Chapter[ III. The Governing Laws and Baseball Policies Regarding Possession or Use
of Performance Enhancing Substances ]
Section[ B. 7. Baseball’s Drug Policies Under Bud Selig ]
7. Baseball’s Drug Policies Under Bud Selig
In May 1997, then-acting Commissioner Allan H. (“Bud”) Selig reissued
baseball’s drug policy in a memorandum that was substantially unchanged from the 1991 policy
memo that had been issued by Commissioner Vincent.134 The policy was issued again by
Commissioner Selig in memoranda in March 2001 and April 2002.135 In addition, beginning in
2002, even after the drug policy was incorporated into the Basic Agreement, Commissioner Selig
issued annual memoranda reiterating the drug policy as it applied to all non-playing personnel in
Major League Baseball, including the possibility of unannounced drug tests for all such
personnel.136 During his tenure, Selig also unilaterally implemented drug testing in the minor
133 Id., dissent, at 1; see Murray Chass, A Biting Dissent on Howe Decision, N.Y. Times,
Nov. 20, 1992, at B12.
134 See Memorandum from Bud Selig, chairman of the Executive Council of Major
League Baseball, to All Major League Clubs, etc. Re: Baseball’s Drug Policy and Prevention
Program, dated May 15, 1997.
135 See Memorandum from Allan H. “Bud” Selig to All Major League Clubs Re:
Baseball’s Drug Policy and Prevention Program, dated Apr. 12, 2002; Memorandum from Allan
H. “Bud” Selig to All Major League Clubs Re: Baseball’s Drug Policy and Prevention Program,
dated Mar. 21, 2001.
136 See Memorandum from Commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig to All Major League
Clubs, etc. Re: Baseball’s Drug Policy and Prevention Program, dated Apr. 15, 2003;
Memorandum from Allan H. “Bud” Selig, Chairman of the Executive Council of Major League
Baseball, to All Major League Clubs, etc. Re: Baseball’s Drug Policy and Prevention Program,
dated Mar. 15, 2005; Memorandum from Allan H. “Bud” Selig, Chairman of the Executive
Council of Major League Baseball, to All Major League Clubs, etc. Re: Baseball’s Drug Policy
and Prevention Program, dated Mar. 2, 2005; Memorandum from Allan H. “Bud” Selig,
Chairman of the Executive Council of Major League Baseball, to All Major League Clubs, etc.
Re: Baseball’s Drug Policy and Prevention Program Apr. 13, 2006.
42
leagues in 2001 and obtained the agreement of both the Players Association, in 2002, and the
umpires association, in 2004, to drug treatment and testing programs.137
In early 1994, Selig and the owners proposed that a joint drug program be
included in baseball’s collective bargaining agreement. That 1994 proposal would have included
steroids among baseball’s prohibited substances and, as with the 1984 joint program, provided
for testing of players for whom there was “reasonable cause” to believe drug use was occurring.
The proposal did not provide for mandatory random drug testing, but it did include a provision
for drug screening tests as part of every player’s physical examination during spring training.
Under the proposal, as had been the case under the 1984 joint program, first offenders would not
be subject to discipline provided that they agreed to enter a counseling and treatment program.
Unlike the 1984 program, however, a second offense would carry a sixty-day suspension without
pay, with third and fourth offenses carrying penalties of a one-year suspension and a lifetime
ban, respectively.138
The Players Association rejected the proposal, and it was not pursued any further
by the owners. Later that year, after the owners and the Players Association were unable to
come to agreement on other significant economic issues, a work stoppage resulted in the early
end to the 1994 season and the cancellation of the post-season and World Series. A shortened
1995 season was played without a collective bargaining agreement in place. When bargaining
resumed, resolution of the economic issues that had led to the stoppage of play took priority, and
the owners did not revive the proposal to implement a new joint drug policy.
Officials of the Players Association said that the clubs did not appear to regard the
1994 proposal as a high priority and did not pursue its adoption vigorously. Indeed, Don Fehr
137 See Major League Baseball’s Umpire Drug and Alcohol Testing Program.
138 See Prevention of Drug Use and Distribution (“1994 Proposal on Drugs”).
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recalled that the proposal never even reached the main bargaining table during negotiations. At
one general session, Fehr inquired about a media report regarding such a proposal.
Subsequently, the proposal was presented and discussed only at two subcommittee sessions that
occurred in late July and early August 1994. The subject was not raised again after the August
1994 strike began.
Rob Manfred, baseball’s current chief labor negotiator, recalled that anabolic
steroids were included in the 1994 proposal to be proactive, and the decision to include steroids
in the proposal was not based on any particular concern about the use of those substances in
baseball at that time. He acknowledged that at the time the drug program was not as high a
priority as economic issues.
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