Hello everyone,

I just wanted to send out a quick note that Jose will be on VH1's "The
Surreal Life 5." It was supposed to air in September, but it's starting
next week, on July 10th:
http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_surreal_life_5/series.jhtml

If you miss it, fear not, it will be rerun about 1000 times according to
their schedule :)

The news below is very, very, very old (Congressional steroids hearings
from March(), but it's stuff I collected and never got around to sending
out... better late than never, hopefully.

-Mark


==========
Canseco Collection for Sale:
From Mike: deadwoodmike@...

I have decided to sell my Canseco collection. I haven't had time to go
through it lately but I estimate it right at or over 2,000 cards (all
different) plus autographed photos, bats and
advertising pieces.

I also have numerous pins, glasses, books, starting lineups, video and
other misc. items. As far as the cards go, 95% are already cataloged and
organized by year including rookies, many rare and hard to find early
issues, unusual parallels and food issues.

I also have a huge amount of numbered cards (some as low as #10) and bat,
ball & jersey cards, plus I have close to 100 extra rookie cards, some
graded too!
-----
If you are interested in this, please email Mike at the email address
above, not me.


==========
From the AP:
House invites Canseco to testify
March 4, 2005

Former slugger Jose Canseco and several players he has accused of joining
him in abusing steroids have been invited to testify before a House committee.

''There's a cloud over baseball, and perhaps a public discussion of the
issues, with witnesses testifying under oath, can provide a glimpse of
sunlight,'' said Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the House Government
Reform Committee.

Davis and the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Henry Waxman of California,
announced Thursday that they were inviting Canseco and six other former or
active players, including the New York Yankees' Jason Giambi and former St.
Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire, to testify at a March 17 hearing.

A spokeswoman for Waxman, who last week wrote Davis to urge hearings on
baseball's response to the steroid scandal, said they don't know if the
players will agree to attend. Commissioner Bud Selig has also been invited.

Canseco, in a recently released book, admits using steroids and alleges
that he injected the drugs with McGwire and introduced steroids to other
stars, including Rafael Palmeiro of the Baltimore Orioles. Palmeiro and
others named by Canseco have denied using the performance-enhancing drugs.


==========
From the AP:
March 10, 2005
Baseball Vows to Fight Steroids Subpoenas
By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK - Major league baseball responded with outrage to congressional
subpoenas for Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi and other top stars,
vowing to fight them all the way to court.

Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Frank Thomas also were
summoned Wednesday to testify at the March 17 hearing of the House
Government Reform Committee (news - web sites). Also called were players'
association head Donald Fehr, baseball executive vice presidents Rob
Manfred and Sandy Alderson and San Diego general manager Kevin Towers.

The committee, which has no interest in hearing from Barry Bonds, also
demanded a variety of documents and records of baseball's drug tests.

Stanley Brand, a lawyer for the baseball commissioner's office, said the
committee had no jurisdiction and was interfering with the federal grand
jury by trying to force testimony from Giambi and others. He said the
committee wanted to violate baseball's first amendment privacy rights and
was attempting to "satisfy their prurient interest into who may and may not
have engaged in this activity."

"The audacity, the legal audacity of subpoenaing someone who's been a grand
jury witness before there's been a trial in the case in California is just
an absolutely excessive and unprecedented misuse of congressional power,"
Brand said.

"Not even the Iran (news - web sites)-contra committee attempted to do
that, and when it did, it tainted irreparably the prosecutions that came
out of that investigation. Now if that's what Congress wants to do to
advance what it says is the public interest in combating a very serious
problem that baseball has confronted, then in my judgment they've torn
loose from their legislative moorings and they're marauding in an area of
the law that has very serious consequences for the judicial system."

Gene Orza, the union's chief operating officer, declined comment.

Canseco, Fehr and Manfred have agreed to testify, with Manfred speaking on
behalf of baseball commissioner Bud Selig. Before the subpoenas were
issued, Brand told the committee the other players were declining
invitations to appear. Thomas said Monday that he would testify.

It remained unclear whether the hearing will take place as scheduled.

"It's impossible to predict the exact course that this is going to take,"
Manfred said. "Players have individual decisions they're going to have to
make, the union has decisions it's going to have to make."

