Greg
Twarozek
Opinionated
Piece
Steroid
Use in the MLB
We all know what happened to Alex
Rodriguez years ago. Does Barry Bonds ring a bell? It’s pretty hard to forget
Mark McGwire. The Steroid Era would change Baseball forever. Major League
Baseball is hyped up for all the wrong reasons.
Baseball is a sport that has
arguably produced some of the greatest superstars of all time. It is a sport
that has captured some heroic feats and athletes all over the world have left
their mark on the game. From Mark McGwire to Sammy Sosa and all the way to
Barry Bonds in the late 2000’s, there were plenty of brand names that would
make baseball into America’s pastime. Unfortunately, these players were just
the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Steroid era. Players that were once
perceived as role models, turned out to be cheaters whose legacies will forever
be tarnished.
The “Steroid Era continues to hang
over the MLB” was an article written by Steve Keating that explains the era and
how it impacted professional sports. He said it began back in the 1990’s and it
continued into the early 2000’s. Keating says that 13 players were found as
cheaters in the MLB, from past All-stars to MVP’s. The article which explains
the era and the incidents of doping in the history of the MLB showed that no
good deed goes unpunished. The MLB needs to do a better job with its own drug
testing. Keating said that if the
process is fixed to rid athletes of doping, then suspensions will decrease and
the respect for the game will only increase.
One of the things mentioned was Senator
George Mitchell and how he was brought in to do a report on the athletes like
Rodriquez, and Barry Bonds. The investigation led to a 20 month, 409 page
document known as the “Mitchell Report” which identified 89 players, including
Roger Clemens as steroid users. Selig said it was “a call to action” and he vowed
to clean up baseball but years later more doping scandals occurred. Keating
stated names in the article like Manny Ramirez who was found guilty in 2011,
but retired before he got suspended and current players like Ryan Braun and
Melky Cabrera were each suspended 50 games as a result of the Biogenesis
investigation. The era pushed athletes to the brink and it was an issue that
had to be dealt with. Near the end of Keating’s article MLB Commissioner Bud
Selig said “Major League Baseball is proud of the enormous progress we have
made and we look forward to working with players to make the penalties for
violations of the Drug Program even more stringent and a stronger deterrent.”
Stephen Schwartz, who is a professor in
the sociology and natural sciences department at Buffalo State College said he
is against steroid use and that it’s very dangerous. “While steroids are legal,
if provided by a doctor they are too big of a risk in the game of baseball.” He
said it’s when steroids are abused, that they become illegal. Schwartz said
using these drugs is only setting a bad example for kids. “It’s all about the
win at all costs mentality for some of these athletes, and a lot of the times,
it’s the parent’s problem.” I asked Schwartz about the health risks of steroids
and he said “Athletes use steroids to gain an edge they are willing to
sacrifice their bodies, not realizing the consequences that lie ahead.”
Joel Reed, who is the athletic director
for the Charter High School for Applied Technologies, said “Steroids bring out
the worst in people.” He said steroid use starts in the lower levels of
baseball like the minors and it leads up the major leagues. When asked if they
should be legal, Reed said “No, because no kind of accomplishment would be
genuine.” He later added that “You can’t choose a professional athlete as a
role model anymore.” Steroids are a documented health risk, and when I asked
him about the athlete’s decision to use them he said “Many athletes have a certain
level of anxiety that makes them want to be better. None of them believe they
will ever get caught, and as long as they have a successful career, they don’t
care about the long term health effects.”
So take me out to the ballgame, buy me
some peanuts and cracker jacks. Root, root, root for the home team, if they
don’t win it’s a shame. The last line of one of our favorite songs has taken on
a new meaning with the steroid controversy.
