Posted March 19, 200520 yr MIAMI - (KRT) - Some Florida Marlins who watched Thursday's congressional hearing on steroids said they would welcome more stringent penalties than those contained in the draft of a new drug-policy agreement. ``When they said we got five strikes before potential banishment kicks in, it really didn't look good,'' said Lenny Harris, a 16-year major-league veteran. ``That's bad. You mess with steroids, you need to be punished. You use steroids, you should be banned.'' Harris, who holds the major-league record for career pinch hits, said records set by players known to have used steroids should be wiped from the books. Pitcher Josh Beckett, the Marlins' player representative, said he ``really had no idea that Congress had absolutely no idea what baseball players do'' until watching the hearing, but that he feels the federal government should set the league's drug-testing rules. ``I think they should regulate it,'' Beckett said. ``I don't care what drug-testing you have. We have to do it for our image.'' Most players agreed that retired slugger Mark McGwire did not come off well in repeatedly refusing to answer questions relating to his past. ``I think that a lot of people were questioning Mark McGwire because, unfortunately, sometimes people view silence as guilt,'' said third baseman Mike Lowell, who said he caught bits and pieces of the hearing. ``But I figure in nine hours, there were questions he could have answered.'' Said Al Leiter: ``We ought to get together and have a deal that suffices the masses, or we will have government intervention.'' http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...ts/11174462.htm
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