LOS ANGELES AND CHICAGO — Baseball's steroid era reared its head again on Tuesday, when a report that Sammy Sosa tested positive for performance-enhancing substances six years ago revived debate on whether owners and players ought to release the names of 102 other players who tested positive at that time.
Although baseball has since adopted a program that publicly identifies players testing positive and suspends them for 50 games, the Sosa report offered a sobering reminder that the sport remains haunted by the steroid era.
The six greatest single-season home-run totals all were produced from 1998 to 2001, by Sosa, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire. Those three players all have been linked to steroid use. So have all of the All-Star game cleanup batters in that span: Sosa, Bonds and McGwire for the National League; Manny Ramirez, Jason Giambi, Juan Gonzalez and Bret Boone for the American League.
"Most of those guys did some damage off me," Angels pitcher Darren Oliver said. "Can I take that off my bubble-gum card? That's what I'd like to know."
Sosa testified before Congress in 2005 that he never had used performance-enhancing substances. In an interview with ESPN two weeks ago, Sosa said he would formally announce his retirement soon and "calmly wait for my induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame."
Frank Thomas, the longtime Chicago White Sox slugger and a player who has not been linked to steroids, testified alongside Sosa. Thomas said he was "shocked" that Sosa spoke so forcefully in the ESPN interview and suggested the test result might have been leaked in retaliation.
"I think that fueled the fire," Thomas said.
In spring training, Alex Rodriguez admitted he had used steroids, after Sports Illustrated reported he was one of 104 players to test positive in 2003, when players were promised anonymity. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Sosa also was one of those players.
The complete list remains sealed under court order, with owners and the players' union arguing that the confidentiality promised at the time of testing needs to be honored.
"Why don't we come up with the . . . names, and that's it?" Chicago White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Every time somebody says he's clean, the next day it's in the . . . paper. Alex [Rodriguez] says, 'They can check me.' He's gone. Manny [Ramirez] says, 'They can check me.' He's gone.
