There has been much talk in regards to the rampant steroid use amongst players in Major League Baseball ever since mandatory, random testing began in 2004. In 2006, U.S. Congress questioned and made it their personal mission to investigate Major League Baseball's Drug Policy, which was originally implemented by Commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, in conjunction with the Player's Union. The two parties reached an agreement to incorporate mandatory testing to all Major League Baseball players, starting in the 2004 season, but Congress members were unsatisfied and very critical of the effectiveness of these steroid tests.
After mounting pressure from Congress and several media outlets, due to the BALCO steroid scandal, former Senate Majority Leader and federal prosecutor, George Mitchell was appointed by Commissioner Selig to investigate the use of performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. George Mitchell and media outlets insinuated that players who failed steroid tests were considered cheaters, bad role models for our youth, and drug addicts. Baseball also launched several ad campaigns about the health risks of steroid use. ESPN used every waking moment to launch several allegations about many prominent players in their potential use of steroids, in attempt to diminish their career. In May of 2009, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez were among the roughly 100 major league baseball players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the results. The results of the 2003 steroid tests were supposed to be anonymous and at the time, there was no penalty for using steroids within the Major League Baseball, but the players' names have slowly begun to surface. Alex Rodriguez was forced to admit his name was one of those on the list after a Sports Illustrated report in the spring. The information was seized by federal agents investigating performance-enhancing drug use among professional athletes.
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