MLB does not address 'other' problem - amphetamines, speed
Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 7:01 pm
MLB has no plan for 'other' problem
Ron Kroichick, Henry Schulman, Chronicle Staff Writers
Thursday's unveiling of baseball's new drug-testing policy did more than renew debate about how to tackle steroid use -- it also highlighted the sport's long, not-so-secret relationship with amphetamines.
Amphetamines, commonly known as "greenies," are not included on the list of banned drugs in the new agreement between Major League Baseball and the players union. This exclusion comes despite decades of anecdotal evidence suggesting amphetamines are widely used by major leaguers, and despite growing evidence they pose significant health risks.
Former Giants outfielder Darryl Hamilton told The Chronicle he started taking "greenies" regularly about five years into his major-league career. Hamilton estimated 70 to 80 percent of players use them.
"I don't know if it would cause a riot if guys were told that's going to be banned as well," Hamilton said Friday, "but I think you would have a lot of concerns."
Former pitcher Jim Bouton wrote about amphetamine use back in 1970, in his legendary book, "Ball Four." Those long-simmering suspicions resurfaced in recent years, notably when the late Ken Caminiti, a former National League MVP, told Sports Illustrated in 2002 that only one or two players on each team were not using stimulants.
Then, in April 2003, future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, in an interview with the New York Times, described amphetamines as a "rampant problem" and estimated 50 percent of position players regularly use them. Gwynn said many players felt like "steroids are cheating and greenies aren't."
Amphetamines stimulate the central nervous system and cardiovascular system. Players generally take the drug to stay alert and fight off fatigue, but amphetamines also have been shown to increase strength, endurance and reaction time, according to Peter Ambrose, a professor of clinical pharmacy at
UCSF.
Ambrose said adverse effects can include a rapid heartbeat, palpitations, high blood pressure, nervousness, restlessness, irritability and insomnia. High doses can potentially cause seizure, abnormal heartbeat and even death.
The NBA and NFL both test for amphetamines and other selected stimulants. Amphetamines and a long list of stimulants appear on the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list, which covers Olympic sports. The federal government classifies amphetamines as a controlled substance, and they are illegal without a prescription.
"If they (baseball officials) are very serious about cleaning up the sport and protecting their athletes, I don't understand how you cannot include amphetamines and other stimulants on the banned list," Ambrose said. "They're very dangerous. What's it going to take, the death of another athlete?"
It took the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler to prompt the Food and Drug Administration to prohibit the sale of ephedra, a stimulant commonly used as a weight-loss aid. Bechler died in February 2003, and a coroner's report concluded that an ephedra-based supplement was a "significant factor" in his death.
The FDA, already pushing to ban the sale of ephedra, did exactly that in the wake of Bechler's death; the ban went into effect in April 2004. The new major-league policy announced Thursday forbids ephedra, though not the "greenies" historically so popular among ballplayers.
By contrast, baseball's minor-league drug-testing policy does include testing for amphetamines. Minor leaguers do not enjoy the same collective bargaining rights as their major-league counterparts.
That negotiating power may help explain why the new policy excludes amphetamines.
"I think that's why the deal got done, when they (MLB officials) said they'll compromise and not test for amphetamines," former major-league second baseman Harold Reynolds said.
One former major-league pitcher said players have long used amphetamines because "they were so competitive, they would do anything to get an edge." The pitcher, who requested anonymity, also predicted there would be "a lot of exploitation" of this loophole in baseball's new testing policy.
"I don't know about the guys today, but I know amphetamines were prevalent when I was playing," said Reynolds, an All-Star with Seattle in 1987 and '88 and now an ESPN analyst. "It's a joke how many guys did it. I saw them doing it every day."
Hamilton, who played for the Giants in 1997 and '98 and retired after the 2001 season, echoed the stories of widespread use, but he disputed the notion amphetamines give players an edge on the field. MLB labor lawyer Rob Manfred, in explaining the omission of most stimulants on the list of banned drugs, insisted it's not clear they are performance enhancing.
