MLB new drug policy
Details on ESPN, elsewhere.
Highlights include a suspension for first time offenders, random repeat testing (so it’s not one test and that’s it for the year), expansion of banned drugs, and whatnot.
I have to applaud, again, MLB and the union for their reasonable, rational approach to this problem. I know from the polls that the majority of people disagree with me, but both sides have approached this even in the face of government threats and public cry looking to strike a reasonable and workable agreement. Given the contentious history between these two, this is cause for hope for the next CBA negotiations.
And yet, I wonder if even this is going to be enough. People who believe that baseball is riddled with steroids and that it has destroyed the game, are they going to be satisfied with anything short of lifetime bans for first-time offenders? Can a reasonable, mutually-agreeable approach to working on this issue ever placate the irrational gut repulsion some feel about the whole issue?
This is good news.
[comments off, based on historical precedents]