Albert Pujols and Bud Selig insisted that the questions were not fair. According to them, reporters and the public should not have been saying, "We simply do not know if Pujols is using performance-enhancing drugs." We should have been saying, "The Major League Baseball testing program proves that Pujols and every other player who has not been suspended is drug-free."

Sorry, guys. When it comes to doping in baseball, there is a lot we still do not know, and there are still many ways to cheat. Just because a player has not failed a drug test does not mean he is clean. That is an important discussion to have in 2009, when years of dirty superstars have created fan fatigue and the focus on restoring honesty to the game is fading. But to say we are in a post-steroid era is to deprive baseball of the opportunity to clean up further.

The commissioner delivered his defense of Pujols while addressing the Baseball Writers' Association of America on July 14 in St. Louis, the morning of the All-Star Game. The festivities belonged to Pujols this year because he was the best player on the host team. They also served as an opportunity for many to raise questions about whether we can believe that the slugger is drug free.

Pujols defended himself, saying he had never failed one of the many drug tests administered to him during his career. And to be clear, there is absolutely no evidence that he has ever used drugs, and it is irresponsible to accuse him of doing so. But it is also irresponsible to say we know Pujols or anyone else isn't taking PEDs. There exists in baseball an incomplete perception that testing is "working," whatever that means, which leads to the ludicrous view that we can't have doubts about current players.

"Albert Pujols is absolutely right," Selig stated in St. Louis after Pujols said testing proved his innocence. "He has been tested since he started playing. So has Ryan Howard. So has Ryan Braun, Ryan Zimmerman. Since they were in the minors. . . . He has been tested many times a year."

But passing the drug tests administered by MLB and in the minors does not definitively absolve a player from PED use. Members of your local nine can still break the rules in many ways:

Human growth hormone

This is the most notorious and obvious way players can dope without failing a test. Why? Because baseball does not test for it. The performance-enhancing effects of HGH are subject to debate, but many athletes have injected the substance - used legitimately to treat growth disorders and hormone deficiencies - in an effort to recover more quickly from injuries. Clinical evidence has shown that HGH increases lean muscle mass and decreases body fat, though it may not increase strength. (The latter makes it a nice partner with anabolic steroids to decrease fat, recover from injury, and increase strength. Athletes could theoretically stack HGH with low levels of steroids to cheat and pass drug tests.) But the extent to which HGH works is irrelevant, because it is banned. And it is difficult to believe that some players, knowing they will not be tested for it, are not using it.

Selig said last month that baseball had set a high priority on working to develop a reliable test for growth hormone. In the minds of some, MLB's response has been slow. After Selig appeared before Congress in January 2008, following the publication of former Sen. George Mitchell's report on PEDs in baseball, the World Anti-Doping Agency issued a news release harshly criticizing MLB's program. The agency oversees Olympic testing and administers a blood test for HGH.

MLB's program "has so many holes in terms of the way it's administered that anyone who had an IQ no higher than room temperature could beat it," David Howman, the agency's director general, said in the statement. "Contrary to what they have told Congress this week, there is a reliable test for HGH; the storing of blood is practical, in fact has been effectively in practice for some time in World Anti-Doping Code-compliant testing. It's time to separate fact from MLB fiction."

That statement was not without baggage because the the World Anti-Doping Agency's test for HGH has never caught anyone. The current technology can detect growth hormone only within hours of its use. MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred called the news release an "unprovoked, inaccurate" publicity stunt. And in Selig's defense, the commissioner cannot institute a blood test by himself. Baseball's drug program is bargained with the union, and Selig would have enormous trouble pushing for more invasive testing. But that does not change the basic point that players can use HGH without failing a drug test.

Testosterone manipulation

Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez was busted this season for doping when "elevated testosterone levels" were found in his urine. What does that mean? Most human bodies produce testosterone and a substance called epitestosterone at a natural ratio of 1-1. A steroid user's testosterone gets out of whack; cyclist Floyd Landis lost his 2007 Tour de France title for showing a staggering 11-1 ratio. Baseball, allowing for a natural margin of error, considers anything 4-1 or greater suspension-worthy (so you can triple your natural testosterone level and still pass the test). ESPN reported in May that Ramirez's level was between 4-1 and 10-1.

Keep in mind that major-leaguers make enough money to employ smart chemists like Victor Conte. Conte, the former head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco) in Burlingame, Calif., devised intelligent ways for his clients to use steroids. Conte's famous "cream" was a blend of testosterone and epitestosterone that kept the ratio in perfect balance and didn't cause a positive test.

Many of Conte's former clients, including Barry Bonds, allegedly had Conte and his staff administer regular drug tests to monitor their levels. It is logical to think that some current players could be engaged in similar processes, taking steroids and hiring professionals to watch their testosterone ratio and keep it just below 4-1. Athletes could also theoretically use steroid creams or patches after games, enabling them to recover faster from aches and pains. Testosterone levels generally spike overnight, and a player knows he will not be tested until at least the next day, when his ratio would again dip below 4-1.

So passing a Major League Baseball drug test does not prove that a person has not used steroids. It proves only that that person's testosterone level is below 4-1.

Viva Viagra and designer steroids

The little blue pill is being used more and more to enhance on-field performance. The New York Daily News reported last year that former pitcher Roger Clemens had used Viagra, which some say can increase endurance and energy during athletic competition as well as in the bedroom. Conte has admitted giving all his athletes Viagra. Because the drug is not banned, baseball players can ingest it as often as they like.

And designer steroids like tetrahydrogestrinone (known as THG, or "the Clear") prove that smart chemists keep athletes ahead of the testers. Developed by all-star steroid maven Patrick Arnold, THG was another product used to help Balco clients elude testing. Point is, smart people can make a lot of money developing high-tech drugs that help athletes stay several steps ahead of testers.

There has been a perceptible change this year in the way fans regard PED use. When Rafael Palmeiro failed a drug test in 2005, he became a pariah. A New York Daily News report the same year about Mark McGwire's steroid use forever tarnished that slugger's reputation.

When Ramirez and the Phillies' J.C. Romero drew suspensions this season, they enjoyed strong support from their fan bases, and few others seemed to care much. Fox glorified Ramirez by treating his return like a major news event, cutting into a Saturday Phillies game to show his at-bats.

For Ramirez - unlike for McGwire and Palmeiro - cheating was worth it. It repres.ented only a tiny PR bump in his Manny-being-Manny career. Other players could have watched that entire episode and thought, "Gee, maybe I'll risk it. Fifty games, a few nasty columns written about me, and a standing O at home when I return? Why the heck not?"

Reader and fan fatigue about PEDs is understandable, as are ethical questions like, "Why can't they use HGH, but they can have laser eye surgery?" But competitive integrity means everyone on the field must follow the same rules, whether or not they seem arbitrary. If we love the game and wish to see more honest competition, we cannot ignore that the steroid era ain't over.

Contact staff writer Andy Martino at 215-854-4874 or amartino@phillynews.com.