It's been ten days since, but I had a conversation with a major league baseball player. Actually, he was Triple-A at the time, but has since been called up. We'll call him "Eddie" for the sake of anonymity, particularly in light of the fact he gave me some rather incriminating information. "Eddie" is from Venezuela, the same country to produce this year's Home Run Derby champ, Bobby Abreu of the Philadelphia Phillies. "Eddie" was very candid, willing to admit to using "greenies", which are essentially pills containing ephedrine.

You might recall ephedrine was banned by Major League Baseball, as well as other sports governing bodies, after a pitcher from the Baltimore Orioles died in Spring Training a few years ago. He had suffered a heart attack and was later to have been found to be using ephedrine. He had used the drug to overcome his lack of physical conditioning. A stimulant to say the least, ephedrine was believed to have sped up the young man's heart. Until it quit and he died prematurely at the age of 32.

Ephedrine is actually the man-made form of a naturally-occurring substance, ephedra, which is derived from the Chinese herb, Ma Huang. Yeah, I used to work in a health foods store, where we and others discontinued the sale of Ma Huang some ten years ago. Point being, the natural substance may not be quite so dangerous, especially if an individual isn't cheating nature him-or-herself by substituting pills, herbal or pharmaceutical, in place of proper training.

Back to "Eddie", who uses ephedrine for its performance-enhancing benefits. I say this because I met him and can vouch for his physical condition. I can also attest to the effects of ephedra, the herb and not the drug, which I used a couple of times. What I recall was feeling warm and very intensely focused, as if there were no need for adrenaline. In any event, I didn't care for the stuff, and have settled for caffeine, mainly in the form of green tea, which provides all the stimulant I need.

"Eddie" intimated to me that many baseball players do indeed use steroids. He pointed out how Sammy Sosa was much smaller now than he was a couple years ago. And those of us who follow baseball know Sammy won't be hitting half of the 66 home runs he managed in 1998. "Eddie" and I also recounted the back injury Sammy suffered in the last few seasons, not from swinging a bat or diving for a ball. No, it was a big league sneeze that sidelined Sammy from action. "Eddie" used the incident to illustrate how steroids destroy skeletal tissue while building muscle.

We also thought of Ken Caminiti, a former MVP who admitted to using steroids, not long before dying of a heart attack around the age of 40. Again, the coincidence was too much for either of us to ignore. "Eddie" made clear that players know what they are doing. This in response to my question of how they could when nutritionists, doctors, and personal trainers are filling them full of all kinds of things. "Eddie" assured me they not only knew exactly what they were taking, they also knew the potential consequences. Still, he told me, the players remain undeterred.

The impression I was left with was that little will be changed by Baseball's war on drugs. Players will forever look for an edge, whether it be chemically with steroids, or cheating physics by corking bats or scuffing the ball. I have to admit there is an element to this I appreciate about baseball. One that only those of who played can understand. Consider how baseball actually rewards players for "stealing" a base, and bunting, which is essentially trying to deceive the opponent by hitting the ball well short of the infielders. Pitchers only want to fool hitters by making them guess wrong on which pitch is coming.

In so many ways, baseball is a game within a game, one that is very mental, one that requires a gambler's heart. While I am personally opposed to steroid use, I don't feel it is the responsibility of any governing body, be it Major League Baseball or Congress, to dictate to any adult what they can and cannot use to pollute their bodies. For me, individual liberties trump public health, so long as there is no danger to the general public. If baseball players want to risk their health and well-being with steroids, it's their risk to take.

Similarly, and not so coincidently, young men are risking their lives on a different field every day. That would be a battlefield in Iraq, where this whole steroid nonsense would be laughable. Before Congress cleans up Baseball's steroid problem and the potential loss of life, perhaps they might consider the Mess O' Potamia (borrowed from the Daily Show) in greater need of cleaning. Want to save some lives? Bring the troops home. Their chances back here on steroids are far greater than over there on a land mine.

In the meantime, try to convince "Eddie" and other players living the Major League lifestyle to discontinue their use of banned substances. I'm sure "Eddie" would much rather be back in Venezuela playing ball for the fun of it, working a day job for a measly Third World wage. That would beat dodging land mines in Iraq. Forgive the straying, but this entry has become about priorities. And asking ourselves as a country and culture just where the hell ours have gone.