David Marin, a spokesman for committee chairman Rep. Tom Davis, said the
committee has no plans to contact Bonds, who also testified before the
grand jury.

Bob Cohen, McGwire's agent, questioned "what's the ultimate purpose of the
hearings?"

Brand and Manfred said baseball will attempt to fight the subpoenas. If
they are not complied with, the committee could vote contempt citations,
which would have to be approved by the full House of Representatives and
certified by a U.S. Attorney. If that happened, Brand said the fight over
the subpoenas would head to U.S. District Court.

"It is important the American people know the facts on baseball's steroid
scandal," Davis and Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), the
ranking Democrat, said in a statement. "Consistent with our committee's
jurisdiction over the nation's drug policy, we need to better understand
the steps MLB is taking to get a handle on the steroid issue, and whether
news of those steps — and the public health danger posed by steroid use —
is reaching America's youth."

Marin maintained the committee had proper jurisdiction over steroids and
baseball.

"We can't fathom that they will advocate noncompliance with a congressional
subpoena," he said. "What kind of message does that send?"

Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative founder Victor Conte was indicted last
year on charges of distributing illegal steroids that eventually made their
way to as many as 30 baseball, football and track and field stars. Also
indicted were Greg Anderson, Bonds' weight trainer; James Valente, BALCO's
vice president; and Remy Korechemny, a track coach.

A trial date has not been set, and Brand said testimony from players would
be "whipping up a torrent of pretrail publicity."

Another congressional hearing on steroids is scheduled for Thursday, when
the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is to hear from witnesses,
including labor lawyers from the commissioner's office and the NFL, and
representatives of the NCAA (news - web sites) and the U.S. Anti-Doping
Agency.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the House
Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee, said Selig was
invited to speak at the hearing but declined.


==========
From the AP:
Schilling Plans to Attend Steroids Hearing
Fri Mar 11, 2:18 PM ET Sports - AP
By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK - Curt Schilling plans to attend next week's congressional hearing
on steroid use in baseball, becoming the first current player to agree to
testify before the panel.

Speaking at Boston's spring training camp in Fort Myers, Fla., the Red Sox
ace said Friday that he has "nothing" to offer the panel.

"I'm still real confused as to why I was put in this group and why there
are other players that aren't in this group," Schilling said.

The commissioner's office has said it will fight the subpoenas, which also
were issued to Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa, Frank Thomas and Rafael Palmeiro.
Former players Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire also were summoned for the
March 17 hearing of House Government Reform Committee (news - web sites)
along with three management officials and union head Donald Fehr.

Thomas has said he was willing to appear but didn't want to travel because
he is recovering from ankle surgery. Giambi said Friday that his lawyers
were unsure whether he will testify.

"They said don't worry about it until we find out what's going on and
what's going to happen," Giambi said, adding that his representatives are
awaiting more information on the hearing. "That's why we're kind of left in
limbo-land, what they want to accomplish, what they want to talk about."

Canseco asked Thursday for immunity if he's to testify fully before the
committee, but a spokesman for the lawmaker who will chair the proceeding
offered no promises.

Another House panel on Thursday held the first of what it said could be a
series of hearings on the subject, with several congressmen chastising
baseball for what one called its "extremely weak" drug-testing program. The
subcommittee chairman said all major U.S. sports leagues should work toward
uniform steroid penalties.

"I don't think it's grandstanding," New York Yankees (news) player
representative Mike Mussina said. "I think in light of what's happened the
last year or so maybe, people are looking for some answers. The public
wants to get some answers, so they're trying to find some answers."

Canseco, the 1988 AL MVP, has admitted using performance-enhancing drugs
and his best-selling book accuses several stars of steroid use.

"We've asked for immunity," said Canseco's lawyer, Robert Saunooke. "We
hope they give it to us. We're still going to show up even if we have no
immunity and offer whatever testimony we can that does not expose Jose to
legal liability."

David Marin, a spokesman for committee chairman Tom Davis, said: "At this
point, there are no plans to offer immunity to any witness."

