Between 2000 and 2004, at least four major league baseball players received steroids and syringes from the same California doctor with the name of Ramon Scruggs. Identified through interviews connected with FBI investigations, it turned out that 62-year old Scruggs wrote and filled prescriptions for baseball players after these players ordered steroids over the telephone. Scruggs prescribed and sent steroids without ever seeing the players in person. These investigations shed light on how easy it was for baseball players to obtain steroids during those years dubbed the “steroid era,” and which finally led to the mandatory testing for steroids.

The four baseball players who spoke with the investigators and confirmed receiving steroids from the same California doctor include pitcher Scott Schoenweis who is now with the Diamondbacks, pitcher Ismael Valdez, catcher Todd Greene, and Blue Jays third baseman Troy Glaus. All four players admitted to receiving steroids from Scruggs without an in-person interview.

Troy Glaus, who is an all star both in his former team Angels and now with the Blue Jays, admitted in the now unsealed federal investigation that he was unconcerned about the fact that he did not personally see the doctor who prescribed steroids to him and was only concerned about overcoming his injury. Throughout his career, Glaus has been struggling to overcome a shoulder injury. He said that he just wanted to get better and be able to play; thus, not seeing the doctor personally did not alarm him. He simply said that the steroids worked and he was getting better because of it.

Scott Schoenweis admitted to the investigators that he injected himself with steroids sometime in 2003. During that time, he was the Angels’ representative to the players’ union—a role that would have had given him more access to information, tipping him off regarding a forthcoming mandatory steroid test. Schoenweis insisted that he only used steroids once and that he stopped upon learning that there will be a mandatory drug test for all players. He said that he stopped it primarily because he was concerned that he would get into trouble.

Incredibly, Ramon Scruggs believes and insists that he did nothing unethical, saying that he prescribed the steroids solely for medical recovery purposes and not for performance enhancement. He said that the players in which he prescribed steroids to benefited from restoration. He also added that steroids don’t make someone a good athlete or a bad athlete. It may make a person stronger but that doesn’t make that person a better athlete, he said.

While this is an interesting claim, it does nothing to prove the legality of the steroids that he prescribed to the players. Granted, saying that the steroids were used to help the players recover from an injury may help garner some public sympathy, just like Andy Pettitte did last year; but it does not make the use of steroids any more acceptable to MLB. Moreover, the fact that he prescribed steroids without an in-person appointment makes his practice even more dubious, and for that, he will be facing severe sanctions, which is only justified.

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