>Good one. Didn't Sartre do most of his work suspended between uppers and pot?
Baseball and amphetimines
( much more here: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2006/04/02/PBP_AMPHET_0402.html )
By Carlos Frias
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 02, 2006
There are days when the 13-year veteran feels his strength sapped by the demands of those 162-game seasons.
That's why even this three-time All-Star used to swallow a "greenie'' now and then to stay in the lineup.
"Players use amphetamines to be the player they can't be when they're tired," said the veteran, who asked that his name not be used.
For decades, amphetamines "speed" on the street have helped baseball players face the rigors of their sport: Six-game weeks. Day games immediately following night games. Cross-country flights. Hundreds of repetitions in the batting cage and batter's box, on the mound and in the field. The stress of a pennant race in the August heat.
But baseball's crusade against performance-enhancing substances has pushed the pills out of the clubhouse and onto the banned list as part of the sport's sweeping new drug policy.
Beginning this season, players will be tested for amphetamines. And many major-leaguers believe that our national pastime will never be the same.
"It's going to have a lot bigger effect on the game than steroid testing," said Chipper Jones, the Atlanta Braves' All-Star third baseman. "It's more rampant than steroids. ... I think the fringe players will be weeded out."
In recent years, players have estimated that between 50 and 80 percent of ballplayers have used amphetamines. A USA Today survey last year found that 35 percent of players thought at least half were using them. The ban will heighten the physical and mental strain of the season, the aforementioned veteran said.
"The manager comes to you and what are you going to say?... 'Oh, no, sorry. I can't go today.' I used it on days when I felt shut down, to keep my name in the lineup," he said. "You're going to see a lot of guys asking the manager for a day off."
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