Henry Waxman, the committee's ranking Democrat, said he would not be
opposed to immunity. He sees the hearing as a chance to find out about the
role of steroids in the majors and to address the effect on young athletes,
not to expose whether individual players used the drugs.

"With all the reports we've had in the past decade — major league baseball
has refused to investigate," Waxman said. "Now with the great interest in
the subject because of Jose Canseco's book, and people who said they did
and did not use steroids, it's brought things to a head."

Players were in the process of hiring lawyers and deciding whether to act
jointly or individually.

McGwire's spokesman, Marc Altieri, said his client hasn't decided whether
to appear. Thomas, at spring training in Arizona, said: "If it happens,
I'll go. It's not a problem."

Also summoned were Fehr, baseball executive vice presidents Rob Manfred and
Sandy Alderson, and San Diego general manager Kevin Towers. Fehr and
Manfred will appear; Towers said Thursday he wasn't sure.

"I certainly hope the purpose of the hearings is as described, a real
substantial purpose to it," Fehr said in Tampa. "I'm a little concerned
about the way it has developed."

On Wednesday, baseball lawyer Stanley Brand said the committee had no
jurisdiction and was interfering with a San Francisco federal grand jury
investigation involving steroids. Davis and Waxman responded Thursday,
sending Brand a letter stating "your legal analysis is flawed. ... Any
failure to comply with the committee's subpoenas would be unwise and
irresponsible."

"Baseball and ballplayers do not, by virtue of their celebrity, deserve
special treatment or to be placed above the law," they wrote.

No players were invited to Thursday's Energy and Commerce Committee
hearing, where chairman Joe Barton said his panel might issue subpoenas for
commissioners of the major sports leagues.

Barton said use of performance-enhancing drugs is tainting sports, noting
that as San Francisco Giants (news) slugger Barry Bonds pursues the career
home run record there are questions about whether he's been aided by steroids.

"With Babe Ruth, people didn't worry about him taking steroids. They
worried about him eating another hot dog," Barton said.

Waxman said Bonds, who wouldn't comment Thursday, wasn't among the players
asked to appear because "the feeling was that if he were invited, all the
attention would go to Barry Bonds and would distract from the overall
mission of the hearing."


==========
From the New York Daily News
McGwire injected steroid cocktails, sources tell N.Y. Daily News
By MICHAEL O'KEEFFE, CHRISTIAN RED and T.J. QUINN
March 13, 2005

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The recipe called for 1/2 cc of testosterone cypionate
every three days; one cc of testosterone enanthate per week; equipoise and
winstrol v, 1/4 cc every three days, injected into the buttocks, one in one
cheek, one in the other.

It was the cocktail of a hardcore steroids user, and it is one of the
"arrays" Mark McGwire used to become the biggest thing in baseball in the
1990s, sources have told the New York Daily News.

Long before Jose Canseco claimed he injected McGwire in the behind in his
tell-all autobiography "Juiced," the man known as Big Mac denied ever using
illegal steroids. But according to FBI sources, McGwire's name came up
several times during "Operation Equine," a landmark anabolic steroids
investigation that led to 70 trafficking convictions in the early 1990s. No
evidence against McGwire or any other steroid user was collected, and one
former agent who worked undercover in the case says McGwire was not a target.

But two dealers caught in Operation Equine told the Daily News that a
California man named Curtis Wenzlaff provided Jose Canseco and McGwire,
among others, with illegal anabolic steroids. One informant in the case
says Wenzlaff injected McGwire at a gym in Southern California on several
occasions, and established "arrays" of performance-enhancing drugs such as
the aforementioned cocktail.

"Curtis was an expert on how to take drugs," one of the informants in the
case says. "The West Coast - that was the Mecca of drugs back then. And
Curtis was involved with some serious people. Curtis gave me the same cycle
that Mark McGwire (allegedly) was on. The best cycle (of steroids) I ever
did came from Curtis."

Reached by the Daily News, a former member of the gym where Wenzlaff and
McGwire allegedly worked out together - Racquetball World in Fountain
Valley, Calif. - said he saw them work out together "maybe five times" and
that the two discussed using steroids in his presence.

