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Not looking good for Palmeiro.
By LEE JENKINS
Published: August 3, 2005
The positive drug test that has left Rafael Palmeiro's legacy in doubt involved the potent anabolic steroid stanozolol, a person in baseball with direct knowledge of the sport's drug-testing program said yesterday.
Stanozolol, known by its brand name, Winstrol, was most notably linked to the Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson of Canada, who was stripped of a gold medal in 1988 after testing positive for that steroid.
Now Palmeiro, one of only four major league players with more than 3,000 hits and 500 home runs, is being associated with the same substance.
The person who said that Palmeiro tested positive for stanozolol did not want to be identified because the testing policy prohibits anyone in baseball from disclosing information about test results without authorization.
This revelation came on the day that Major League Baseball suspended its eighth player - and second in a span of 24 hours - for violating the drug-testing policy. Ryan Franklin, a starting pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, became the fourth major league pitcher suspended for steroid use. Like Palmeiro, Franklin appealed the suspension, but an arbitrator decided yesterday not to overturn it.
Palmeiro said Monday that he had never intentionally taken steroids, but stanozolol does not come in dietary supplements and is among the most popular steroids on the market. It can be ingested or injected and usually remains in a person's system for at least a month.
"It's a mildly strong to strong steroid," said Dr. Gary Wadler, a professor at New York University who is an expert in sports doping. "Potent is the word I would use."
Palmeiro, who testified in front of the House Committee on Government Reform in March that he never took steroids, spoke on the telephone yesterday with the committee chairman, Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, according to Davis's spokesman, Rob White. Palmeiro said Monday that he tried to call Davis and planned on calling Henry A. Waxman of California, the ranking Democrat on the committee.
"Rafael was able to connect with Chairman Davis late this afternoon and assured him he will cooperate fully and provide his committee with any information it requests," Palmeiro's agent, Arn Tellem, said in a statement.
Yesterday Davis and Waxman were considering sending two letters, one to Major League Baseball asking for all of the specifics on the Palmeiro testing, another to Palmeiro asking him to cooperate in releasing that information. A final decision on the letters had not been made as of yesterday evening, a committee staff member said.
Palmeiro is probably not at risk of perjury charges for his finger-pointing, categorical denial of using steroids in his sworn testimony because the positive test was taken some weeks later, the committee staff member said, speaking on condition of anonymity because official statements are supposed to come from members of Congress.
In 2003 and 2004, Major League Baseball reported 128 positive steroid tests, including 74 for the steroid nandrolone (known commercially as Deca-Durabolin) and 37 for stanozolol. But last year, only one positive test was for nandrolone and 11 positive tests were for stanozolol, an indication of a changing trend.
Dr. Harrison G. Pope, a Harvard professor, psychiatrist and steroids expert, said nandrolone is detectable in the body for a much longer period than stanozolol. Nandrolone also was common in dietary supplements before it was added to the list of controlled substances in 2005.
According to The San Francisco Chronicle, the sprinter Tim Montgomery testified to a federal grand jury in 2003 that Victor Conte, head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, told him he had given Winstrol to the San Francisco Giants' star slugger Barry Bonds. The Chronicle reported that in testimony to the grand jury, Bonds admitted to using a clear substance and a cream supplied by Balco and believed to be designer steroids but told federal prosecutors he did not know the substances were steroids. Bonds's lawyer, Michael Rains, has said that Bonds did not take illegal steroids.
Sometime after Palmeiro returns from his 10-day suspension, which is expected to be Aug. 12 against the Toronto Blue Jays, he will be tested again. Under the current drug-testing policy, every major league player is given one unannounced test a year and can also be subjected to random tests. Violators, however, are placed in a separate category. The health policy advisory committee sets up a schedule that ensures they will be tested at another unannounced date. So far this season, 1,000 drug tests have been administered in the major leagues - there are approximately 1, 200 players - and 900 have been processed.
The suspensions of Palmeiro and Franklin came after one of the most anticipated weekends of the baseball season, featuring the Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the passing of the non-waiver trading deadline. The timing is considered a coincidence because both Palmeiro and Franklin issued appeals and needed an arbitrator to hear their cases. While Palmeiro is the highest-profile player ever to be suspended for steroid use, Franklin is a little-known starting pitcher with a 6-11 record and a 4.63 earned run average this season. He told reporters yesterday that he tested positive in early May and negative three weeks later.
"There's got to be a flaw in the system," Franklin was quoted as saying by The Associated Press at Detroit's Comerica Park, before the Mariners played the Tigers. "I have no clue."
In a study conducted by The New York Times six weeks into this season, 63 minor league players had been suspended and 29 were pitchers. Now, half the players who have been suspended at the major league level are also pitchers.
Despite the stereotype of the muscle-bound slugger constantly trying to bulk up, many in baseball say pitchers may be using steroids to increase velocity, maintain strength over a long season, and recover more quickly between appearances.
"As a whole, we've probably been surprised by the number of pitchers that have been involved with it," Mets pitcher Tom Glavine said earlier this season. "I think there was a perception it wouldn't do anything for pitchers. I think we probably all realize we might be wrong."
Murray Chass and Duff Wilson contributed reporting for this article.
