Among current players I asked to interview were five who have spoken publicly
about the issue. When I did so, I made clear that there was no suggestion that any of the five had
used performance enhancing substances, and I repeat here that clarifying statement. Four of the
five declined. One of them, Frank Thomas of the Toronto Blue Jays, agreed. His comments
were informative and helpful.
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Several weeks later, a Nightengale story quoted a number of major league players
and front office executives who expressed concern over the prevalence of steroid use in Major
League Baseball.
209 Originally published in the Los Angeles Times, the story was picked up by
wire services over the next few days and a revised version ran in the next issue of the Sporting
News, in which steroid use was called “baseball’s deep, dark, sinister secret.”210
In the article, Randy Smith, then the general manager of the Padres, was quoted as
having said that “[w]e all know there’s steroid use, and it’s definitely become more prevalent.”
He estimated that “10% to 20%” of players were using steroids. Another unnamed general
manager said that he “wouldn’t be surprised if it’s closer to 30%” and that he thought the entire
lineup of one American League team a few years earlier “may have been on it.” He said he was
“seeing guys now who were washed up five years ago, and now they’ve got bat speed that
they’ve never had before. It’s insane.” Kevin Malone, then-general manager of the Montreal
Expos, said that he heard “rumors that usage is way up, and it would be nice to know if those are
accurate.” Players also were quoted in the article, with Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox saying that he’d “love to see testing” and future Hall of Fame member Tony Gwynn of the
Padres calling steroids “the big secret we’re not supposed to talk about . . . .”
Frank certainly earned kudos from investigators. He's been as big as a house for as long as I can remember.