Steroid Use Is Growing Concern

Public health officials are worried that admissions by two former baseball league most valuable players about steroids will cause more young athletes to risk dangerous side effects for a shortcut to a career in professional sports.

“Kids are seeing how, in the great American sport, home runs are getting very long and pitches are getting faster because of steroids, and they figure, ‘Hey, why not use?’ ” said Gary Wadler, a New York University medical professor noted for his ground-breaking work on drug testing.

Wadler said recent revelations by former sluggers Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti--who both said they used steroids during high points of their careers--should be a strong incentive for major league owners and players to quickly agree on random testing for steroids.

“It’s a baseball issue that has become a public health issue,” Wadler said.

Health officials say there is precedent for concern. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy reported that sales of androstenedione, an over-the-counter steroid hormone marketed widely as a dietary supplement, spiked fivefold after Mark McGwire acknowledged taking the supplement during his record home run season in 1998.

Scientific tests have yet to conclusively rule on the safety of androstenedione, but a consensus of the medical community is that injecting or swallowing steroids in large doses or over long periods of time can lead to several serious ailments, including liver tumors, infertility, enlargement of the heart, depression and tendon ruptures.

Athletes use steroids to build muscle mass and help them recover from strenuous workouts. They are illegal in the U.S. except for those that have been prescribed--usually to cancer or AIDS patients--for testosterone replacement. Other professional leagues, including the NFL and NBA, prohibit steroids and test for them. Major League Baseball does not.

Calls for baseball to take steps toward eliminating steroid use gained momentum from politicians this week. State Sen. Don Perata (D-Oakland), is calling on the legislature to mandate random testing of pro athletes who play in California. Also, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said he will hold a congressional hearing to explore the use of steroids in baseball and other sports.

“Everybody knows how damaging use of these steroids are to athletes’ health,” Dorgan said. “We’ve got an issue to face as a country.”

Kate Malliarakis, director of demand reduction for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, hopes the hearing, which could be held as early as next week, helps educate.

“This is absolutely a public health issue,” she said. “There’s no one that is more of a hero to some kids than a sports role model. This is a competitive society and athletes are looking for an edge. [Steroids are] an edge, but it’s a heck of a price to pay.”

Canseco in 1988 became the first major league player to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season. Caminiti was the National League MVP in 1996. Both are retired from baseball.

Wadler and others hope active major league players are willing to become role models for steroid policy.

“It was done in the Olympics,” said Wadler, whose work on testing earned him the International Olympic Committee President’s Prize. “The elite athletes wanted their sport cleaned up and they applied growing pressure until it was. This has to be a players’ decision, where they are saying, ‘I don’t want to risk shortening my life or damaging my health and I want to play fair and square.’ They should aspire to play in a sport in which games are determined by skill and ability, not by what drugs or cocktails of supplements are being used.”

Testing for steroids is being discussed as part of baseball’s labor negotiations. Rob Manfred, baseball’s executive vice president for labor relations, said testing was mentioned twice within the last week during collective bargaining meetings with the Players’ Association.

Earlier, owners submitted an 11-page policy plan to the union, calling for all players to submit to three mandatory tests a year for steroids and androstenedione.

The Players’ Association is weighing several factors, such as more definitive information about steroid effects from the medical community, an opinion on testing from the players, civil liberty concerns, and the specific wording of the owners’ proposal.

The players’ most pressing questions: Who tests, who has access to the results, what is the punishment, and will there be a test for human growth hormone, a muscle-building drug some players say already is used in the league?

A top union source said the players will be open to testing if two things happen: They must be assured testing is confidential, and first-time offenders cannot be suspended.

Wadler said bringing major league owners and players together on a testing plan might be complicated, but added, “In my opinion the game is being defamed and there is rampant innuendo about who is using and who isn’t. There is only one way to know--test.”

Of particular concern to Wadler is that teenagers might get the message that steroids help ease the path to a lucrative professional contract.

Researchers say there is some evidence that effects on adults are reversible when steroid use is stopped. But for adolescents, some experts say there is an additional risk that can’t be reversed: Stunted growth caused by the premature closure of the growth plates in long bones.

Jack Stein, deputy director for the office of science policy at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said annual national surveys of high school students since 1998 have highlighted two alarming trends--a 50% increase in steroid use, and a 10% decline in the perception of risk.

“Why that is ... is not something we can comment on,” Stein said.

Top players such as Scott Moore, the Cypress High shortstop who was the eighth player picked June 4 in baseball’s draft, and Camarillo High outfielder Delmon Young, widely considered the top junior prospect in the nation, said they are not steroid users nor are they aware of use by teammates or opponents.

But steroids are a raging topic, even on high school fields.

“I think everyone should be putting an asterisk next to the recent records because of steroids,” said Ryan Braun, Granada Hills High’s shortstop. “Something needs to be done. If they can turn an average player into an All-Star, then I think a lot of players may do steroids.”

