NEW YORK -- Baseball commissioner Bud Selig called Friday for new talks with the players' union to ban ephedra, the nutritional supplement that may have contributed to the death of Baltimore pitcher Steve Bechler.

Bechler died Monday, a day after collapsing at spring training with heatstroke. A Florida medical examiner said the death may have been linked to an ephedra-based diet pill, Xenadrine RFA-1.

During labor bargaining last summer, owners talked about banning ephedra but did not include a ban in their contract proposal because, they allege, the union told management lawyers that it would not agree to it.

According to The New York Times, Gene Orza, the general counsel for the players' union, was questioned on Dec. 14 during the winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn., as to why there wasn't more extensive testing of amphetamines in the new labor pact.

According to The Times' report, three of the doctors at the meetings said Orza's response was "In every labor agreement, there are dark corners, and I would suggest this is a dark corner you shouldn't look into."

The Times report also said, according to the doctors and a team executive, that Orza asserted the issue was critical to the overall negotiations, and if a more specific list of amphetamines were added to the subject-to-testing list, there would not have been a labor agreement.

One of the doctors told The New York Times that the concern over the substances that were excluded from the subject-to-testing list was briefly discussed, and that while ephedra "might not have been mentioned specifically," the doctor told the newspaper, "but it was the first thing I was thinking about."

Another doctor told the newspaper, "There was some feeling that maybe it would be constructive to let our feelings be known."

While ephedra is banned by the NFL, the NCAA and the International Olympic Committee, use of the substance, which is available without prescription, is allowed in baseball.

"Selig and the clubs have been consistent in advocating the ban of and testing for all illegal drugs as well as over-the-counter dietary and nutritional supplements that pose a health risk to players,'' the commissioner's office said in a statement Friday.

"In light of the apparent circumstances surrounding the tragic and untimely death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler, Major League Baseball and the clubs are prepared to meet with the Major League Baseball Players Association regarding the use or abuse of potentially dangerous dietary and nutritional supplements. Also, we will continue and accelerate our efforts to have Congress ban those substances.''

Players have opposed banning any substances that are legal for others to take. The new drug agreement calls for players to be tested for drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, and for illegal anabolic steroids.

Union head Donald Fehr, speaking earlier Friday in Peoria, Ariz., said it was too early to draw any conclusions on ephedra.

"At some point down the road -- I'm not personally familiar with how long it takes -- we'll have some scientific reports, which will tell us some things,'' Fehr said. "We may be able to draw conclusions from that. We may not. We'll just have to wait and see. Obviously, it's something you discuss internally. You take another look at things as circumstances warrant.''

Rep Henry Waxman, the ranking Democrat of the House Committee on Government Reform, sent letters Friday to the heads of the NBA, NHL and Fehr asking why they have not acted to ban ephedra. Waxman sent a similar letter to Selig on Thursday.

"I would like to know why this serious safety issue has not been addressed,'' Waxman wrote in the letters to NBA commissioner David Stern, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and baseball union head Donald Fehr.

Waxman asked Fehr: "What steps have you taken to educate your members about the potential dangers of certain supplements?'' and "Will the Major League Baseball Players Association change its policy soon?''

Sandy Alderson, executive vice president for baseball operations in the commissioner's office, said Friday at a conference in Nashville, Tenn., that Congress or the Food and Drug Administration may take action. Alderson said owners initially hoped ephedra would be banned in the new labor deal.

"I would hope we're able to take another look at that with the players' association,'' he said.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos on Wednesday called on Major League Baseball to ban ephedrine.

"Unfortunately, we're all human and don't move until something very grim and very tragic like this occurs,'' Angelos told The Associated Press. "Hopefully, if anything positive can come from this tragedy, it will be that we'll get the kind of movement we need in these circumstances.''

Angelos was a member of management's labor negotiating committee last summer. Under the new contract, players will be tested for the first time, but only for drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, and certain types of banned steroids.

"Our side insisted that these so-called legal supplements (such as ephedrine) be included in the ban,'' Angelos said. "Unfortunately, the union rejected our position.''

Orza said Angelos' assertion was incorrect.

"They did request androstenedione (be banned),'' Orza told the AP on Thursday, "but not ephedra. Ephedra did not fall into the general category of anabolic steroids.''

The Ephedra Education Council said Thursday that Bechler's death should not automatically be linked to the dietary supplement.

"So far, I have trouble believing ephedra played a role in this tragedy,'' Dr. Carlon Colker, CEO and medical director of Peak Wellness Inc., said Thursday on a conference call arranged by the council. "This was clearly a case of heat stroke. Taking ephedra as directed does not lead to heat stroke.''

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.