Former Saluki in minors suspended 15 games for violating drug policy

In SIU head coach Dan Callahan’s words, when you’ve been in baseball as long as he has, it is hard to be shocked by anything.

But when Callahan heard Monday that former Saluki baseball player Sal Frisella was one of 38 Minor Leaguers to be suspended for violating the league’s drug policy, Callahan was as close to shocked as a coach with his experience can be.

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“My first thought was I was very disappointed,” Callahan said. “I was very surprised and very disappointed.”

With so much focus on steroids in Major League Baseball right now in the wake of the BALCO case and Jose Canseco’s tell-all book, the suspensions were believed to be for steroid use.

But in an e-mail to Callahan, just as he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch earlier this week, Frisella maintained that it was ephedra, he tested positive for, not steroids.

Frisella, a St. Louis native who was drafted out of SIU in 2003 in the 37th round by the Cardinals, said the following to the Post-Dispatch:”It’s more embarrassing than anything. I’m straight-laced if you ask anybody. And to have my name out there like this … I just want to clear my name, so the next time I’m home, when I come to St. Louis, it won’t be like, ‘Hey, he’s a juice head.”

Frisella, who was suspended 15 games, said to the Post-Dispatch and to Callahan in the e-mail that he used a product with ephedra to accelerate weight loss following a broken leg suffered last year. Ephedra is a banned substance in the minor leagues.

“I don’t know if that makes it any more tolerable,” Callahan said. “I feel badly for Sal, but I guess you’re flirting with disaster when you know it’s a banned substance. But when I hear ehpedra and that it is used for weight loss, to me that is easier to accept than somebody that’s taking steroids. I hope what Sal maintains is accurate.”

Frisella, who hit .263 with five home runs and 26 RBIs last year for the Class A Peoria Chiefs, also told the Post-Dispatch he used creatine and other over-the-counter supplements, but stopped taking the ephedra last year. The Post-Dispatch reported that Frisella was tested last year and that it is possible the suspension resulted from that test.

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Callahan said he has not addressed his team about the matter, but he has heard them talking about it around the clubhouse. Callahan pondered posting the Post-Dispatch story in the clubhouse, but he decided against it.

Callahan said he addresses his team every single year about the substances they can and cannot take. While he certainly hopes there is no drug problem with college baseball, and more specifically his own team, Callahan said he is not nave enough to rule it out.

“I don’t have any reason to believe that we have anybody that is on steroids or has experimented with steroids.” Callahan said. “I think a lot of times college athletics will mirror what goes on in society. If it’s one of those situations where I find out we do have [a problem], it is something I would not turn my back on. We’ll take whatever action we need to take or get that person help.”

Reporter Adam Soebbing can be reached at [email protected]