A Major League Loss

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Steven Bechler wasn't a great pitcher, but he may change baseball forever. Bechler, 23, fell ill Feb. 16 during a workout at Fort Lauderdale Stadium in Florida, where he was hoping to be picked up for a second season by the Baltimore Orioles. The next morning he died of complications from heatstroke. The story may have ended there — a private tragedy for Bechler's family, including his pregnant wife. But Dr. Joshua Perper, the medical examiner who autopsied Bechler, used the righthander's death to call for a crusade. After finding a weight-loss supplement in Bechler's stomach, Perper held a press conference and urged Major League Baseball to ban ephedra, a controversial herb found in the supplement that is similar to amphetamines. Even before the funeral, many in the baseball world — sports columnists, team physicians, franchise owners — were echoing Perper, asking the league to join the NFL and the Olympics in prohibiting ephedra. Members of Congress are talking about a national ban.

But conventional wisdom that hardens so quickly often needs to be reviewed in slo-mo. No one is sure whether ephedra killed Bechler. Toxicology studies that will show how the various chemicals in the herb behaved in his system won't be completed for two weeks. "The impact of ephedra on temperature is minimal and therefore could not have been a primary factor, in my view," says Richard Kreider, president of the American Society of Exercise Physiologists.

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More broadly, ephedra science is a fledgling, uncertain field: doctors can't say definitively that the plant is dangerous, especially when taken appropriately (Bechler took three pills, not the recommended two). Last summer the Bush Administration commissioned a major Rand study of ephedra, which should provide more answers when it is published this spring.

What is clear now is that for personal medical reasons, Bechler probably shouldn't have taken the ephedra pills he was on, Xenadrine RFA-1. The label says potential users should "consult a physician ... before using this product if you are at risk of" 18 conditions, including high blood pressure and liver disease. Perper told Time that Bechler would have known from a medical exam three days before he died that he had borderline high blood pressure. Two years ago, Perper says, Bechler had a liver test that showed abnormal results. It's unclear whether Bechler consulted anyone before taking Xenadrine, but the team doctor said he has advised the O's not to use ephedra.

Many athletes swallow the herb to give them an energy boost; it increases blood pressure and heart rate. Bechler apparently wanted that boost because he had gained 10 lbs. and because he knew he needed to hustle to make the team. (In the three games he pitched last year, he gave up three homers.) Many major leaguers told reporters last week that they take ephedra to improve performance. "It's a good supplement if taken right," Bechler's teammate Jay Gibbons told the Baltimore Sun.

But not everyone takes it right, and even a single dose may not be safe for everyone. The fda has received at least 1,500 reports of health problems associated with ephedra supplements, including almost 90 that resulted in death. The problem, says Dr. Harrison Pope, a Harvard psychiatrist who has studied supplements, is that it is hard to know exactly how many people use ephedra, which would tell doctors whether 1,500 is a significant portion. The ephedra industry says it is being unfairly targeted. "More than 16,000 deaths each year occur from the use of aspirin and similar drugs," says Wes Siegner, spokesman for a trade group called the Ephedra Education Council. "Yet no one proposes banning aspirin."

Players and owners will debate an ephedra ban but, given their past acrimony, don't expect a quick resolution. Even if the herb remains in the locker rooms, Bechler's death will have taught many players — and those who idolize them — that ephedra isn't something to be popped blindly.