Selig Wants Union to Consider Ban on Ephedra

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig called Friday for new talks with the players’ union to ban ephedra, the nutritional supplement that may have contributed to the death of Baltimore pitcher Steve Bechler.

Bechler died Monday, a day after collapsing at spring training with heatstroke. A Florida medical examiner said the death may have been linked to an ephedra-based diet pill, Xenadrine RFA-1.

During labor bargaining last summer, owners talked about banning ephedra, but they did not include a ban in their proposal after the union told management lawyers that it would not agree to it.

“Selig and the clubs have been consistent in advocating the ban of and testing for all illegal drugs as well as over-the-counter dietary and nutritional supplements that pose a health risk to players,” the commissioner’s office said in a statement Friday.

Union head Don Fehr, speaking earlier in the day in Peoria, Ariz., said it was too early to draw any conclusions on ephedra.

“At some point down the road -- I’m not personally familiar with how long it takes -- we’ll have some scientific reports, which will tell us some things,” Fehr said. “We may be able to draw conclusions from that. We may not. We’ll just have to wait and see. Obviously, it’s something you discuss internally. You take another look at things as circumstances warrant.”

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Pittsburgh Pirate first baseman Randall Simon took a stress test to determine what caused an abnormal reading during an electrocardiogram the previous day.

“We’re taking precautions that we think are necessary,” Pirate General Manager Dave Littlefield said. “We have nothing to comment on until we get the tests back. But going in we don’t think it’s something to be overly concerned about.”

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New York Yankee designated hitter and first baseman Nick Johnson has stopped taking batting practice because of a lingering left wrist injury.

Johnson hurt the wrist last Aug. 7 while catching a line drive by Kansas City’s Raul Ibanez. He underwent an MRI and the results were negative.

“He’s shut down until we find out what the best course of action is,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said.

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The Atlanta Braves agreed to a $368,000, one-year contract with pitcher Jason Marquis, expected to be the team’s fifth starter.... Ron Gant, 38, agreed to a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics, bringing the outfielder back to the team he played for two years ago.