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CNN Live Today

Baseball Steroid Use Revelations Cause Furor

Aired May 29, 2002 - 14:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: A new cover story in "Sports Illustrated" could mean big problems for big league baseball.

In this article, former major leaguer Ken Caminiti says he used steroids the year he won the National League MVP. And what's more, he says about half of all other players use them too.

Reaction around the diamond seems mixed so far.

CNN's Ray Delessio (ph) has more on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAY DELESSIO (ph), CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Contraction, block outs, player strikes, America's pastime has taken many body blows over the years. And now you can add the alleged widespread use of illegal steroids.

BRIAN JORDAN, L.A. DODGERS: It doesn't surprise me. I mean, sports are sports. Guys are always trying to get the upper-hand and really enhance their bodies any way they can, and if you've got to do it illegally to stay in the game, a lot of guys are doing it.

MIKE MORDECAI, MONTREAL EXPOS: It really doesn't bother me, not one way or another. I mean, if that's what guys want to do, I mean, that's their prerogative.

JOHN SMOLTZ, ATLANTA BRAVES: When you see guys going out there who typically aren't home run hitters, and then all of the sudden become prominent home run hitters, I think it's going to go around quickly that guys are going to try it or experiment, to get whether it's the bucks or the numbers of a better baseball player.

ROB MANFRED, MLB: The commissioners policy bans the use of steroids a the major league level. The problem is, because testing for steroids is a mandatory topic of bargaining, we've never been able to get an agreement with the Player's Association that would allow us to test and find out who is using steroids.

TOM GLAVINE, ATLANTA BRAVES: I'm not naive enough to think, either, to think if we say you can test for steroids, that other things aren't going to creep into the mix, but, you know, I think that it definitely needs to be discussed because, yes, those of us who don't do it, we feel like we're not on an even playing field, and that's something that shouldn't happen.

DELESSIO (ph): Baseball's current proposal to the Player's Association would require all players to be tested for steroid use three times per year.

However, baseball also admits there hasn't been a lot of discussion on steroid use because it wasn't a major issue eight years ago, when the last collective bargaining agreement was made.

For CNN, I'm Ray Delessio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right, now we want to go deeper into the issue of steroid abuse in baseball.

Mel Antonen will help us, I hope. He's the national baseball writer for "USA Today" and he's covered the sport for 15 years. He joins us from Mclean, Virginia.

Mel, why in the world would Ken Caminiti want to even make this announcement? Why now?

MEL ANTONEN, "USA TODAY": I don't know why now. That's a good question.

Baseball's been very good to him. He's got a lot of friends in baseball. And then to take a swipe like that, and to admit it.

I guess he's just feeling regret. He wants people to learn from his mistakes, but it could backfire. It could be really damaging to baseball and to all the players and all his friends involved.

LIN: Yes, what are the implications for the league?

ANTONEN: Well, the implications for the league are many. There's health issues, there's public relations issues, competition issues.

Steroids in baseball could turn out to be a huge issue, a bad, negative public relations campaign for baseball, and they don't need that now. They need to focus on the baseball field. And if fans are talking about steroids and questioning whether this player has used them or this player hasn't, that's not good for the game.

LIN: But does it seem to you that Major League Baseball doesn't really want to know? I mean, they don't test for steroids. It seems like they just want to look the other way.

ANTONEN: Sometimes you think that. I think that, you know, steroids will pump up a player's performance, which will sell tickets. And that's good for the financial part of the game.

But for the credibility of the game, it suffers.

Right now, Major League Baseball owners are proposing steroids testing in the new collective bargaining agreement with the union. You know, it's up to the union whether or not they want to accept it or not.

But I think overall, the owners are serious about getting rid of steroids in baseball. At least, they're making that proposal in the upcoming contract negotiations.

LIN: So what do you think the immediate fallout is going to be, by this revelation by Caminiti?

ANTONEN: I don't think there's going to be any major immediate fallout, unless more and more players come forward and say I've done it this year, I did it that year, I know other players who have done it.

It's not a secret that steroids have been a part of baseball for a long time, but if this becomes the issue, and if this takes away from the field, then this is what's going to hurt baseball. It's just another public relations negative for baseball, which can't afford it right now with contraction and all kinds of labor problems going on.

LIN: Well, can I be a devil's advocate about this? I mean, obviously, there are health implications for using steroids. But how are they any different than, I don't know, any other sort of maintenance program that an athlete feels that he needs to endeavor in order to be the very best he can be, given the competition?

ANTONEN: Well, there's two schools of thought on that.

I mean, you can look at Caminiti. He took steroids, admitted he took steroids, and then he had a ton of injuries that really cut short his career. And there's a lot of athletes who have used steroids and then gone down to injury after injury after injury.

But there's also a school of thought that says, that if you use steroids properly, under doctor's direction, they can be very helpful to an athlete without injury.

But for the most part, the evidence is overwhelming that they do lead to injury.

LIN: All right, very quickly, Mel, in the last seconds we have -- are you predicting testing for steroids in Major League Baseball?

ANTONEN: I don't think it's going to happen. I think there's too many labor issues, there's too many financial issues. Both sides, the owners and the players, will be focused on that, and this will get swept under the carpet again.

LIN: Well, we'll see what happens.

Thank you very much, Mel Antonen, "USA Today."

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