"No comment," said Wenzlaff when asked to confirm the accounts.

A month-long review by the Daily News of court documents, FBI records and
interviews with sources on both sides of the law found that Operation
Equine was a massive warning sign of what was to come in the American
sports landscape. Dealers like Wenzlaff were befriending ballplayers like
Canseco all over the country, and those players were passing on their
new-found expertise to friends in the game.

"In hindsight, we could have gotten the big names - (Michigan State
lineman) Tony Mandarich, Canseco - the problem is, where do you draw the
line?" says Bill Randall, who was the FBI undercover agent during Operation
Equine. "You have to remember, there was no benchmark, nothing for us to
model the investigation on. We wanted to get to the root of the problem,
that's all we were after. We could have hammered Canseco, but again, that
wasn't the thrust. And if we had started going after Major League Baseball
players, we'd never get up to these big-time dealers."

Representatives for Canseco and McGwire said the former players did not
remember meeting Wenzlaff, and were not aware their names came up in the
FBI's investigation, although an FBI source provided the News with previous
telephone numbers for Canseco and McGwire and a pager number for Canseco
from Wenzlaff's old phone book.

"We're not going to comment on anything at this time," said Marc Altieri,
McGwire's representative, "but we believe one should consider the sources
of such allegations."

"Jose doesn't want to deny knowing him, but he just doesn't remember the
guy," said Robert Saunooke, Canseco's attorney."

However, Wenzlaff's longtime friend Reggie Jackson, who Wenzlaff insists
never used steroids or knew he was dealing them, says he saw Wenzlaff and
Canseco work out and socialize together.

"Yes, they had spent some time together," says Jackson, who met Wenzlaff
after his career ended with the Oakland A's in 1987. "Curt's a good guy
that got mixed up in steroids at a very young age. He's a good, solid,
stand-up guy and he's honest."

Jackson, who let Wenzlaff stay in his Oakland home for long stretches in
the late 1980s, says he was not aware that Wenzlaff had allegedly supplied
steroids to Canseco or anyone else until last year when Wenzlaff testified
before a Senate subcommittee investigating steroid use in pro, college and
high school sports.

The two convicted sources who connected Wenzlaff to Canseco and McGwire
declined to be named, saying they feared retribution from some of the
steroid dealers they informed on. But two FBI sources confirmed the men's
identities and said they provided credible information throughout the
operation and, like Wenzlaff, avoided jail time for their cooperation. One
FBI source also said the men's fears about retribution are well-founded.

"That's why I'm amazed at what Jose said in the book," Wenzlaff says.
"There are some people who might come after him."

---

A man in an overcoat and a sharp charcoal gray suit enters the Old Town
tavern in Ann Arbor, Mich., last week, and Wenzlaff recognizes the face
instantly.

He extends his right hand to the shorter man with slicked-back black hair
and smiles as they share a vigorous handshake.

"Eddie Schmidt," Wenzlaff says.

"I haven't heard that name in a while," the other man says. He grins.

The last time these two men saw each other, "Schmidt" and Special Agent
Greg Stejskal were putting handcuffs on Wenzlaff, explaining to him that
his life had just changed. Wenzlaff was being charged with conspiracy to
distribute anabolic steroids and was told he had best cooperate.

"We were in a hotel room in Santa Monica, and all of a sudden there's a
knock on the door, and there's (Stejskal)," Wenzlaff says. "I just said,
'Oh, dirty word.'"

Schmidt's real name is Bill Randall, and for 33 years he was an FBI agent,
based mostly in Ann Arbor. Fifteen years ago he went undercover for two and
a half years posing as a Chicago gym owner looking for new steroid connections.

To this day the 70-plus convictions Randall and Stejskal helped secure are
considered the standard in steroid law enforcement. The BALCO case, for the
sake of comparison, has rocked the sports world and may end up doing far
more to change the steroid culture in this country. But in the BALCO case
only four men have been indicted; BALCO has drawn far more attention
because of the witnesses against those four men, including Barry Bonds,
Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield.

Curtis Wenzlaff is now 41, married, a father of three, working in
"strategic alliances" for a renewable energy company and living in Flint,
Mich. His hair is almost gone, but he still has the build of an NFL free
safety. He still lifts - more than his doctors want him to - and is
fanatical about his diet.

