Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect Steve Bechler, who died Monday of complications from heatstroke, had suffered heat-related illnesses in the past, his parents told a Florida newspaper.

	Steve Bechler is driven off the field at the Orioles' spring training facility on Sunday. He died the following day.

In an interview with the Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Bechler's mother said her son suffered "a couple of heatstrokes" while in high school. Bechler, 23, died less than 24 hours after a spring training workout sent his temperature to 108 degrees.

"He was probably 16, 17 years old," Pat Bechler told the newspaper. "Both of them happened when he was playing baseball."

Bechler had been taking an over-the-counter dietary supplement that contained ephedrine, which has been linked to heatstroke and heart trouble, Broward County medical examiner Dr. Joshua Perper said Tuesday. Perper said the weight-loss drug probably contributed to Bechler's death.

Family members told the Sun-Sentinel they were unaware Bechler was taking a dietary supplement containing ephedrine. Ephedrine has been banned by the NCAA, the NFL and the International Olympic Committee, but not by Major League Baseball.

"We're still having trouble getting ourselves through how it happened like it did," Bechler's father, Ernie Sr., told the newspaper. "We were in the limousine on the way to the hospital when we found out."

"If he did have it, why was he allowed to take stuff like that?" said Pat Bechler, who added that her son had been asthmatic as a child but not overweight. "I don't understand it. The other sports banned all that crap. I don't understand why the major leagues don't. That's upsetting to me."

At spring training Tuesday, Orioles manager Mike Hargrove referred most questions about ephedrine to the medical examiner, but added, "The stuff is no good for you."

Steve Watterson, a member of a national board for education on supplements and drugs used in the athletic world, told ESPN Radio on Wednesday that athletes need to consult experts before taking products they're not familiar with.

"One of the biggest problems is that so many of these drugs, ephedrine, ephedra, et cetera, can be masked and called something altogether different," said Watterson, the strength and rehabilitation coach for the NFL's Tennessee Titans. "If the rest of the professional sports leagues took the time to follow the lead of the NFL, all of pro sports would be in better shape."

According to the Sun-Sentinel, Bechler's body fat was down 1 percent, but his weight was up 10 pounds at about 249. Hargrove told the newspaper he had talked to Bechler about his weight as he had dozens of other players during his managerial career.

Pitcher Matt Riley told the Sun-Sentinel that Hargrove pulled Bechler from the team's running exercises Saturday and lectured him about his condition.

"Grover had a talk with him," Riley said. "[Bechler] talked to me about it and told me, 'Grover really got into me, and he handled it awesome. When he was through, he patted me on the butt and told me to just keep going.'

"He told me, 'He was like, 'I messed up. I want to change,' " Riley added. "That's what is sad. He was so ready to change his work ethic."

Hargrove conducted the team's regular three-hour workout Tuesday.

"The No. 1 thing on everybody's mind is the deep sense of loss," Hargrove said. "I thought a structured setting would help occupy the players' minds. Each individual will find his way to grieve and cope."

Outfielder Larry Bigbie, who was a minor league teammate of Bechler, summed up the players' emotions.

"It really hasn't settled in," Bigbie was quoted in the Sun-Sentinel as saying. "I keep expecting him to show up. It's hard to believe that I saw him Sunday morning and 24 hours later, he was gone."

Mike Bechler said he talked to his brother the night before he collapsed.

"He told me how strong he felt, how good he felt and how positive he was," Mike Bechler told the newspaper. "He was told he would go to Triple-A to pitch if it came to down to that, but he was determined to make it back to the major leagues."

Mike Flanagan, the vice president of baseball operations, spent Sunday night at the hospital with Kiley, Bechler's wife since October. She is expecting the couple's first child in April.

"She has been incredibly inspirational," Flanagan said. "She has held up remarkably well. She has given strength to all those around her. This has been incredibly difficult for the entire family."

Bechler's body will be cremated, and a private memorial service is scheduled Wednesday.

Pat and Ernie Bechler cleaned out their son's locker at Orioles camp Tuesday morning, the Sun-Sentinel reported. They took his uniform and nametag over the locker.

"I just go around praying," Pat Bechler told the paper. "He got to live his dream. Playing baseball was all he ever dreamed of. The thing that he loved the most was what killed him."

The Bechlers have experienced tragedy in the past. Steve Bechler's half-brother, Ernie Jr., died at age 20 from a brain aneurysm.

"He came in from playing baseball one day," Ernie Sr. said of his son from a first marriage. "He was hot, and he suddenly had a severe headache. He collapsed on the floor, and he was dead by the time the paramedics got there."

Ernie Sr. said he is taking medication for a heart condition. His aorta is "about 70 percent blocked," he said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.