Turnbow Tests Postive For Steroids

By Bill Shaikin
January 7, 2003

ANAHEIM--Angels righthander Derrick Turnbow became the first major league player publicly identified as testing positive for a banned steroid, a result expected to have no impact of his major league career.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency cited Turnbow as testing positive for one of two substances classified as steroids and prohibited under international baseball rules but not the rules of Major League Baseball. He acknowledged taking an over-the-counter nutritional supplement containing one of those substances, known in gyms as "19-nor."

"I didn't know that what I was taking was going to make me fail a drug test, period," Turnbow told the Los Angeles Times.

Turnbow tested positive in October during tryouts for USA Baseball's Olympic qualifying team. He thus was not selected for the team.

He did not appeal the test results and accepted his two-year ban from international competition, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency spokesman Rich Wanninger said. The ban is virtually irrelevant, since the U.S. did not qualify for this year's Olympic Games.

The USADA cited Turnbow for using a chemical derivative related to androstenedione, the substance popularized by slugger Mark McGwire in 1998, when he broke baseball's hallowed home-run record. Gene Orza, associate general counsel of the players' union, said andro is a legal supplement in the U.S.

"Derrick Turnbow did not test positive for a steroid," Orza said. "He tested positive for what the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and others regard as a steroid, but the U.S. government does not."

Said Turnbow: "What happened is bad publicity. But it had nothing to do with Major League Baseball. I stepped across a line and volunteered for USA Baseball. I never would have failed a drug test if I hadn't volunteered for USA Baseball."

Minor leaguers have been subject to drug testing for years, and "andro" is banned. Turnbow pitched in the minor leagues in 2001 and 2002, but he was not subject to testing since the Angels have included Turnbow on their 40-man roster since they acquired him in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft from the Philadelphia Phillies in 2000.

Angels general manager Bill Stoneman said he was told the case would be administered under the new drug-testing program agreed to between the union and major league owners, under which Orza indicated the substance for which Turnbow tested positive is not forbidden.

Turnbow, 25, dazzled the Angels last September, returning from the minors and throwing as hard as 98 mph. He pitched 13 innings, giving up no runs or walks and striking out 12. He is out of options and favored to win a spot in the Angels bullpen next spring.

"He'll be there when we open spring training," Stoneman said. "Unless I hear differently, he's going to make our club or not make our club based on his ability to pitch."

Stoneman said the Angels would nonetheless intensify efforts to persuade players not to use products containing andro.

"If it was bought over-the-counter, I'm assuming it's legal," Stoneman said. "Would I use it if I were playing? I don't think so. There are other ways to get strong."