BRADENTON, Fla. - Baseball is getting tougher on steroids use, and that announcement Thursday was endorsed by Josh Fogg, the Pirates representative for the players' union.
"It's much needed," Fogg said before the team's second day of workouts at mini-camp. "It's something that everybody in the game - ownership, management, players - agreed needed to be addressed."
Under baseball's new policy, which will be implemented for the upcoming season, there will random year-round testing, and first-time offenders will be penalized. Those guidelines weren't in place last season, the first year baseball had any form of punishment in place for steroids use.
"Obviously, I think it's a step in the right direction," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. "It shows that both sides are very sincere about trying to get something in place that's going to make sure all players are doing the right things to help their careers."
Baseball's steroids-testing policy came under scrutiny almost from the time it was announced in 2002, and the criticism intensified in the wake of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative grand jury case in California.
It was during the annual players' association meeting in December that the union agreed to management's wish for a tougher steroids policy.
"It's something that needed to be addressed for the integrity of the game," said Fogg, who attended that meeting in Phoenix. "I don't know if it's a zero-tolerance policy, but I think it's as close as you can possibly get."
A first positive test will result in a 10-game suspension. Under the old policy, players only had to undergo drug treatment for a first-time offense.
"Ten games is a pretty hefty thing," Fogg said. "For a starting pitcher, that's two starts. That's not a slap on the wrist anymore. That's a pretty steep penalty."
Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson also embraced the new policy, but questioned the magnitude of the announcement.
"I don't think as many players use steroids as people think," Wilson said from his home in Arizona. "I'm not too worried about too many of my teammates or myself being affected by it."
New Pirates catcher Benito Santiago testified before the grand jury in the BALCO case, allegedly admitting to using steroids and human growth hormones when he played for the San Francisco Giants from 2001-03. Santiago didn't want to discuss the new policy yesterday, saying he preferred to focus on the upcoming season.