By LEE JENKINS
Published: August 3, 2005
The positive drug test that has left Rafael Palmeiro's legacy in doubt involved the potent anabolic steroid stanozolol, a person in baseball with direct knowledge of the sport's drug-testing program said yesterday.
Stanozolol, known by its brand name, Winstrol, was most notably linked to the Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson of Canada, who was stripped of a gold medal in 1988 after testing positive for that steroid.
Now Palmeiro, one of only four major league players with more than 3,000 hits and 500 home runs, is being associated with the same substance.
The person who said that Palmeiro tested positive for stanozolol did not want to be identified because the testing policy prohibits anyone in baseball from disclosing information about test results without authorization.
This revelation came on the day that Major League Baseball suspended its eighth player - and second in a span of 24 hours - for violating the drug-testing policy. Ryan Franklin, a starting pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, became the fourth major league pitcher suspended for steroid use. Like Palmeiro, Franklin appealed the suspension, but an arbitrator decided yesterday not to overturn it.
Palmeiro said Monday that he had never intentionally taken steroids, but stanozolol does not come in dietary supplements and is among the most popular steroids on the market. It can be ingested or injected and usually remains in a person's system for at least a month.
"It's a mildly strong to strong steroid," said Dr. Gary Wadler, a professor at New York University who is an expert in sports doping. "Potent is the word I would use."
Palmeiro, who testified in front of the House Committee on Government Reform in March that he never took steroids, spoke on the telephone yesterday with the committee chairman, Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, according to Davis's spokesman, Rob White. Palmeiro said Monday that he tried to call Davis and planned on calling Henry A. Waxman of California, the ranking Democrat on the committee.
"Rafael was able to connect with Chairman Davis late this afternoon and assured him he will cooperate fully and provide his committee with any information it requests," Palmeiro's agent, Arn Tellem, said in a statement.
Yesterday Davis and Waxman were considering sending two letters, one to Major League Baseball asking for all of the specifics on the Palmeiro testing, another to Palmeiro asking him to cooperate in releasing that information. A final decision on the letters had not been made as of yesterday evening, a committee staff member said.
Palmeiro is probably not at risk of perjury charges for his finger-pointing, categorical denial of using steroids in his sworn testimony because the positive test was taken some weeks later, the committee staff member said, speaking on condition of anonymity because official statements are supposed to come from members of Congress.
In 2003 and 2004, Major League Baseball reported 128 positive steroid tests, including 74 for the steroid nandrolone (known commercially as Deca-Durabolin) and 37 for stanozolol. But last year, only one positive test was for nandrolone and 11 positive tests were for stanozolol, an indication of a changing trend.
Dr. Harrison G. Pope, a Harvard professor, psychiatrist and steroids expert, said nandrolone is detectable in the body for a much longer period than stanozolol. Nandrolone also was common in dietary supplements before it was added to the list of controlled substances in 2005.
According to The San Francisco Chronicle, the sprinter Tim Montgomery testified to a federal grand jury in 2003 that Victor Conte, head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, told him he had given Winstrol to the San Francisco Giants' star slugger Barry Bonds. The Chronicle reported that in testimony to the grand jury, Bonds admitted to using a clear substance and a cream supplied by Balco and believed to be designer steroids but told federal prosecutors he did not know the substances were steroids. Bonds's lawyer, Michael Rains, has said that Bonds did not take illegal steroids.
Sometime after Palmeiro returns from his 10-day suspension, which is expected to be Aug. 12 against the Toronto Blue Jays, he will be tested again. Under the current drug-testing policy, every major league player is given one unannounced test a year and can also be subjected to random tests. Violators, however, are placed in a separate category. The health policy advisory committee sets up a schedule that ensures they will be tested at another unannounced date. So far this season, 1,000 drug tests have been administered in the major leagues - there are approximately 1, 200 players - and 900 have been processed.
The suspensions of Palmeiro and Franklin came after one of the most anticipated weekends of the baseball season, featuring the Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the passing of the non-waiver trading deadline. The timing is considered a coincidence because both Palmeiro and Franklin issued appeals and needed an arbitrator to hear their cases. While Palmeiro is the highest-profile player ever to be suspended for steroid use, Franklin is a little-known starting pitcher with a 6-11 record and a 4.63 earned run average this season. He told reporters yesterday that he tested positive in early May and negative three weeks later.
"There's got to be a flaw in the system," Franklin was quoted as saying by The Associated Press at Detroit's Comerica Park, before the Mariners played the Tigers. "I have no clue."
In a study conducted by The New York Times six weeks into this season, 63 minor league players had been suspended and 29 were pitchers. Now, half the players who have been suspended at the major league level are also pitchers.
Despite the stereotype of the muscle-bound slugger constantly trying to bulk up, many in baseball say pitchers may be using steroids to increase velocity, maintain strength over a long season, and recover more quickly between appearances.
"As a whole, we've probably been surprised by the number of pitchers that have been involved with it," Mets pitcher Tom Glavine said earlier this season. "I think there was a perception it wouldn't do anything for pitchers. I think we probably all realize we might be wrong."
Murray Chass and Duff Wilson contributed reporting for this article.
