Just when we think that we’ve heard the last about doping something new comes along to remind us that no matter how much baseball tries to put the steroid era behind them that the issue is not dead.  On the front cover of Sunday’s New York Times was an article talking about Viagra and how it is becoming part of the culture of performance enhancing drugs.

The funny thing is we all laughed when former baseball player Rafael Palmeiro became a pitchman for that little blue pill which was supposed to help keep some life in your bat.  But Palmiero, who had yet to test positive for steroids, may have been way ahead of the curve compared to both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and MLB when it came to Viagra, as some evidence seems to exist suggesting that it enhances more than one’s off the field performance.

In truth, the evidence from studies so far is incomplete and inconclusive, but that hasn’t stopped athletes from believing in it or trying it.  To a degree this belief makes sense – as Viagra and similar drugs work by helping increase the oxygen carrying capacity of red blood cells and increasing blood flow.   Theoretically that could help increase endurance and give certain players an unfair advantage, while for others it may serve as a way to enhance the absorption of other PEDs (performance enhancing drugs).

And while the WADA is likely to add it to the list of banned substances at their spring meetings, it could be more problematic for baseball. Baseball could easily put in place a paper ban on unauthorized use, but as there is no testing for it, and doctors are willing write prescriptions for just about any man who asks about it.  That leaves baseball in a tough place and it would certainly set up a confrontation between MLB and the players association.

This is one congress most likely wouldn’t get involved in and it might well be the backdoor to PEDs that the steroid cheats have been looking for since the drug policy (which is still a weak one) came into place.  No doubt players have tried Viagra for legitimate reasons, especially those who damaged their testicles via steroid use, and have reaped the benefits they wanted in their private life.

But now they may be reaping them on the ball field and that changes the game, especially if the preliminary studies quoted in the Times are true, that only about 4 in 10 of the users of Viagra gained performance enhancing effects from the drug and that the enhancement was significant.  That could skew the playing field significantly.

On the heels of the steroid era, MLB can’t just turn away and pretend this won’t be a problem, at least not if they wish to retain any credibility.  Players scoring on the field should be done without the aid of Viagra while players scoring off the field shouldn’t be their concern.

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