Strike Four!

And all along we thought it was three strikes and you’re out.

MLB and the Players’ Union today announced a new steroid policy that imposes a suspension of up to ten days for a first positive test, a 30-day suspension for a second, a 60-day suspension for a third, and a one-year banishment for a fourth positive test. Under the old drug policy, a player got five chances before being suspended for a year.

The new agreement also calls for random tests throughout the year.

Commissioner Bug Selig remarked, ``I've been saying for some time my goal for this industry is zero tolerance toward steroids.''

Bud, zero doesn’t equal four no matter how you spin it.

Faced with a major scandal when Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Barry Bonds admitted using steroids (Bonds only admitted to unknowingly using them) and when former NL MVP Ken Caminitti, a known steroid abuser, died from a drug overdose, MLB has taken small steps toward so-called zero tolerance.

In the strictest sense, zero tolerance would mean some sort of lengthy banishment on the first offense to say nothing of a second one. But labor and management don’t have the guts to make a serious commitment despite Selig’s claim that ``We're acting today to help restore the confidence of our fans.'' Donald Fehr, the players’ union executive director, added, "The object is to stop [steroid abuse]. The object is not to penalize for the sake of penalizing."

Has anyone ever proposed penalizing players for the sake of penalizing them? What was Fehr thinking when he made that comment?

The commissioner and the executive director also insisted the new policies are as tough as any in major league sport. They aren’t. The NFL imposes much stricter penalties, including suspension for a minimum of 6 games (that is more than 1/3 the season) for a second offense and a minimum of one year for subsequent ones. But here’s even bigger news: minor league baseball players are subject to stiffer penalties and have been all along, including when compared to the major league’s previous plans, which this new one allegedly stiffens. And the big boys still refuse to include amphetamines among banned substances to be screened while the boys down on the farm have been tested for them for a few years now.

In the final analysis the new policy is tepid, a bone thrown to the fans who legitimately question the power figures put up over the last several seasons by Maguire, Bonds et al. Allowing four offenses before being banned for good hardly qualifies as a tough new policy. Anyone caught four times is an habitual user, plain and simple; someone who needs professional help and lots of it.

So, for now it’s one, two, three, four strikes you’re out of the old ball game. . . for a while, anyway.