Roger I. Abrams: Drug Testing Hubris

Much of the public discussion of the drug "scandals" in baseball has waned as the actual season on the diamond began. It is comforting that the game is still more interesting than the sludge it sometimes produces. The "hot stove league" between November and April cooked up some nasty stuff, aided this year by the fallout from the Mitchell Report. Yet there have been some recent developments worthy of attention that may have slipped beneath the public's radar. Major League Baseball and the Players Association have reached an agreement strengthening their testing system which is designed to keep the game drug-free. The scheme builds on some of the recommendations of the Mitchell Report. The Commissioner has agreed that he will not further punish those players named in the Report, an essential part of Senator Mitchell's proposed resolution of the tempest. Players named in the Report have already suffered serious public disgrace, even if they were completely innocent of the charges hurled at them. As ... (link)