He orders a grilled chicken sandwich on a dry bun. He drinks chai tea, but
later in the evening will have an Amstel Light.

Wenzlaff doesn't take steroids anymore, he says, unbuttoning his shirt to
show a thin white line that runs the length of his sternum. "They cracked
my chest three times - open heart," he says.

He told his doctors about all the steroids he had taken - "You don't lie to
your doctor, you don't lie to your attorney," he says - and was told he had
a congenital problem.

"Unrelated," he says.

As he sits with his sandwich and tea, Wenzlaff says he will discuss one
name from his past: Jose Canseco.

"I supplied a bunch of players, but I'm not going to name any other names,"
he says. "Jose's different because he opened the door with his book."

He will not discuss McGwire or anyone else. But yes, Wenzlaff says, he
helped turn Canseco from a dabbler into a maestro of performance-enhancing
drugs.

"On a scale of one to 10, he was a four. When I left, he was an eight,"
Wenzlaff says. He adds that they haven't spoken in years.

"That would square with what Wenzlaff told us," Stejskal told the News last
month. "He was sort of Canseco's guru."

---

Wenzlaff's arrest on July 7, 1992, was the end of a life in steroids that
began in the early 1980s when Wenzlaff was playing high school football, he
says. He began going to a World Gym in Fountain Valley, Calif., where he
met a trainer - he won't identify him - and asked him what steroids could
do for his body.

He went to the gym not just with his father's blessing, but with his
father, he says.

"I wouldn't go in and train until the gym closed at 10 o'clock at night,"
Wenzlaff says. "It was a private affair. My dad would be working out and I
would come in. This is where I gained all this knowledge."

He would sleep in a sensory deprivation tank for 45 minutes between
workouts while his trainer's voice was piped in, telling him to imagine
doing leg extensions or some other workout without tiring.

"I mean the water is absolutely body temperature. It's so perfect that you
don't know where the water line started on your body. Totally dark. And I
was told then - whether this is true or not, I don't know - one hour of
sleep is equivalent to six hours solid sleep in a bed. I don't know, but in
between workouts, I would sleep in there at the gym."

The after-hours workout group, a catch-all for power lifters, body builders
and athletes, was a cult unto itself that made the extreme the norm. The
members would tape each other's hands to weight bars, making it impossible
to let go. They would lift weights while breathing pure oxygen from a tank.

They also shot up, swallowed and rubbed steroids on their bodies,
experimenting with doses and combinations and sharing results. "You could
use the term guinea pig on me. There were other guinea pigs that we hung
out together and everybody was doing something different," Wenzlaff says.

"And I was one of the first to be trained with a cattle prod."

The cattle prod, he says, was a motivational technique.

"I remember my first night they brought it in I was on the leg extension
machine," he says. "They took two weightlifting belts and tied me in so I
couldn't get up."

Then he'd start lifting the weight while one of his workout mates counted
reps with a hand clicker.

"He'd yell, 'Come on, come on, come on! do more!' I start to slow down,"
Wenzlaff says. "He would set the cattle prod on my thigh. 'I can't do any
more! I can't (deleted) do any more!' ZAP! I did some more."

Eventually, he says, the prod wasn't necessary. His mind had been trained
to push his body to new limits.

"It gets you here," he says, pointing to his head.

He earned a football scholarship to Cal State University, kept up the
workouts and graduated in 1987. Wenzlaff became a local legend, setting gym
power records in multiple categories. That fall, Wenzlaff says a mutual
friend introduced him to a baseball player who had just retired after his
final season with the Oakland A's, Reggie Jackson.

"I think he was as excited to meet me as I was honored to meet him,"
Wenzlaff says. "I had every power record in the gym."

Jackson asked Wenzlaff if he would work with him when he returned to town.
At the time, Wenzlaff says he was living in his car - "by choice" - because
he had a one-way ticket to Hawaii. His plan was to find work in a gym and
he knew someone with his expertise would not need to wait long for an
opening. But the chance to work with a future Hall of Famer changed
everything, he says, and he decided to temporarily move in with a woman he
had just met the night before so he could give Jackson a number to call.

