In an early March 2005 news conference, Commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB), Bud Selig said, "I am very confident that we will effectively rid our sport of steroids in this coming season." On March 17 several current and former major league baseball players testified before the House Government Reform Committee in Washington, D.C. Among the witnesses were Palmeiro, McGwire, and Sammy Sosa. Palmeiro, a left-handed player on the Baltimore Orioles roster made it clear to the Congressmen: ""I have never used steroids. Period." During the second week of May, in compliance with MLB's new drug testing policy, Palmeiro took a drug test. On July15, he chalked up baseball hit number 3,000.

On August 1 Palmeiro was suspended from playing Major League Baseball for ten days because he failed a steroid drug test. He immediately claimed, "I have never intentionally used a banned substance, but I unfortunately wasn't careful enough." Congress, concerned about the integrity of millionaire athletes, not to mention the "Nation's Pastime", hinted further investigation of citizen Palmeiro might be warranted.

Rafael Palmeiro Corrales was born September 24, 1964 in Havana, Cuba. After attending Mississippi State University he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 1st round (22nd pick) of the 1985 amateur draft. He made his MLB debut on September 8, 1986. In addition to the Cubs he has played with the Texas Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles. In twenty MLB seasons, he's played in the outfield, at first base and has been used as a Designated Hitter. In addition to his professional baseball affiliation he had also become recognized, in the early 21st century, as a spokesman for the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra.

Palmeiro tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol (also known as Stanazol and Winstrol.) It is a strength-building steroid that can be ingested or injected. A baseball player would take a steroid to increase muscle and strength which might improve power hitting abilities. Stanozolol is a 17-alpha-alkylated steroid that is toxic to the liver in both its oral and injectable form. It is related to the veterinary drug Winstrol®-V. If Palmeiro did knowingly take the steroid he violated several rules in several spheres. Baseball prohibits the use of steroids like stanozolol and the 1990 Anabolic Steroids Control Act classified a drug like stanozolol as a Schedule III controlled substance. Taking the substance would be a crime. So is perjury... if Palmeiro lied to a congressional committee.

According to some anabolic-androgenic steroids are clearly the "bastard child" of controlled substances. From the synthesis of testosterone in 1935, to the embracing of the so-called "pro-hormones" by the physical fitness community in the 1950s, to the classification of anabolic steroids with a hallucinogen like LSD and a narcotic like cocaine, the substances have earned a notorious reputation. The International Olympic Committee banned the substances in 1975. Steroid testing of Olympic athletes began during the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) banned steroids in 1973 and began testing in 1986. The National Football League (NFL) also banned the bad steroids in 1986 and instituted random testing during the 1990 season. In 2004 Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Players Association reached an agreement on a new drug program that included year-round testing for steroid use and stricter penalties for players who initially test positive - a 10-day suspension without pay for the first offense. The new policy went into effect with the start of the 2005 season and Palmeiro is one of several MLB players who have been caught and punished for a "first offense."

There are some unanswered questions in the Palmeiro case: Is the player telling the truth? Is or was his use of the drug Viagra, which by the way is an official sponsor of Major League Baseball, a result of his use of an anabolic steroid? Such steroids have been known to interfere with the proper functioning of the sexual organs. While steroids sometimes initially increase libido, impotence is not an unknown side effect of continued steroid use. And if Palmeiro is judged to have taken steroids, should his nomination and election to Baseball's Hall of Fame be affected? After all, taking anabolic steroids to improve baseball performance is cheating...according to the rules.