However exaggerated the numbers may or may not be, most players acknowledge that steroids are a problem throughout the league.

"This has been around for a long time, it's definitely out there, and guys talk about it," said the Milwaukee Brewers' Richie Sexson. "As a player, if you've been around the game long enough and you know people, you know what's going on. When guys, all of a sudden, get to be the size that some guys are now, you know that something's a little bit different."

The Sports Illustrated report, written by senior writer Tom Verducci, points out how steroids have changed the game and how players have become bigger and stronger -- and more injury-prone -- because of their use of the drugs.

Several current players, including pitchers Curt Schilling and Kenny Rogers, spoke out about how steroid-juiced sluggers have changed the way the game is played. Many others have spoken on how the use of steroids has grown as players feel a need to compete with their artificially enhanced peers.

"If you can get an advantage somewhere, even if it involved crossing an ethical line, people will do it. Home runs are money. That's a fact," says Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Craig Counsell.

"If you're battling for a job, and the guy you're battling with is using steroids, then maybe you say, 'Hey, to compete, I need to use steroids because he's using them,'" says Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Paul Lo Duca. "Don't get me wrong. I don't condone it. But it's a very tough situation. It's really all about survival for some guys."

Uncovering the steroid scandal is one thing. Now baseball must figure out what steps need to be taken to stop it.

Currently, Major League Baseball has no drug testing, but league officials say they will push to include testing in its upcoming contract with the players. Any drug testing, though, must be OK'd by the players' union as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

It's unclear as to whether the union membership would actually vote to ban steroids or conduct some sort of testing for the drugs. In fact, some question how strongly Major League Baseball would push to do anything that would affect the current offensive explosion in the game.

"If you want to keep home runs in check, if you want to reduce home runs, start testing for steroids -- it's that simple. [But] I don't think Major League Baseball wants to do that because fans like home runs," says Diamondbacks first baseman Mark Grace. "It's a very scary situation for the health of the ballplayers. I personally would love to see it banned or abolished."

Says Glavine: "Those of us who don't do it, we feel like we aren't on an even playing field and that's something that shouldn't happen."

Still, there are a lot of problems with testing for steriods. The union, historically, has taken the stance that drug testing is an invasion of privacy. Other drugs could show up in the tests. Many steroids are easily masked so they do not appear in urine tests. Other performance-enhancing drugs can only be detected through blood tests.

It is a complicated matter made even more so by the long history of animosity in negotiations between baseball's owners and players. But many in baseball see this as the time when the use of steroids must be addressed.

The gorilla, finally, is out from behind the curtain

"Baseball itself, and the players' union, should really get together on this thing and start to let the players get tested," Robinson says. "If I have the ability, the talent, I want to get tested. I don't want to have all these suspicions hanging over me.

"If it's a problem, let's clean up the game."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

The Web    SI.com
SI.com GROUP: Sports Illustrated | Life of Reilly | SI for Kids | TBS/TNT Sports
	SI Customer Service | SI Media Kits | Email Services | Press Room Copyright © 2003 CNN/Sports Illustrated. An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.