Editorial: Baseball strikes out

Monday, March 8, 2004 | 8:59 a.m.

The San Francisco Chronicle has reported that information was provided to federal investigators that San Francisco Giants' star Barry Bonds and other well-known ballplayers had received steroids. Bonds and the other athletes deny they've taken the drugs, but the fresh accusations once again have prompted calls for tougher testing for steroid use in baseball.

We've written before that Major League Baseball's anti-steroids policy, which relies on random testing of players, won't do much. The penalties are so light for players who turn up positive in the random testing -- for example, a second positive test carries only a 15-day suspension and a fine of up to $10,000 -- that the policy won't deter use by players with multimillion-dollar salaries. Major League Baseball needs a policy, more like that found in the Olympics, where testing positive for steroids results in a two-year suspension. Now that would get the players' attention.

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