16 White Sox wanted to make steroid testing mandatory

CHICAGO -- Sixteen members of the Chicago White Sox were ready to refuse a drug test Tuesday in hopes of making steroid testing mandatory.

The players ultimately decided to take the test after consulting with Gene Orza, the No. 2 official of the players' union.

"There were some ideas floating around that got shelved quickly. It wouldn't be fair to the union," Kelly Wunsch, Chicago's player representative, said in Tucson, Ariz. "If we do anything to subvert that process then we would be unfair to the union, and what was agreed upon in the agreement.

"I made a few calls to clarify a couple of things, and then I came back (into the clubhouse) and said, 'Let's take the test,"' Wunsch added.

Under the new collective bargaining agreement, all players on 40-man rosters are given two announced tests for illegal steroids as part of a survey. If more than 5 percent test positive for steroids, "program" testing starts the following year and continues until less than 2.5 percent test positive in two consecutive years combined.

Owners can also conduct up to 240 additional random tests if there is program testing next year.

Players who refuse a test are automatically counted as having tested positive for steroids. By refusing to take the test, the White Sox apparently were trying to force more extensive testing.

"I think some of them were saying that they would like an equal playing field," said Wunsch, who refused to name the 16 players. "But no one turned in an essay on why they weren't going to take it."

Commissioner Bud Selig was angered when he heard some of the White Sox had considered not taking the test, according to a high-ranking baseball official. Orza declined comment, saying only, "The operation of the testing program by agreement of the parties is confidential." Rob Manfred, executive vice president of labor relations in the commissioner's office, also declined comment.

It wasn't clear if Frank Thomas was among the 16 players who considered refusing the test. But the two-time MVP has said several times that he wants to see mandatory testing.

"Obviously, there are some players out there using that stuff," he said. "Hopefully, the game won't be embarrassed by it. But until we officially test and get the names out there, we'll never know who it is.

"Hopefully, (names) will come out in the future and guys on it can be helped off," Thomas added. "We need this game to be played on an equal playing field for everyone. Guys are taking things now that can kill them, so it is a problem."