Ask a baseball fan to draw up a list of potential “drug cheats†and you would probably find several names coming up time and again, but Neifi Perez wouldn’t be one of them. MLB has announced today that Perez has been suspended for twenty-five games after failing a drugs test for a second time (first-time offenders don’t even get a slap on the wrist by the looks of it). “No hit†Neifi was found to have an illegal stimulant in his system, with the MLB.com website report referring to amphetamines, or “greenies†as they are known in clubhouses.
The knee-jerk reaction is to make fun of the situation. Yes, you have to wonder how bad Perez would be if he wasn’t on something! The underlying issues are more interesting than that though.
While everybody focuses their “does he?/doesn’t he?†musings on the big-name players, maybe a guy like Perez, a thirty-four year old fringe player in danger of losing his Major League spot, is more likely to risk taking something because he has more to lose than most? The fact that he has been banned for taking amphetamines clouds the issue somewhat: many Major Leaguers see them as a part of the job rather than an illegal performance enhancing drug. Still, the rules say they are illegal and that’s the end of the matter. Dosing up on strong coffee or cans of Red Bull is now the order of the day it seems.
It will be interesting to hear the reactions of his fellow professionals and, of course, whether anyone else fails the test for a second time for the same reason in the near future.
