Sluggers vs. Congress

By Ronald Blum ~ The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Sitting biceps-to-biceps, some of baseball's biggest stars told Congress on Thursday that steroids are a problem for the sport but denied they are widespread. Mark McGwire nearly came to tears and refused to say whether he took the drugs during the historic home run summer of 1998 or any other time.

On a day of extraordinary theater, the House Government Reform Committee attacked baseball's new steroid policy, questioning five current and former players who looked strangely out of place in business suits and ties instead of baseball uniforms and caps.

Under oath, Jose Canseco -- whose best-selling book, "Juiced," named names and said steroids were rampant in baseball -- repeated his admission that he used them. Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro said they didn't. McGwire repeatedly avoided a direct response, saying his lawyers advised him not to answer certain questions.

"If a player answers 'No,' he simply will not be believed," McGwire said. "If he answers 'Yes,' he risks public scorn and endless government investigations."

McGwire, peering at lawmakers over reading glasses, was pressed to say whether he had taken steroids or whether he could provide details about use by other players. He responded repeatedly, "I'm not here to talk about the past."

Asked by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., whether he was asserting his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself, McGwire said: "I'm not here to talk about the past. I'm here to be positive about this subject."

Asked whether use of steroids was cheating, McGwire said: "That's not for me to determine."

Still, he said he knew steroids could be dangerous and would do whatever he could to discourage young athletes from using them.

"What I will not do, however, is participate in naming names and implicating my friends and teammates," said McGwire, who ranks sixth in major league history with 583 homers.

"What anybody can do to improve it so that there's no more meetings like this. I'm all for it."

It was an extraordinary sight -- some of the top names in baseball history seated together in a wood-paneled hearing room, being grilled by members of Congress, live on national television, about whether they cheated by using performance-enhancing drugs.

In a tense scene, Canseco sat stone-faced at the same table as the other players and said he could not fully answer questions because of concerns that his testimony could be used against him.

During a break after the players' opening statements, five of the stars gathered in one nearby room, Canseco in another.

When Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling testified, he said flatly of Canseco: "He's a liar."

The hearing came after committee members accused baseball of ignoring its steroids problem for years and then, only under pressure, embracing a weak testing program.

At the hearing's start, almost all of the congressmen gushed about the sport, recalling how they collected baseball cards and autographs and naming several retired heroes before leveling their harsh criticisms.

But with rare exceptions, the congressmen were deferential and unwilling to press the players, saving their toughest comments for baseball's new testing program, including a provision allowing for fines instead of penalties. A first offense could cost a player $10,000 instead of 10 games out of a six-month season.

Using most steroids without a doctor's prescription for medical purposes is illegal. Baseball banned steroids in September 2002 and began testing for them in 2004.

Commissioner Bud Selig sat with arms crossed and lips pursed for much of the hearing. He craned his neck to get a better view as the players spoke.

"Why should we believe that the baseball commissioner and the baseball union will want to do something when we have a 30-year record of them not responding to this problem?" asked Henry Waxman of California, the committee's ranking Democrat. "Why should we believe it's all going to be done now the way it should be done?"

The hearing room was standing room only when the players testified, with camera crews lining the walls and clogging the aisles. But much of the crowd cleared out when the players left, leaving empty seats as Selig began to read his opening statment.

Selig defended the steroids policy drawn up in January, saying it's "as good as any in professional sports" and adding that he agreed to shorter bans "on the theory that behavior modification should be the most important goal of our policy."

Baseball had fought attempts to compel the players to testify, but committee chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., and ranking Democrat Henry Waxman of California threatened to pursue contempt charges if they did not appear.

More than four hours after the hearing began, the players walked in one by one as spectators, lawmakers and media fell silent.

Schilling was the first to enter. He sat at one end of the witness table, with Canseco at the other. Palmeiro, Sosa, McGwire and the players' lawyers were in between.

Schilling, who's been outspoken against steroid use, took a shot at Canseco, saying the former slugger's claims "should be seen for what they are: an attempt to make money at the expense of others."

All the players offered condolences to the parents of two young baseball players who committed suicide after using steroids. The parents testified earlier, along with medical experts who talked about the possible effects of the drugs: heart disease, cancer, sterility, depression.

"Players that are guilty of taking steroids are not only cheaters -- you are cowards," said Donald Hooton of Plano, Texas, whose son, Taylor, was 17 when he hanged himself in July 2003.

"You hide behind the skirts of your union, and with the help of management and your lawyers, you've made every effort to resist facing the public today," Hooton said.

The group of players included three of the top 10 home run hitters in major league history -- McGwire, Sosa and Palmeiro. McGwire and Sosa were widely credited with helping restore baseball's popularity in 1998 when they chased Roger Maris' season record of 61 homers. McGwire ended up with 70, a mark that lasted only three seasons before Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit 73.

Bonds and Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees were not called to the hearing. They testified in 2003 to a San Francisco grand jury investigating a steroid-distribution ring.

Canseco, the 1988 AL MVP, wrote that he used steroids and that he injected McGwire with them.

But Canseco, who retired in 2001, told Thursday's panel that "because of my fear of future prosecution ... I cannot be candid with this committee."

The panel's first witness was Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., a former pitcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. He called the sport's steroid penalties "really puny."

Bunning and others said Congress should impose tougher rules if baseball doesn't.

There's no pending bill; Davis and Waxman set out to shed light on the issue Thursday, but they've said there could be future hearings. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has raised the possibility of pursuing legislation down the road.