MLB Hook Up

Concerned about continued allegations that union officials tipped off players about some of baseball's 2004 drug tests, the commissioner's office contacted the union on Wednesday and said it wanted a specific explanation for one of the alleged incidents. The decision to directly contact the union underscored a growing rift between the commissioner's office and the union about what actually occurred in regard to drug testing in 2003 and 2004 and specifically what the union's chief operating officer, Gene Orza, did or did not do during that period. The commissioner's office wants to know about a specific incident that was described in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated. Citing an anonymous player, the magazine said that Orza warned that player in September 2004 that he would be tested on Sept. 24 and that he should "make sure there's nothing in your system." The magazine said Alex Rodriguez was alerted to an upcoming test by Orza that same month. The Sports Illustrated article was not the first time that Orza has been accused of tipping players. A similar accusation was in the Mitchell report, which was released in December 2007.

New York Times