The first rule of baseball, its not about if you win or lose, it's how you play the game. Elite Athletes are driven by competition and risks are often taken as needed to stay on top of the game. They sacrifice their lives for this lifestyle, breaking bones, deep cuts, huge bruises, and they put their body's to the point of failing. Performing Enhancer Drugs (P.E.D) are seemingly popular nowadays and with new and undetectable variety's coming out rapidly, it's hard to keep up. Should the World Anti- Doping Agency (WADA) just allow it? The Steroid Era- 1990 through today; countless number of players in every organization and club were using a number of PED's, and players were allowed to use any enhancers that they could get a hold of. The offence output was through the roof with many players reaching over the 50 home run's per season. Taking Alex Rodriguez for instance; in 1996, hitting 36 home runs and an all time career best batting average of .358, Rodriguez would soon later on be playing better and better. He openly admitted using steroids in his earlier career in 2009, when he tested positive in 2003, and probably took some before then too because back then there was no enforceable punishment- allowing Rodriguez to be ahead of the game and having an advantage from the normal hard working athlete. People like to be entertained, but people also like the realistic view of it, how a normal person who isn't using synthetic enhancers can do such skillful things on a baseball diamond. The integrity of the game matters the most, knowing they accomplished something with their own human ability is what people want to see. If Anabolic steroids where legal to make the level the same for everyone, one would have to start 'juicing' at the high school level or even younger to even be noticed. The game of baseball would no longer be the game for skilled men, but for men to seek the easy way out. The ripple effect can easily been seen with this type of idea. The first issue with that is distributing drugs to players with a high level of wanting to succeed, one cannot distribute steroids safely because like giving candy to a baby they are only going to want more.
Players since the beginning of baseball have used some type of drug to enhance their game such as in 1889 Pud Galvin ingested monkey testosterone and Grover Cleveland Alexander used banned alcohol to enhance his game (Chafets). This should prove that baseball will never fully stop the use of PEDs, they can only cover up the ones that have. As Zev Chafets puts it “Chemical enhancement won’t kill the game; it is the cover-up that could be fatal” (Chafets). This cover up will ultimately hurt the game of baseball so the league should give the players the opportunity to use the PEDs, and if they choose not to then that is their decision ...
Major League Baseball (MLB) has widely been regarded as America’s pastime for the longest time, however it is now becoming known as the sport tainted by one thing, anabolic steroids. An anabolic steroid is related to the natural steroid, testosterone. They are able to stimulate growth in the muscle tissue. They usually increase muscle mass and strength. The MLB has created some of the most historic American icons, such as Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. Players like them showed us what it was like to play baseball the right way. They played with passion, heart, and above all they had fun playing. Players today in the MLB focus way too much on becoming the best player ever to play. They see what the greats did before them and they want to match them, so they turn to anabolic steroids. An example of this is Alex Rodriguez. In 2003 he tested positive for anabolic steroids because he was “naïve” and couldn’t take the pressure of his expectations of being called the best. He felt the pressure from the game and he turned to steroids. Anabolic steroids are ruining the game of baseball. They are tainting the records and the changing the game for the worse.
People frown upon steroids in baseball because they say they are an unfair advantage even though they can be used as big advantage. Steroids have always been looked down on because people say that they are unfair and unsafe to use. So far players that have used steroids in Major League baseball have been healthy and the only side effects of them have been success. Steroids have become a huge part of baseball since the 1990’s. players feel like they need to use them to stay competitive. Steroids help increase muscle mass and help athletes train harder and faster. This results in better play on the field. Most steroid users in the MLB (Major League Baseball) are pitchers and homerun hitters. Steroids need to be legalized in Major League Baseball to bring more excitement into the game so that more people will watch, it will level the playing field for all the players, it will keep athletes healthy during the long season, and it will be more efficient since the consequences for using the substance does not keep players from using them.
Since at least the 1980’s performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) have been a major challenge in the world of Major League Baseball, and past trends indicate they will continue to pose an ongoing problem. A number of the most prominent and accomplished professional baseball players, such as Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Roger Clemens, are also the most famous examples of baseball players who have broken longstanding records, attracted countless numbers of fans, and allegedly have taken performance-enhancing drugs. Athletes who have been caught using steroids in order to increase and better their performance rates have been suspended, fined and traded from the teams on which they once played. Despite the punitive actions taken against them by the League and lawmakers, players continue to use performance-enhancing drugs and likely will continue to do so, because the associated athletic effects will draw more fans and bring more money to the individual player and franchise.
The steroid era as many know now started roughly 2003, but there was a time in which many forget. In the 1980’s there was a strike, cocaine scandal, a 1985 World Series blown call, and the banishment of all-time leader Pete Ross for gambling (Addona). These were the main things in people’s minds at the time, but they didn’t see that steroids were slowly working its way into the mix. In April 1988 the Los Angeles Times reported that American’s pastime remained “essentially steroid-free” (Steroids). Thomas Boswell wrote for the Washington Post, as a sportswriter didn’t feel the same way. Boswell wrote for the Boswell wrote about Jose Canseco as “the most conspicuous example of a player who has made himself great with steroids.” Canseco would deny the allegations and later on went to win the American League Most Valuable Player. Jose would eventually admit to using steroids in 1985 saying that he took them in the late 1980’s and the 1990’s (Steroids). He says steroids in baseball were as common as a cup of coffee during that time.
