WASHINGTON --They didn't look quite as tough without the hot white lights, the roar of the crowd, the dirt on their spikes and that swagger that seems inseparable from the walk of a champion on his way to the plate.

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When some of the biggest stars of Major League Baseball walked into the wood-paneled hearing room of the House Government Reform Committee yesterday, they were subdued and, in some cases, compliant -- clearly moved by the testimony earlier in the day from parents of young athletes who had committed suicide after using illegal steroids.

As members of Congress basked in the media attention, the players delivered the message that committee members had said they wanted to hear: Illegal steroid use is wrong and dangerous -- and they wanted to help spread that word. Former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire struggled to force back tears throughout his testimony, and he pledged to "use whatever influence and popularity" he has to discourage young athletes from taking steroids.

But the day's most excoriating questions came late in the evening, when baseball's top officials testified about their new drug testing policy. Earlier in the day, lawmakers had made clear that if baseball wanted to protect its anti-trust exemption, the rules on drug use needed to be significantly tougher than the draft policy that the League released to lawmakers in response to a subpoena.

Rep. John E. Sweeney, R-N.Y., told baseball officials that Congress was nearing the limits of its tolerance with Major League Baseball regarding their drug use policies and their reluctance to hand over information, and he said officials had made "critical mistakes" and ought to move quickly to reassure lawmakers that they were on an acceptable path.

"I'm looking at this agreement that you came up with [on drug policy], and there are so many loopholes in this, it is just unbelievable," said Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, D-Mass., "I think Congress has to act; I think the time for waiting has long since passed. I'm very disappointed in the testimony and the fact that there's still reluctance here -- people are still in denial to say we have a problem. I think it's a good indication of the depth of that problem."

The lawmakers also demanded explanations for misrepresentations about the new drug testing policy. Earlier this year, top baseball officials told Congress and the public that a player who tested positive for using steroids would be slapped with a 10-day suspension. But the version of the policy published this week shows that the baseball commissioner can choose to levy a fine of as much as $10,000 instead.

Baseball officials last evening said the option of a fine was "a drafting error," and that, in practice, every player who tested positive would be suspended. Asked by Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., whether they could just agree to fix the "drafting error," Commissioner Bud Selig said he agreed to the fix, but the head of the players' union, Donald M. Fehr, said he needed to check with the players.

That infuriated lawmakers, including the panel's vice chairman, Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., who said he was appalled that the testing policy also allows a player to have five strikes over drug use before being thrown out of the game. He called upon Selig to stop using the excuse that negotiating with the players' union had prevented the league from instating a stricter policy.

"When you say collective bargaining, you are basically blaming the ballplayers," Shays said. "I don't know why you don't just say what you want [in a drug policy], what it should be, and fight like hell to make sure it happens and publicly expose the players if they take a position [in opposition]."

The committee's ranking minority member, Henry A. Waxman, R-Calif., asked Selig whether he would support a drug-testing policy similar to that of the Olympic Games, where first-time drug users are suspended for two-years. Selig said he would support a tougher testing program, but later suggested that he did not want to go as far as the Olympics have. But Fehr said he would need to consult with the players before answering that question.

The baseball officials also tried to reassure lawmakers yesterday that a final policy would make certain that any player who tested positive for steroid use would be named publicly. They also backed off one tenet of the policy, which said Major League Baseball's drug-testing program would cease if there were a government investigation into drug use, stating that a general inquiry such as the one the Government Reform Committee is conducting would not halt testing and that the intent was only to protect individual players' test results for privacy reasons.

Before baseball officials began their testimony, there were also two prickly hours of questioning for the players. Particularly contentious were the exchanges between some lawmakers and McGwire, who did not confirm or deny allegations that he has used steroids.

After stating that he wanted to become a national spokesman against steroids, McGwire refused to answer under oath even more general questions about how Major League Baseball's policies should be changed to crack down on their use.

The former Cardinal's reply to almost every question about his own use -- even of the then-legal steroid androstenedione during the 1998 season when he broke Roger Maris' long-standing home-run record -- was to say he had not come to Washington to talk about his past and wanted to focus on the positive. He used that answer so many times, it became a laugh line.

Two players who have been accused of using steroids, former Chicago Cub and current Baltimore Oriole Sammy Sosa and Baltimore Oriole Rafael Palmeiro, said under oath that they had never used steroids during their careers. As Sosa put it in his opening statement, read by his lawyer: "Everything I have heard about steroids and human growth hormones is that they are very bad for you, even lethal. I would never put anything dangerous like that in my body."

Former Oakland Athletics and Texas Ranger outfielder Jose Canseco, who openly acknowledged his prior use of steroids and similarly accused other players by name in his controversial book "Juiced," often consulted with his lawyers before answering questions. But he talked openly about his motivations for taking steroids during his playing years. He also went further than the other players in urging Congress to crack down legislatively on steroid use, because he does not believe that baseball will police itself in any real way.

The hearing created a media crush on Capitol Hill unseen since former President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. Television cameras lined the long marble hallways of the Rayburn Building, which was mobbed with Capitol staff and onlookers hoping for a glimpse of the superstars. When the players took their places in the early afternoon, dozens of photographers crouched beneath their dais, and shutters clicked constantly as players raised their right hands and swore to tell the truth.

The hearing's sizzling subplot was the tension between Canseco and the other four athletes. He sat at the end of the table, flanked by his lawyer and separated from the others by Sosa's lawyer.

Canseco took heat from lawmakers about contradictions in his book's text -- as well as the fact that he contended in writing that steroids were "the future" of the game, yet now was testifying that they were dangerous. Canseco said he had changed his view over the past two years and was no longer advocating the drugs.

But the most searing words for Canseco came from his former colleagues. In reply to one query, Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who has never been accused of using steroids but was asked to appear because he has been outspoken against the practice, called Canseco a "liar." In his opening statement, Schilling warned the panel that there was a danger that they might be helping the "so-called author" sell more copies of a book Schilling described as "irresponsibly written."