Baseball commissioner Bud Selig asked players to agree to a 50-game suspension for first-time steroid offenders and a lifetime ban for a third violation under what he called a "three strikes and you are out approach" to doping.

In a letter sent this week to union head Donald Fehr, Selig proposed a 100-game ban for a second offense. He also asked the union to ban amphetamines, to have more frequent random tests and to appoint an independent person to administer the major-league drug-testing program.

"Third offenders should be banned permanently. I recognize the need for progressive discipline, but a third-time offender has no place in the game," Selig wrote to Fehr. "Steroid users cheat the game. After three offenses, they have no place in it."

Under the rules that began this season, a first offense gets a 10-day suspension, with the penalty increasing to 30 days for a second positive test, 60 days for a third and one year for a fourth. For a fifth positive, the penalty is at the commissioner's discretion.
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Selig said he will make alterations for 2006 to the drug-testing program for players with minor-league contracts, who are not covered by the collective bargaining agreement. Currently, the minor-league penalty starts at 15 games for a first offense and then escalates to 30 games, 60 games and one year, with a fifth offense bringing a lifetime ban.

"These changes will include tougher discipline, including a permanent ban for a third offense, stricter regulation of amphetamines and greater reliance on independent experts," Selig said.

--ESPN

To say that I have no great love of Bud Selig falls into the category of mindblowing understatement but this is something I can wholeheartedly support and I have to give him credit for it. There's no reason that somebody should be able to be caught taking steroids 5 times and still be in the game. Let's hope the union steps up and protects the majority of its members who obey the rules.