Stimulant a factor in death

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A weight-loss drug containing a stimulant probably contributed to the heatstroke death of Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect Steve Bechler, a coroner said Tuesday.\nBechler had been taking an over-the-counter supplement that contained ephedrine, which has been linked to heatstroke and heart trouble, Broward County medical examiner Dr. Joshua Perper said.\nEphedrine has been banned by the NCAA, the NFL and the International Olympic Committee, but not by Major League Baseball.\n"We're going to wait until we know more about what happened," baseball spokesman Rich Levin said.\nBechler died Monday, less than 24 hours after a spring training workout sent his temperature to 108 degrees. Preliminary autopsy findings indicated he died from complications of heatstroke that caused multi-organ failure, Perper said.\nOnly toxicology tests can confirm whether there was ephedrine in Bechler's system, and those results won't be available for at least two weeks, Perper said.\nAmong other factors cited by Perper as contributing to the 23-year-old pitcher's death:\n-- a history of borderline high blood pressure;\n-- liver abnormalities detected two years ago but not diagnosed;\n-- warm, humid weather during the workout when he became ill Sunday;\n-- he was on a diet and hadn't eaten much solid food the previous two days.\n"All of those factors converged together and resulted in the fatal heatstroke," Perper said.\nBut Perper spent the bulk of his 30-minute news conference focusing on ephedrine, the active substance in the plant ephedra. Though common in supplements, Perper said it's too risky for athletes.\nPerper, who interviewed the player's family and Orioles officials, said he was told Bechler took three tablets each morning of Xenadrine RF-1, a weight-loss drug that contains ephedrine.\nA bottle of Xenadrine was found in Bechler's locker after he became ill and shown to paramedics, Perper said. The contents couldn't be analyzed because the bottle was inadvertently thrown away by someone with the team, he said.\nMajor league teams have cautioned players in the past about the dangers of ephedrine. Medical personnel with the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants were among those warning players anew Tuesday about the risks.\nIn addition, the Yankees left an article entitled, "The Effect of Heat on Athletes," on every player's locker room seat.\nOrioles team physician Dr. William Goldiner said he hopes the coroner's findings trigger a baseball ban.\n"This is not just a problem of major league baseball," Goldiner said. "This is a problem of over-the-counter supplements that are dangerous, and they are unregulated to the point where you don't even know what's in some of these things."\nA native of Medford, Ore., Bechler was a third-round draft pick by the Orioles in 1998. He made his major league debut last September and was expected to begin this season with the club's new Triple-A affiliate in Ottawa.\nBechler and his wife, Kiley, were expecting their first child in April. She visited camp Tuesday and met with team officials but left without speaking to reporters.\nTeammate Matt Riley said Bechler later acknowledged he had failed to train properly during the offseason.