"There were no cell phones in those days," Wenzlaff says. "I had to have a
number to give him."

Jackson called after a week, and after they began working out together
Jackson offered Wenzlaff a job up in the Bay Area as a sort of public
liaison. Wenzlaff not only accepted the job, he moved into Jackson's house
on and off for several years. California property records confirm they
lived on Yankee Hill in Oakland.

Wenzlaff says he never told Jackson about the steroids he used and sold.
"No way. He's like a father figure to me. I didn't have a home; I wasn't
going to (mess) that up," he says.

It was Jackson who introduced Wenzlaff to the A's, bringing him around
during trips to the Oakland Coliseum. Wenzlaff says he visited the
clubhouse on several occasions, but said any steroid use took place away
from the stadium, in private gyms.

Because of his friendship with Jackson, Wenzlaff says he met professional
athletes and actors, turning some into clients he would train.

"Reggie knew everybody," Wenzlaff says.

Wenzlaff claims he provided Canseco with steroids and taught him how to use
them properly. They hung out together, chased women together and worked out
together for a brief time - he says he can't remember how long - and then
Canseco went his own way.

"I was just a small window in his career. That's all," Wenzlaff says.

---

Stejskal, the agent who told the Daily News last month that he warned Major
League Baseball about a rising steroid problem at least 10 years ago,
declined interview requests for this story. After he was quoted last month
he was told not to speak to the media anymore. But before he was
admonished, he told the Daily News what he learned about Canseco during the
investigation.

"Canseco was one of those people that we heard would take orders from other
people who would say 'Hey, can you get me some of this?' and he would do
that. We didn't characterize that as being a dealer. That was just somebody
acting as a middle man," said Stejskal, who put Major League Baseball
security in touch with Wenzlaff to discuss Canseco's burgeoning steroid
allegations about a year ago. "We were a little skeptical at first because
Wentzlaff kinda comes off as he has a high opinion of himself. So
consequently we weren't quite sure. But as we did some more checking and we
were able to get his phone records and things like that, it was clear he
did have a relationship with Canseco."

In addition, an undercover agent saw a photo of Wenzlaff with Canseco,
recorded Wenzlaff on a wiretap talking about providing steroids to Canseco,
and the FBI found Canseco's private phone number in Wenzlaff's phone book
after they arrested him.

Stejskal and Wenzlaff actually grew close over the years - "Hey, he kept my
a-- out of jail," Wenzlaff says - but one area in which they differ is
whether steroids have any legitimate role for people who don't have a
medical need for them.

Because of his heart problems taking steroids now would be too dangerous,
Wenzlaff says, but otherwise, yes, he would still be using them.

"But I don't have anything to prove anymore. I'm not trying to get a
scholarship. It was satisfying to walk on the beach and know you look like
you could have gone into a bodybuilding contest. That was good enough for
me," he says.

"Now, I have no reason to."


==========
From CBC Sports:
Players testify at baseball hearing
March 17, 2005

Six of baseball's biggest stars made emotional opening statements Thursday
at a congressional hearing investigating Major League Baseball's new
drug-testing policy and steroid abuse in the game.

Active big-leaguers Sammy Sosa, Curt Schilling, Frank Thomas and Rafael
Palmeiro, as well as retired sluggers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, were
subpoenaed last week to appear Thursday before the House Government Reform
Committee in Washington, D.C.

After Canseco briefly addressed the Committee, Sosa, via a translator, said
that he has never used steroids during his opening statement.

McGwire slammed allegations made by Canseco in his recently published book
that he injected McGwire with steroids while they were teammates. McGwire
did not say whether he used steroids during his career and said he won't
"participate in naming names" of players who used steroids.

In his opening statement, Palmeiro said emphatically that he has never used
steroids and took Cancesco to task for claiming he saw Palmeiro take
steroids while they were teammates.

Like McGwire and Palmeiro, Schilling slammed Canseco, saying his claims
"should be seen for what they are: an attempt to make money at the expense
of others."

Testifying by close-circuit TV, Thomas said he never took steroids.

