Major League Baseball's new steroid-testing agreement is better than the last one. However, it remains less stringent than the example that "America's pastime" should be setting - and that is troubling.

Meanwhile, missing from the list of banned drugs are amphetamines, an addictive stimulant included in the testing for baseball's minor leaguers.

The National Football League and National Basketball Association test for amphetamine use, and the Interenational Olympic Committee and several other sports federations worldwide ban amphetamines.

Under Major League Baseball's new accord, a first positive test would bring a 10-day suspension. A fourth positive test would be required before a player would be subject to a one-year suspension.

The old agreement had mandated treatment when there was a first positive test; a second positive test was subject to a 15-day suspension.

It was only with a fifth positive test that a player was subject to a one-year ban under the old setup.

A three-month suspension for a first offense would provide stronger proof that the players and owners are serious about rooting out steroid use, indicating a desire on both fronts that accomplishments on the field be the result of talent and skill, rather than artificially enhanced strength.

Even that first-time penalty is soft compared with the World Anti-Doping Agency code adopted by most Olympic sports. The "norm" under that code is a two-year ban for a first positive test and a lifetime ban for a second, unless there are mitigating circumstances.

Baseball's new agreement is a small positive step on the steroid front, but it doesn't have the teeth to accomplish all that the sport should be trying to achieve - which, maybe is a good reason why asterisks are available for use in record books.

The absence of an amphetamine ban in the new agreement indicates that Major League Baseball and its players have much more work to do - off the field.