The Pittsburgh Baseball Drug Trials
The 1985 Baseball Cocaine Scandal
The Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985 were the catalyst for a baseball-related cocaine scandal which resulted in the harshest Major League Baseball penalties since the Black Sox scandal of 1919.
The baseball drug trials in Pittsburgh were not held as part of an investigation of baseball, or even of the players who testified. Rather, the trials (there were two) were part of a prosecution against two men who had allegedly supplied cocaine to Major League ballplayers. All of the players who testified were granted immunity in return for their testimony. The revelations from the trials were arguably much worse than anything that surfaced during the recent steroid scandal.
Revelations from the Pittsburgh Drug Trials
Tim Raines of the Montreal Expos testified that he stashed a gram of cocaine in the back pocket of his uniform pants during games. The speedster, who at the time of the hearing was the four time defending National League stolen base champion, testified that he always slid into bases headfirst to ensure that the glass vial wouldn't break.
Keith Hernandez, the 1979 NL Most Valuable Player, admitted that he used cocaine and told the jury that he believed that approximately 40% of players in the big leagues were using coke as well.
John Milner testified that he once purchased two grams of the drug from one of the defendants in a bathroom stall at Three Rivers Stadium in 1980. He also testified that that Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Willie Stargell had provided him with illegal amphetamines early in his career.
Even the guy who played the Pirate Parrot, who was Pittsburgh's team mascot, admitted to buying nose candy in the depths of Three Rivers Stadium.
In all, eleven players testified at the trials, which resulted in convictions of Curtis Strong in one case and Dale Schiffman in the other. Strong was sentenced to twelve years in prison for his misdeeds, but spent just four years behind bars. Schiffman was also sentenced to twelve years but was released after just twenty-four months.
Baseball Punishes the Players
Although the players had been given immunity from criminal prosecution, they were still subject to punishment by Major League Baseball. Commissioner Peter Ueberroth handed down one year suspensions against Hernandez, Dale Berra, Joaquin Andujar, Enos Cabell, Jeffrey Leonard, Dave Parker and Lonnie Smith. The players, however, were also given the option of avoiding the suspensions by donating 10% of the salaries to drug counseling programs. They also had to perform 100 hours of community service and submit to random drug testing.
All of the players took the deal.
Four other players -- Lee Lacy, Al Holland, Lary Sorenson and Claudell Washington -- agreed to donate 5% of their pay and perform 50 hours of community service rather than face 60-day suspensions.
The Fallout
Several players were able to rejuvenate their careers after the scandal. Dave Parker signed with the Cincinnati Reds and was selected to the All-Star team in 1985, 1986 and 1990. Keith Hernandez continued his consecutive Gold Glove streak through 1988, and won a World Series title with the Mets in 1986. Lonnie Smith signed with the Atlanta Braves and was selected as the MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award in 1989.
Other players continued to struggle with substance abuse, some to devastating effect. Rod Scurry died from a cocaine-related heart attack in 1992. He was only 36 years old. Willie Aikens was convicted of selling crack cocaine and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1994. Lary Sorensen, after a sixth drunk driving conviction, was sentenced to more than two years in prison in 2005.
While perhaps not as many players were involved with cocaine as there were using performance-enhancing drugs some twenty years later, it's tough to argue that this scandal was any less embarrassing or harmful to the game.
And yet the game survives.
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