Commissioner Bud Selig, players' union head Donald Fehr and other baseball
executives will also testify.

In beginning Thursday's hearing, Representative Tom Davis (Republican,
Virginia) the Chairman of the Committee, implored baseball to "not simply
turn its back on recent history, pronounce that the new testing policy will
solve everything, and move on."

"You can't look forward without looking back," added Davis.

Davis then went on to scold players and baseball officials for not being
co-operative with the Committee.

"Major League Baseball and the players' association greeted word of our
inquiry first as a nuisance, then as a negotiation, replete with
misstatements," said Davis.

"I understand their desire to avoid the public's prying eye. ... But I
think they misjudged our seriousness of purpose. I think they misjudged the
will of an American public who believes that sunshine is the best
disinfectant."

Representative Henry A. Waxman (Democrat, California), the Committee's
ranking minority member, echoed Davis's comments.

"There is a pyramid of steroid use in society and today our investigation
starts where it should­ with the owners and players at the top of that
pyramid," Waxman said.

Davis warned the "hearing will not be the end of our inquiry, far from it.
Nor will Major League Baseball be our sole or even primary focus. We're in
the first inning of what could be an extra-inning ball game. This is the
beginning and not the end."

A spokesman for Representative Davis told CBC Sports Online that players
who testify at the hearing do not face criminal prosecution.

Instead, Thursday's hearing serves as an investigative review of baseball's
recently instituted drug-testing policy. White also explained the hearings
give Congress "a chance to shine some light on what it thinks is an
important public health issue."

However, the belief is that players who testify would leave themselves open
to potential criminal charges sometime in the future.

Canseco tried to get immunity in exchange for his testimony, but the
Committee refused to give immunity to any of the players.

In response, Canseco's lawyer said the former big-league slugger will
invoke his Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer questions that would
incriminate him when he testifies.

Representative Mark Souder (Republican Indiana) warned players against
pleading the fifth, saying it would be a "terrible tragedy."

Major League Baseball's steroid testing program was criticized in past
years as being too lenient, but a new testing plan introduced this year
calls for tougher penalties. A first-time offender will be suspended for 10
days. Second-time offenders will be suspended for 30 days. Third-time
offenders will be suspended for 60 days. Fourth-time offenders will be
suspended for one year.

All suspensions are without pay.

Under the new plan, every player will undergo at least one unannounced test
on a randomly selected date during the playing season. There is no specific
limit on the number of tests to which any player may randomly be subjected,
and players are subject to random testing during the off-season.

Selig and MLB executive Sandy Alderson defended baseball's drug policy in a
prepared statement released prior to Thursday's proceedings.

"Some have suggested that greater penalties, particularly for first
offenders, would be in order," the statement read. "With the guidance of my
medical advisors, however, I agreed to the lesser penalties on the theory
that behaviour modification should be the most important goal of our policy
and that the penalties in our new policy were well-designed to serve that
goal."


==========
From the AP:
In baseball's day of extraordinary theater, McGwire won't say whether he
took steroids
By HOWARD FENDRICH, and RONALD BLUM
March 18, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a room filled with humbled heroes, Mark McGwire
hemmed and hawed the most.

His voice choked with emotion, his eyes nearly filled with tears, time
after time he refused to answer the question everyone wanted to know: Did
he take illegal steroids when he hit a then-record 70 home runs in 1998 --
or at any other time?

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.''

To a couple of other questions, all he would say is: ``I'm retired.''

The dark clouds over baseball rained on Big Mac, whose powerful bat once
captivated the nation.

``I know that he was in anguish yesterday just being there,'' baseball
commissioner Bud Selig said Friday on NBC's ``Today'' show. ``Everybody has
to do what they have to do. The other players were very outspoken.''

McGwire was just part of Thursday's show at the House Government Reform
committee's hearing on steroids in baseball, when lawmakers repeated
threatened federal legislation to govern drug testing in not just baseball,
but perhaps all U.S. sports.

President Bush, who in his State of the Union address in 2004 called for a
crackdown on steroids, watched the highlights of the hearings, his
spokesman said Friday.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, press secretary Scott
McClellan declined to offer support for the congressional effort, saying
Bush does not believe that federal intervention is the way to go.

