes-and-you’re-out policy.

In the wake of this week’s high-profile suspensions of Baltimore Oriole first baseman Rafael Palmeiro and Seattle Mariner pitcher Ryan Franklin, the commissioner’s office issued a three-paragraph release that read, in part:

“The intensity that I feel about this issue is greater today than it has ever been and the time is past due for the Players’ Association to accept my proposal to eliminate steroids and other performance-enhancing substances from our game.”

Union chief Don Fehr has been meeting with players and team player representatives for much of the summer, in part to discuss the possibility of a new policy.

The collective-bargaining agreement expires after the 2006 season but the joint drug-prevention and treatment program runs through 2008.

Shortly after a March congressional hearing at which the current policy was roundly criticized as too lenient, Selig said he would champion a program in which the progression of positive tests would result in suspensions of 50 games, 100 games and a lifetime ban.

A first positive under the existing plan, which was instituted only five months ago, results in a 10-day suspension. Eight major leaguers have been suspended, as have 78 minor leaguers, who serve a 15-game penalty for a first-time offense.

Selig did not mention Palmeiro specifically. On Thursday, the Orioles announced that a pregame ceremony scheduled for Aug. 14 celebrating his 3,000th hit would not be held, per Palmeiro’s request.

Joe Foss, Oriole vice chairman and chief operating officer, said in a statement, “Given the circumstances, the club is in agreement with Rafael’s wish to not move forward with the ceremonies.”

The prominence of Palmeiro, who recently joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the only players to have at least 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, has again drawn attention to baseball’s policy, however. Many congressional leaders, including members of the House Government Reform Committee, have demanded a more stringent and transparent policy, one that more closely follows the Olympic model.

Congress also is investigating Palmeiro, who tested positive for the steroid stanolozol approximately two months after testifying before the Government Reform Committee that he had never used steroids.

“I am saddened by the recent announcements of violations of baseball’s drug program,” the statement from Selig read. “Back in March, I said that everyone who tests positive will be suspended and that has come to pass. While I believe the suspensions show that the current program is working, they underscore the need for an even tougher policy. There is a deeper issue confronting baseball. It is the integrity of the game and that transcends the viability of the current program.

“There exists some doubt in the public sector about our sincerity in eliminating steroids from the game. That is wrong. We must create an understanding everywhere that when we say we need to rid the game of steroids, we mean it. The best way is to put in place the program that I proposed to the Players’ Association more than three months ago. We must increase the levels of discipline to 50 games for a first offense, 100 games for a second and a lifetime ban for a third. And, probably most important, we must turn over the administration of our program to an independent authority to, once and for all, end the debate about the transparency of our policy.”