Feb. 20

Mike Bechler boarded a plane Thursday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., heading back home to Oregon.

"Drained and feeling the weight of great sadness" is how he described his emotions. "I'm still too shocked to think straight."

Since his younger brother Steve collapsed running windsprints Sunday and died Monday morning, the 26-year-old banker from Medford, Ore., has stood grieving aside Steve's pregnant wife, Kylie, and his parents, Pat and Ernie. At the same time, he's being whipped by the gusts of the ephedra controversy that became the lingering issue far more than personal tragedy.

"Steve was such a wonderful, giving, fun-loving and funny person, the storm around his death seems to have made him something he is not," says Mike. In other words, some drug-swilling guy.

In reality, with Kylie two months from delivering their first child and living in Medford, Steve Bechler was probably not in the shape of someone who spent the winter working with Mark Verstagen in Tempe. He was, according to one of his friends, "about 8-10 pounds heavier than he should have been, but that would have been gone in a week to 10 days."

Because of the ephedra in the locker, the drug, not the human being, has become the focus of the story.

"I sincerely hope that if it contributed to Steve's death that a lot of kids are helped by this," says Mike.

Indeed, go to any gym these days and 15- to 30-year-olds are swilling "ripped fuel" and other ephedra drinks to lower body fat and simultaneously get bigger and leaner.

But this is a family tragedy.

"The first thing we have to do is circle around Kylie and make sure when Hailie is born(she is due April 27) that she gets all the love in the world," says Mike. "Steve is going to be a huge loss for us, though. He was such a great person. He had one dream -- to make the major leagues, and I think something like 2 percent of pitchers who get drafted make it -- so he accomplished something very special. Then his other dream was to make enough money to really help people.

"We grew up working people (Ernie works at a lumber yard) and we all had to work for everything we got, and Steve worked so very hard to get to the big leagues. That's why some of the way this was portrayed hurt, because he worked so hard. He was one of the funniest people in the world. And he so wanted to help people. He was making minor league money, but he was already helping out with the March of Dimes, youth programs in Medford, donating to help the YMCA where we all worked out ... and he always talked about the dream of helping everyone in the family. He was a very good person."

In the whirlwind of flying from Oregon to Fort Lauderdale after Steve collapsed Sunday, Mike says they were "treated better than we ever could have dreamed. The Orioles have been unbelievable. They took care of everything, Mr. (Peter) Angelos met with us and was wonderful and no one can ever say enough about Mike Flanagan. Our family will never forget that he was at Steve's bedside all night, and never slept. There is a great man. Steve's agents (Aces, Inc.) have taken care of everything for us, far more than they ever had to do.

"A lot of his teammates have come to us and shared their grief and their affection for Steve, so we have been fortunate, in that regard."

To the Bechler family, this is an intensely personal loss, a horrific, internal contrast to the public debate that has clouded a great kid.

"But," says Mike Bechler, who will be back at the Wells Fargo Bank next week, "if our loss keeps another family from feeling as we do, then we all will take some solace."