Marvin Miller: Don't trust baseball's drug-testing proposal

The former head of the Baseball Players Association says that the owners have no reason to crack down on steroid use -- so the commissioner's random-test proposal may just be moral grandstanding.

By Allen Barra

June 20, 2002 | Marvin Miller, in the words of Red Barber, ranks with Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson as "one of the three most important men in baseball history." Miller left his position as chief economist for the United Steelworkers in 1965 and shortly afterwards came out of retirement to become the first executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. After 10 years of winning concessions from the baseball owners on issues such as pension and arbitration of grievances, Miller was finally able, in 1976, to succeed in overthrowing the "reserve clause," which bound a player to one team for his entire career. Despite dire predictions that free agency would be the end of baseball, the game has continued to expand in terms of new franchises, attendance and profitability.

Miller retired in 1982 and came back for a brief stint in 1983. Throughout the years, he has continued to be active in baseball affairs as an advisor to the Players Association. One issue that has managed to go unresolved through the tenures of Miller and two subsequent players union heads, as well as the reigns of the last five baseball commissioners, is the absence of a workable drug policy. Drug use in baseball, in particular anabolic steroids, has become a hot topic after a recent Sports Illustrated article asserted that steroid use is more widespread in the sport than previously believed. I spoke to Miller at his New York apartment on the subject of why baseball has never been able to deal with one of its most controversial problems.

If I'm not mistaken, the Players Association and Major League Baseball spent a lot of time trying to work out a drug policy some time in the mid-'80s. What happened?

Well, we did work out a drug policy in 1984, or at least I thought we had one worked out. Peter Ueberroth, the commissioner of baseball at the time, obviously changed his mind after the fact. We agreed on a neutral panel of three doctors who were experts on the subjects of drugs and drug testing, and agreed on a policy of revolving examination. In the spring, everyone would be tested; that part was fairly uniform, and in fact it was standard to have spring checks of athletes before drugs even became an issue. Beyond that, players would be tested only if there was reason to believe that there was drug use. Things were to be handled pretty much in the way that legal matters regarding drugs were handled in the outside world. In the outside world, if police have reason to suspect lawbreaking, they go before a judge and ask for a right to search.

But who would be the "judge" in a question of drug use for ballplayers?

Our three doctors. Once both sides agreed on who the doctors would be, they had the authority to order testing.

Under what circumstances were they empowered to impose such a test?

If a player collapsed or was seemingly ill from drug use, if his behavior fit the symptoms, management could ask the panel to test and they would quickly decide if the evidence merited examination. If the player was arrested for drug use, or, of course, if he confessed to drug use, then there was no problem with testing.

We're talking, of course, about what's generally referred to as "recreational" drugs -- cocaine, amphetamines, marijuana. There were some publicized cases at the time involving some well-known players. Everyone remembers Keith Hernandez, Dave Parker and Dale Berra. But there was also a case which involved four players on the Kansas City Royals.

And both the union and the owners agreed that this was a workable procedure?

Yes. When Ueberroth came into office the next year, he started talking about how his priorities would be to wipe out drugs. When he was asked how he was going to do it, what his program was based on, he was vague. He said something like "It's built on trust and players helping players" -- which sounds suspiciously like it was based on getting players to snitch on other players. Anyway, we had what both sides seemed to regard as a humane and largely successful program, one that did not include mandatory and random drug testing. And then, one day in 1985 Ueberroth astonished both Don Fehr [who succeeded Miller as head of the players union] and myself by going on television during a national telecast and announced that he was voiding the existing drug program because it didn't have mandatory testing. Don Fehr told him, in essence, to go to hell.

Ueberroth was so arrogant he didn't seem to understand that he was undermining any possibility of instigating a drug program by tossing out the window what we had achieved through collective bargaining. Incredibly, in 1986, he tried again. Without even bothering to consult the union, he sent a letter to every major league player urging them to submit to voluntary drug tests. The test results, he said, would be "totally confidential" -- and free of penalties -- which made us wonder what he hoped to gain. Don suggested to the players that they simply toss the commissioner's letter in the garbage. When they finally got together, Ueberroth asked Fehr if the union would agree to testing "even if it was just for the sake of public relations." Don told me his jaw dropped; when he told me, mine dropped.

Was there ever any follow-up on the issue from Ueberroth?

No, but Ueberroth did impose the plan on minor league players who have no union and therefore no defense against arbitrary exercises of power.

Have you seen the 11-page proposal that Major League Baseball made to the union in February on the subject of drugs and drug testing?

No, I haven't seen it. I've been told about it, but I haven't read it yet.

The program includes specific tests for anabolic steroids, which is new and, in addition to the mandatory spring tests, testing is required at random times during the season. What would you think of such a proposal?

Next page: What incentive do the owners have for wanting to end the use of anabolic steroids?