Hamilton said players take amphetamines to get going before games, when they must prepare to play -- especially during the "dog days" of summer, when the grind of a six-month, 162-game, major-league schedule becomes taxing.
"I don't think amphetamines necessarily during the game give you an edge on strength, like steroids," Hamilton said. "I think it's more or less to get you to the point where you're ready to play. I know that's a bad way of putting it, but if guys can get to that first inning, that first pitch, they're fine."
Hamilton, Reynolds and other former players contacted by The Chronicle described amphetamines as readily available in major-league clubhouses during their careers. They said other players, not the teams, provided the drugs, which, sources said, can be purchased easily in places such as Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where many players live year-round or play winter ball.
Reynolds recalled veterans often tempting younger players by saying, "Here, kid, take a greenie," or "You just need to get into the jar." Reynolds, who said he never took amphetamines, described other players as saying the drug made them concentrate better.
Former A's pitcher Mike Norris remembered "two wily veterans" on the 1975 A's approaching him about taking amphetamines. Norris, a 20-year-old rookie at the time, resisted the temptation, though he acknowledged using the drugs before one game in the late 1970s.
He got knocked out of the game in the early innings and never used amphetamines again, he said.
Norris portrayed the use of amphetamines as discreet and secretive. If you wanted them, Norris said, another player would leave little blue pills under the baseball cap in your locker.
Former A's infielder Mike Gallego, who played for Oakland in the late 1980s and early '90s, agreed that "it wasn't like guys opened a jar and passed them around." Gallego said hushed talk about amphetamines usually surfaced after a travel day, or when the team played a day game after a night game.
Giants reliever Scott Eyre said he was naive about the use of stimulants at first, until he saw their effects in the minors.
"I played in the minor leagues with a guy who I always wondered why he had more energy," Eyre said. "I played two full seasons before I found out. I wondered why the guy was wired every game."
Eyre has a special interest in the issue because he takes a prescription stimulant to counteract his attention-deficit disorder, and he would be extremely upset if his medicine was banned. Paradoxically, stimulants work to calm patients with ADD and ADHD.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... ARC421.DTL
Ron Kroichick, Henry Schulman, Chronicle Staff Writers
Thursday's unveiling of baseball's new drug-testing policy did more than renew debate about how to tackle steroid use -- it also highlighted the sport's long, not-so-secret relationship with amphetamines.
Amphetamines, commonly known as "greenies," are not included on the list of banned drugs in the new agreement between Major League Baseball and the players union. This exclusion comes despite decades of anecdotal evidence suggesting amphetamines are widely used by major leaguers, and despite growing evidence they pose significant health risks.
Former Giants outfielder Darryl Hamilton told The Chronicle he started taking "greenies" regularly about five years into his major-league career. Hamilton estimated 70 to 80 percent of players use them.
"I don't know if it would cause a riot if guys were told that's going to be banned as well," Hamilton said Friday, "but I think you would have a lot of concerns."
Former pitcher Jim Bouton wrote about amphetamine use back in 1970, in his legendary book, "Ball Four." Those long-simmering suspicions resurfaced in recent years, notably when the late Ken Caminiti, a former National League MVP, told Sports Illustrated in 2002 that only one or two players on each team were not using stimulants.
Then, in April 2003, future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, in an interview with the New York Times, described amphetamines as a "rampant problem" and estimated 50 percent of position players regularly use them. Gwynn said many players felt like "steroids are cheating and greenies aren't."
Amphetamines stimulate the central nervous system and cardiovascular system. Players generally take the drug to stay alert and fight off fatigue, but amphetamines also have been shown to increase strength, endurance and reaction time, according to Peter Ambrose, a professor of clinical pharmacy at
UCSF.
Ambrose said adverse effects can include a rapid heartbeat, palpitations, high blood pressure, nervousness, restlessness, irritability and insomnia. High doses can potentially cause seizure, abnormal heartbeat and even death.
The NBA and NFL both test for amphetamines and other selected stimulants. Amphetamines and a long list of stimulants appear on the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list, which covers Olympic sports. The federal government classifies amphetamines as a controlled substance, and they are illegal without a prescription.
