Ex-PawSox pitcher Tim Kester, warming up before the Triple-A All-Star Game in 2004, says there’s pressure to use steroids.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

Tim Kester has pitched 12 seasons in the minor leagues but has never set his spikes onto a mound in the majors. Bobby Scales has played just about every position during his nine-year pro career but has never had as much as a cup of coffee in the big leagues.

Both are former Red Sox farmhands who feel there are a lot of what-ifs surrounding their careers. They are typical guys who are too good for Triple A but haven’t gotten the chance to call themselves major-leaguers.

Minor-league players face a dilemma. Should I or shouldn’t I? Take steroids or human growth hormones and give myself a better chance at reaching the big leagues, or try to make it on my ability alone?

Those questions go through the minds of almost every minor-league player.

Kester and Scales said they know of minor-leaguers who have taken steroids or some form of performance-enhancing substances, and say it definitely helped them reach the majors. Kester and Scales, however, are not in that group.

“I’m glad they test for it now,” said Kester. “If they did 10 or 15 years ago, maybe I would have been in the big leagues. You never know . . . There’s a lot of pressure out there to do it. Actually, they probably made a lot of money. You can tell when they started testing because guys’ performances started to change a little bit. If they tested 15 years ago, how much big-league time would I have? That’s life. I’m not bitter, and hopefully this new career works out for me. Money isn’t everything.”

It appears Kester’s baseball career is over. The former PawSox starting pitcher (2004 and 2005) spent last season at Triple-A Norfolk and is now seeking another line of work. He said his heart is still in baseball, but his mind is telling him what the right thing to do is.

That, apparently, has always been the case since Kester is one of those career minor-leaguers who stayed away from the temptations of steroids. He said even though testing is now being done throughout the minors, players still find a way to cheat the system.

“That’s how important [players] think it is to get that advantage,” said Kester. “For sure, it’s an unfair advantage for the guys who take it. It’s definitely an advantage, and it works. It’s just not fair, and some guys feel like they have to do it just to compete.”

Kester admitted he thought about how his game might change if he took any kind of performance-enhancing substances, but he never used them. Because he’s a control pitcher, the right-hander said he wouldn’t have gained anything from those substances.

“It’s illegal and there are health issues,” he said. “It’s definitely something a lot of guys consider, and it’s not fair.”

Scales, who works as a substitute math teacher at a high school in Atlanta during the offseason, has been around baseball long enough to know that there are players who will do almost anything to become major leaguers.

“There’s no question,” he said. “Without a doubt. You can look at it this way: I can play for $50,000 in Triple A or I can make $400,000 in the big leagues if I can make that last roster spot. There is a temptation, there’s no doubt about it.”

Scales, a talented athlete, wasn’t able to watch former Sen. George Mitchell’s news conference yesterday because he was teaching, but he does feel cheated that other players have reached the majors by using steroids. He said there needs to be a clean slate now for everybody

“You need to have integrity,” Scales said. “All the things you learn in Little League, Pop Warner and PAL — integrity, hard work and respect for the game — this is a respect-for-the-game issue and the game needs to be cleaned up to get baseball back to being the greatest game on the planet.”

Scales and Kester said they have heard clubhouse conversations during their careers when teammates have said they either wanted to or did try some types of steroids. Kester remembers playing winter ball in the Caribbean, where players would inject themselves in the trainer’s room and openly pass substances around the clubhouse.

Another issue surrounding steroid abuse is culture and economics. Professional baseball is made up of players from all over the world, including some from poor countries. Kester said he could understand why a player from a poor background would do anything he could to reach the majors and make good money to support a family.

“It’s illegal and it’s not right, but I don’t blame anyone because you can see both sides of the story,” he said. “The game is cutthroat and there’s pressure to perform. If you have a bad month, there are no guarantees, especially in the minors, because they can get rid of you at any time.”

Scales played for the PawSox in 2007 and proved he had the ability to play at the major-league level. But the Red Sox didn’t need his services, so another summer came and went and so did his chance to reach his ultimate goal. Other players have been in similar situations and decided to take something to help them reach the next level, but Scales has not.

“I think it’s completely up to the individual,” he said. “I’ve never had the urge and never even thought about it; that’s the truth. First of all, it’s illegal. Secondly, there are long-term health risks that you are putting your body in . . . It’s too risky and there is life after baseball.”

jmcdonal@projo.com