This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Many drug rehab programs preach that admitting there is a problem is the first step. It took the Major League Baseball Players Association years, literally decades, to admit there was a problem. And this one particular problem wasn't steroids, though the union's proposals to increase penalties for steroid use are a welcome first step.
Amphetamines were a problem in baseball long before steroids, long before the cocaine scandals of the 1980s. The use of "greenies" has been a badly kept secret in baseball, and the union always prevented any sort of testing for them.
Amid the current steroid scandals and the subsequent black eyes that have rocked the sport, the union finally relented on testing and penalties for amphetamines, baseball's original performance-enhancing drug. . . . Now, about the designated hitter.