"If they (baseball officials) are very serious about cleaning up the sport and protecting their athletes, I don't understand how you cannot include amphetamines and other stimulants on the banned list," Ambrose said. "They're very dangerous. What's it going to take, the death of another athlete?"
It took the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler to prompt the Food and Drug Administration to prohibit the sale of ephedra, a stimulant commonly used as a weight-loss aid. Bechler died in February 2003, and a coroner's report concluded that an ephedra-based supplement was a "significant factor" in his death.
The FDA, already pushing to ban the sale of ephedra, did exactly that in the wake of Bechler's death; the ban went into effect in April 2004. The new major-league policy announced Thursday forbids ephedra, though not the "greenies" historically so popular among ballplayers.
By contrast, baseball's minor-league drug-testing policy does include testing for amphetamines. Minor leaguers do not enjoy the same collective bargaining rights as their major-league counterparts.
That negotiating power may help explain why the new policy excludes amphetamines.
"I think that's why the deal got done, when they (MLB officials) said they'll compromise and not test for amphetamines," former major-league second baseman Harold Reynolds said.
One former major-league pitcher said players have long used amphetamines because "they were so competitive, they would do anything to get an edge." The pitcher, who requested anonymity, also predicted there would be "a lot of exploitation" of this loophole in baseball's new testing policy.
"I don't know about the guys today, but I know amphetamines were prevalent when I was playing," said Reynolds, an All-Star with Seattle in 1987 and '88 and now an ESPN analyst. "It's a joke how many guys did it. I saw them doing it every day."
Hamilton, who played for the Giants in 1997 and '98 and retired after the 2001 season, echoed the stories of widespread use, but he disputed the notion amphetamines give players an edge on the field. MLB labor lawyer Rob Manfred, in explaining the omission of most stimulants on the list of banned drugs, insisted it's not clear they are performance enhancing.
Hamilton said players take amphetamines to get going before games, when they must prepare to play -- especially during the "dog days" of summer, when the grind of a six-month, 162-game, major-league schedule becomes taxing.
"I don't think amphetamines necessarily during the game give you an edge on strength, like steroids," Hamilton said. "I think it's more or less to get you to the point where you're ready to play. I know that's a bad way of putting it, but if guys can get to that first inning, that first pitch, they're fine."
Hamilton, Reynolds and other former players contacted by The Chronicle described amphetamines as readily available in major-league clubhouses during their careers. They said other players, not the teams, provided the drugs, which, sources said, can be purchased easily in places such as Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where many players live year-round or play winter ball.
Reynolds recalled veterans often tempting younger players by saying, "Here, kid, take a greenie," or "You just need to get into the jar." Reynolds, who said he never took amphetamines, described other players as saying the drug made them concentrate better.
Former A's pitcher Mike Norris remembered "two wily veterans" on the 1975 A's approaching him about taking amphetamines. Norris, a 20-year-old rookie at the time, resisted the temptation, though he acknowledged using the drugs before one game in the late 1970s.
He got knocked out of the game in the early innings and never used amphetamines again, he said.
Norris portrayed the use of amphetamines as discreet and secretive. If you wanted them, Norris said, another player would leave little blue pills under the baseball cap in your locker.
Former A's infielder Mike Gallego, who played for Oakland in the late 1980s and early '90s, agreed that "it wasn't like guys opened a jar and passed them around." Gallego said hushed talk about amphetamines usually surfaced after a travel day, or when the team played a day game after a night game.
Giants reliever Scott Eyre said he was naive about the use of stimulants at first, until he saw their effects in the minors.
"I played in the minor leagues with a guy who I always wondered why he had more energy," Eyre said. "I played two full seasons before I found out. I wondered why the guy was wired every game."
Eyre has a special interest in the issue because he takes a prescription stimulant to counteract his attention-deficit disorder, and he would be extremely upset if his medicine was banned. Paradoxically, stimulants work to calm patients with ADD and ADHD.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... ARC421.DTL