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SENATOR MCCAIN DISAPPOINTED IN MISREPRESENTED STEROID POLICY
Sends letter to Selig and Fehr
March 16, 2005
Washington D.C. ¬– Senator John McCain today sent a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and Executive Director of the MLB Players Association Don Fehr, expressing his disappointment in the final details of the steroid policy for Major League Baseball. Senator McCain emphasized his concern over the misrepresentation of the policy to the American people and Congress.March 16, 2005
Mr. Allan H. Selig
Commissioner
Major League Baseball
777 East Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 3060
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Dear Commissioner Selig:
In January you announced a new steroid policy for Major League Baseball. At the time I stated that the new policy was not as strong as the Minor League policy, but that it was a significant improvement over MLB’s previous steroid testing program.
One of the concerns that I expressed then was that the announced policy would not suspend players from a meaningful number of games. I was disappointed to see, for example, that the agreement in principle called only for a ten-day suspension for first time offenders, while the Minor League requires a ten-game suspension. For that reason, I encouraged the league and the Major League Baseball Players Association to continue working to improve the new policy.
Upon reviewing the final version of MLB’s new policy, I have come to find that the document is not an improvement over the agreement in principle. In fact, it is quite the opposite. For example, the final version of the document, which the league delivered to my office today, states that the penalty for a first positive test result is “a 10-day suspension or up to a $10,000 fine.” That is a far cry from the strict ten-day suspension that the league and the players’ union have led the public to believe would be the penalty for a first time offense.
I can reach no conclusion but that the league and the players’ union have misrepresented to me and to the American public the substance of MLB’s new steroid policy. I expect the league and the players’ union to modify the new policy to comply with at least what was announced by MLB in January. To do anything less than that would constitute a violation of the public’s trust, a blow to the integrity of Major League Baseball, and an invitation to further scrutiny of the league’s steroid policy.
Sincerely,
John McCain
United States Senator
Cc: Mr. Donald M. Fehr, Esq.
Executive Director and General Counsel
Major League Baseball Players Association
12 East 49th Street, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017
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