Dominicans, steroids and Miguel Tejada...

[A.Hidalgo]

I'm sure she was not referring to B12 either......

[Tordok]

The fact is that even without the penalties that MLB already has in place in the US and Venezuela (as well as Australia, Canada and pretty much whenever else there are ballplayers), the rate of positive steroid tests among signed pro baseball players in the DR has steadily gone DOWN from over 12% during the 1st year of testing to approximately 3% this last year. If it ever was any higher than that, it is anybody's guess.

Once the Dominican government gets the law revised (some tweaking needs to be done to change some articles from the nation's labor code to its health code) then the penalties will start to apply in the country just as everywhere else and further drops in steroids use among DR ballplayers should be expected.

Precisely this past weekend (Feb 15-17) MLB's had its major educational presentation on this issue for top DR prospects (as well as some sent by their teams from Venezuela and Panama). All MLB teams were represented. There they had a chance to get a comprehensive health risks talk by specialized physicians sent to the DR exclusively for this purpose and also they get to see dramatizations performed by local professional actors. Small group and individual Q&A sessions follow the presentations. Written materials distributed, etc.

The all weekend rookie career development program which covers issues related to cross-cultural adaptation and English language acquisition skills (by masters-level educators), financial protection (by MBA types), personal security matters (by US and Dominican law enforcement professionals), immigration/visa rules and related issues (by US consulate staff), drug prevention, and media relations (by well-recognized sport journalist), etc. Each presentation has audiovisual aides and are followed by serious discussions and clarifications. Their limited schooling is taken into account to help them grasp sometimes difficult topics.

In addition to this yearly special program for young men expected to make it to the US leagues during the year's season, MLB's Dominican office has a dedicated, full-time professional individual who visits each and every one of the "academies" several times a year with detailed prevention education presentations about Minor League and Major League drug policies regarding performance enhancing drugs.

All of this is again repeated ad infinitum by individual clubs both in the DR and the US. So, despite past neglect, I personally can attest to the fact that in the last 6 years things have changed rather dramatically and baseball has 'gotten its act together' to finally stop the so-called steroids era.

Unfortunately, some players will do whatever they will do, at their own risk.
Each of these guys is responsible for their careers; if they choose to use banned, risky substances, date hookers, give money to thugs, carry guns, antagonize the sports media off, fail to learn language skills, provide fraudulent documentations in their visa applications, befriend gangsters, or engage into any other kind of dangerous behavior; it is ultimately up to them to face the consequences. Being ignorant is no longer a legitimate excuse.

- Tordok

[Chip]

This sounds good, but what do you do in the case that steroids are of the untraceable type, like HGH? Heck, how many years did Marion Jones use them w/o ever getting caught? Does anybody think that the DR has the police infrastructure to investigate like they do in the US? I wouldn't be surprised to find if that in fact steriod use has not significantly dropped here in the DR, only that the perps are not getting caught because of the untaceable drugs they are doing. Nonetheless, I applaud the MLB and what they are trying to do, but remember this is almost an impossible task as referenced to the circus show going on in the league in the States.

[Berzin]

Thanks for the great post, Tordok. It is true that HGH is untraceable as Chip says, but there are other ways to keep taking steroids without testing positive.

There is micro-dosing, where the amounts injected(over a longer period of time, mind you) are so small that it doesn't show up on any tests. And of course there are masking agents.

But usually the "handlers" of these players, these backroom svengalis who look after these players from a very young age and whose job it is to scour the country for future prospects, aren't very well versed in the art of scientific subterfuge. They aren't doctors, but they are usually the ones who supply these players with this stuff. How in the world would they know how to administer these drugs properly?

So hats off to MLB for at least attempting to clamp down on these practices all over Latin America, not just in the DR.