Said Adam Simon, a UCLA-bound pitcher from La Puente Bishop Amat: “[High school players] see how great a player [Caminiti] was when he was on them. Why wouldn’t they be able to perform the way he did if they were on them? They might use him as a model.”

That’s a concern of many--even the pros.

“I’m trying to put myself in the shoes of a 19-year-old and think, ‘If everyone else is doing it and if I want to be a major leaguer, I might have to do it,’ ” Baltimore Oriole catcher Brook Fordyce said. “If high school kids start doing it, then they’re going to think they need to stay on it in college, and they’re going to be on it for a long time.

“You put something in your body, you have to be educated. Hopefully, these kids are smart enough to realize they’re putting poison in their bodies and giving themselves a chance to get real sick.”

Tampa Bay catcher John Flaherty, a representative to the union, was a teammate of Caminiti and Canseco. He found their confessions troubling but is happy it’s led to a dialogue.”If you’re a college kid and hoping to get drafted, unfortunately there’s a decision for you,” Flaherty said. “If you do this, your chances might be greater. If you don’t, your chances might be less. So at a very young age, you’re asking them to make a very tough decision. You’re not just talking about getting drafted, you’re talking about becoming an instant millionaire.... The root of this problem goes deeper, to finances and just getting yourself in the door to play this game.”

Dodger first baseman Eric Karros said he’s disturbed by the suggestion that steroid use by major leaguers will create a cause-and-effect spike in use by younger athletes.

“If people make decisions based on something they’ve read or what a sports figure says, if that’s solely how they make decisions, then there’s obviously a lack of parenting and a lack of a lot of other things,” Karros said.

Major league players on their team’s 40-man active roster are protected from random drug testing, but minor leaguers are not. Angel minor leaguers are tested twice a year and the club reports positive tests are “less than 1%,” with no repeat offenders.

“If you’ve got nothing to hide, you shouldn’t be worried about it,” said Angel reliever Lou Pote, who spent 10 seasons in the minors.

Canseco and Caminiti estimated that at least half of major leaguers used steroids. But when The Times questioned a dozen players about steroids during the last week, almost all said those figures were grossly exaggerated.

As for random testing, there were mixed reactions. Six were for it, one was against it and four were undecided. For another, the subject already was taboo. Angel designated hitter Brad Fullmer refused to discuss steroids, saying, “I’m tired of talking about it.”

Angel outfielder Garret Anderson is against testing, even though he says he has been unjustly the target of speculation that he used steroids. He was told by a teammate during his career-high 35-homer season in 2000 that an opposing pitcher had asked, “Does he take steroids?”

Anderson said he laughed it off. He weighs 228 pounds, 38 more than he did as a rookie in 1995, but says the weight has come naturally with age.

Said Angel Manager Mike Scioscia: “Garret has a real fluid swing and it’s very common for a hitter like that to work his way into power.”

Anderson said he’s an example of why testing isn’t needed. “I don’t use [steroids] and my numbers are right there with the best in the game over the last couple of years,” he said. “I don’t think it’s tainting the game.”

Brian Giles, the Pittsburgh Pirate outfielder who has averaged 37 home runs and 111 runs batted in the last three seasons, doesn’t feel strongly either way about testing. He credits hard work in a conditioning program for his success.

“Obviously, you have to be in great shape for a 162-game season and the guys that are putting up the biggest numbers are the guys in the best shape,” he said.

Angel outfielder Darin Erstad said he would support any plan that would place “everybody on a level playing field.”

Karros is in favor of testing for a simple reason. “I’m not saying it’s good or bad--but it’s illegal, so test for it,” he said.

Fordyce, the Oriole catcher, said players should be tested for their own protection. “What’s the point of a guy having a great career if two or three years later he’s sick or dying?” he said. “I think the union owes that to the players.”

Within the next few weeks, union chief Donald Fehr is expected to consult with team player representatives for their assessment of the owners’ proposal. Several players interviewed said they had not yet been polled.

Jeff Conine, a first baseman and designated hitter for the Orioles, is in favor of testing and is confident that baseball will soon have a testing program if the majority of players agree with him. “They work for us,” he said of the union leaders. “If we want something done, they do it.”

Flaherty agreed, noting the union arranged for the Devil Rays to attend a seminar on steroids in New York last season.

“Salaries have gone through the roof, home runs have gone through the roof,” Flaherty said. “Hit home runs, salaries go up. The union likes that. If attendance goes up because a few guys are bombing balls into the seats, then maybe the owners want to turn their cheek a little bit. I’m interested to see who jumps to the forefront on this thing.”

Some are concerned that it will take a worst-case scenario before the owners and union are able to forge an agreement.

“If someone dies, there’s a problem,” Angel pitcher Scott Schoeneweis said. “If someone dies years down the road, after they’re done playing, there’s a problem.... Until that happens, maybe nothing will be done.”

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Staff writers Ben Bolch, Mike DiGiovanna, Chris Foster, Ross Newhan and Bill Shaikin contributed to this report.