Steroids were not illegal in Major League Baseball until the 1990s.
Posted by REAL AF with Andy Frisella, Checked
- Sources
- 4 contradict2 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
REAL AF with Andy FrisellaOct 28, 2026
The sources support that MLB's explicit steroid ban dates to 1991, which fits 'not illegal until the 1990s' for the league's rules. They contradict the broader framing that steroids were never illegal: the Mitchell report says MLB's prohibition on non-prescription drugs covered steroids implicitly from 1971, and federal law outlawed non-medical steroid sales in 1988.
What was said
… Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Well, it's like steroids in baseball, right? Right, you know, people, people back in the day when the big steroid scandal was going on in baseball, you know, people forget steroids were never illegal in baseball. They were never illegal, okay? They weren't even illegal, like, for people until, like, the 90s, right? So, well, once you get one guy who decides to start taking him and he's hitting 75 home runs a year, and then you got a pitcher who's 40 years old who could throw nine innings because he's fucking juiced up, now you play a different game, and if you don't …
REAL AF with Andy Frisella · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. The Mitchell report states it is 'not accurate' that steroids were not banned in MLB before 2002, and says MLB's drug policy has prohibited prescription-free medication since 1971, which implicitly covered steroids.[4]
Contradicts. Federal law outlawed non-medical steroid sales in 1988 and banned steroid use without a prescription in 1990, so steroids were illegal for people before the 1990s, contrary to the post's 'not even illegal for people until the 90s.'[1][2][5]
Supports. Commissioner Fay Vincent's 1991 policy explicitly prohibited steroids in MLB, and steroids were not formally on the banned list before then.[3][5][6]
Context. Testing for major league players did not begin until 2003, so the league's penalties lagged its written prohibition.[5][6]
Sources
6 sources: 3 primary, 3 not rated
- 1The Chase for 75%: The History of Steroids and Stigma in ...publications.lawschool.cornell.edu · primary source · cited for: contradicts
- 2A History of Media Influence on Major League Baseball Steroid ...quod.lib.umich.edu · primary source · cited for: contradicts
- 3Full Committee Hearing: Steroids in Baseballoversightdemocrats.house.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 4Selected transcripts from the Mitchell report - The Denver Postdenverpost.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 5Doping in baseball - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports, context
- 6The Steroids Eraespn.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post