``Baseball has taken important steps to respond to concerns that have been
expressed about the use of steroids,'' he said. ``It's important for
baseball to continue to take steps to confront the problem.''

Five current and former players, three of them among the 10 leading home
run hitters in history, found themselves sitting biceps-to-biceps on
Capitol Hill instead of a baseball field, wearing business suits instead of
uniforms, forced by subpoena to testify before Congress about whether they
cheated by using steroids.

Heads turned, strobes flashed and necks craned to get a glimpse of them on
a day of extraordinary theater. The players bemoaned steroids as a problem
for their sport but denied the drugs are widely used.

Jose Canseco, whose best-selling book, ``Juiced,'' drew lawmakers'
attention, said anew that he used performance-enhancing drugs as a player.
Baltimore Orioles teammates Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro said they haven't.

McGwire in the past has denied using steroids but under oath repeatedly
declined to respond directly. Peering at lawmakers over reading glasses,
his goatee flecked with gray, McGwire was pressed to say whether he had
taken performance-enhancing substances or whether he could provide details
about use by other players. Over and over, he said he wouldn't respond.

All of the players offered condolences to the parents of two young baseball
players who committed suicide after using steroids. The parents testified,
too, along with medical experts who talked about the health risks of steroids.

``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.

During a hearing that lasted 11 1/4 hours, lawmakers questioned baseball's
new drug-testing plan, including a provision allowing for fines instead of
suspensions. A first offense could cost 10 days out of a six-month season,
or perhaps a $10,000 fine.

``That's the best we could do in collective bargaining,'' commissioner
Selig said. ``The penalties would be much tougher if I had my way.''

He added that he would suspend anyone who fails a test, vowing: ``There
will be no exceptions.''

Canseco's book included claims that he injected McGwire with steroids when
they were teammates with the Oakland Athletics and that Palmeiro used the
drugs. In a tense scene, they sat at the same table, never directly
addressing each other. During a break, Canseco was left out while the other
players huddled.

``Steroids were part of the game, and I don't think anybody really wanted
to take a stance on it,'' Canseco said. ``If Congress does nothing about
this issue, it will go on forever.''

Several congressmen gushed about the sport, recalling how as children they
collected baseball cards and autographs and looked up to players. For the
most part, members of the committee appeared deferential and unwilling to
press the players, saving their harshest criticism for baseball officials.

``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 Rep. Henry Waxman of California, the
committee's ranking Democrat.

The paneled hearing room was full when the players appeared, with camera
crews lining the walls and clogging the aisles. Much of the crowd cleared
out when the players left, leaving empty seats for Selig's testimony.

He said the extent of steroids in baseball had been blown out of proportion.

``Did we have a major problem? No,'' Selig said. ``Let me say this to you:
There is no concrete evidence of that, there is no testing evidence, there
is no other kind of evidence.''

Questions about steroids have intensified as home runs have increased.
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's mark lasted only three seasons before San Francisco's
Barry Bonds hit 73.

Bonds and the New York Yankees' Jason Giambi were not called to the
hearing. Both testified in 2003 to a grand jury investigating a
steroid-distribution ring, and there were concerns testimony to Congress
could hinder the probe.

Boston pitcher Curt Schilling, a vocal critic of steroid use, sat at one
end of the witness table, with Canseco at the other. Palmeiro, Sosa and
McGwire were in between.

Schilling took a shot at Canseco, saying claims in the former slugger's
book ``should be seen for what they are: an attempt to make money at the
expense of others.'' He even called him a ``liar.''

But Schilling backtracked from his earlier claims of rampant steroid use,
saying ``the issue was grossly overstated by people, including myself.''

While boosting strength, steroids also can lead to dramatic mood swings,
heart disease, cancer, sterility and depression; using most steroids
without a doctor's prescription for medical purposes has been illegal since
1991.

Baseball banned steroids in September 2002 and began testing for them with
penalties in 2004. Several congressmen pointed out that other major U.S.
sports leagues have stricter policies and suggested legislation might be
needed to make the testing uniform.