Firstly, steroid use has tainted out national pastime and tarnished the game of baseball forever. Since random drug testing for steroids has been imposed since 2003, many of the
Steroids are unhealthy for baseball players and they are giving the game of baseball a bad reputation. Since steroids have become such a hot topic in Major League Baseball (MLB) fans have had nothing but bad things to say about the sport and its players. When sports illustrated asked some of its readers to give reaction to the steroid controversy in the MLB here is what baseball fan Howard Langsner from New York had to say 'Horrible, just horrible. We take Olympic medals away from athletes on steroids, but we're supposed to look the other way in MLB because a guy can make the ball go further? Drug testing is commonplace everywhere, and used in other sports, as the article mentioned. Baseball should be no different'. Matt Bookman of San Jose, California writes 'That's it. I'm done as a baseball fan until MLB has a comprehensive drug testing policy. I feel so naive. I really thought that the players had gotten bigger and stronger because they had learned the value of hitting the weight room and staying in shape during the off season. It breaks my heart that I won't be able to give my children the same experience I had growing up -- to go to the ballpark and feel good about your guys and cheer on your team.' The fans reaction speaks for itself but MLB should not sit back and let steroids take over a game that was at one time America?s pastime. In this paper research will be given on what exactly are anabolic steroids and how they can affect your body, testing policies, the effectiveness of steroids on players and major league baseball.
Testosterone use goes back as far as 1889. Pud Galvin, a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys used a testosterone hormone derived from animals. The first hormones came from mostly pigs and dogs. “Even Babe Ruth, a legendary New York Yankee, tried to inject himself with extract from sheep testicles in 1925.” (Joshua Z.) The use of steroids was not common until the 1970’s. It was estimated that every team had at least six to seven players using. It was the 80’s when Anabolic steroids blew up the market. Anyone from future Hall of Famers to new up and comers were using amphetamines. The use of amphetamines as stimulants became very common and was a problem for the game which began raising suspicion. “By the 1990’s, steroids had become an epidemic.”(Joshua Z.) In a spend of three years, three players including San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds, St. Louis Cardinals Mark McGwire and Chicago Cubs Sammy Sosa hit sixty homeruns a joined seven times. Before that from 1927-1998, only Babe Ruth and Roger Maris had hit more than sixty homeruns in a season. It’s only a coincidence those three players have steroids in common.
The sport of baseball has demonstrated a bad example to those young folks in college, by giving them the idea that if one day they make it to the major leagues it is fine to use performance enhancing drugs. Baseball is a numbers game, if performance enhancing drugs are legalized, the inability to compare player’s statics from different decades of the game would hurt the principle of what baseball is, about what fans love (Caple). MLB cannot afford performance enhancing drugs going into the minor leagues therefore, MLB should make harsher punishments to stop performance enhancing drugs from spreading to the Minor Leagues. Since the outbreak of Biogenesis, “the Government is interviewing Porter Fischer and investigating whether the clinic sold performance enhancing drugs to college players” (Caple...
Perhaps one of the most controversial topics in Major League Baseball is the discussion of the use of steroids and human growth hormones. Both are completely illegal in the sport, and come with drastic consequences. One would think a fifty game suspension as a first offense would scare players away, but for some reason steroids in baseball is occurring more and more often to the disappointment of Major League Baseball. The reason players take steroids in the first place is to enhance their performance on the field. Steroids make players stronger and they perform at a higher rate. Another use for steroids is to help the players on certain rehab assignments for injuries. Either way, it is still illegal and banned in the sport.
Americans today tend to believe that there are only a select few in sports who are users of steroids. However, according to Julian Savulescu, "20.3% of professional athletes said they have tried drugs or steroids to improve their performance in the game" (3). At this high percentage, about one in five athletes are considered "cheaters". Jacob Beck believes that "using steroids is not cheating if a whole generation of the best and most promising athletes have been doing it" (5). There is no reason to continue trying to catch steroid users when so many athletes take them. All major league sports are filled with steroid use to some extent. It is impossible to have a perfectly "clean" sport without eliminating a good percentage of its players. Since steroids already have a major presence in major league sports and there is no way to ever completely get rid of them, steroid use should be legalized. By legalizing steroids, athletes would no longer have to worry about unsafe or risky suppliers; with prescriptions from doctors, steroids would be safe for the athletes, and users would be less likely to abuse them. Also, the playing fields for all sports would be more equal than they have ever been in a long time. By creating an equal playing field, sport records would be more meaningful and there would be much fewer arguments for cheating or an unfair record. With an increase in muscle strength, there would be fewer injuries and more quality performances, which would make fans more inclined to go to a game knowing there was going to be a great display of strength and athleticism.
...en put into the game of baseball and that is why it is referred to as “America’s pastime.” When you use steroids or any other performance-enhancing drug, you are blatantly disregarding what numerous generations of baseball players and fans have put into the game to make it what it is today. We may not know nowadays exactly how many players are using these horrible substances, but we do know one thing; they should not be allowed in not only Major League Baseball, but every single sport in the world, regardless of any excuse or reason the players have for using them. Steroids put our beloved players in danger with various health risks, they provide an unfair disadvantage which causes the game to lose some of its tradition, and they also provide a terrible influence on the young generation of children who aspire to one day become a very talented baseball player.
First off, the MLB has grown in popularity over the years due to the use of steroids by many big name players. Many rules have been put into place to try to prevent performance enhancing drugs. S...
“Fans have created such high expectations for athletes that success seems to require steroid use for any sport requiring speed, power or a combination of the two.” (Schmidt) Doping in sports is when athletes use enhancement drugs to try to improve their performance in their sport they are in. If athletes believe they need to improve their performance, they should be able to use PEDs. Doping in sports should not be considered a transgression; it should be used to help improve sports to make them better for the athlete. In the past, doping in sports wasn’t frowned upon.
Sport enhancing drugs been a problem in the sport world for many years. Sport enhancing drugs first started with the ancient Greek in 776 BC - 393 BC (Cons). The Greek used hallucinogens and drank special wine to gain and edge on their opponents in the Olympics games. With that being said sport enhancing drugs isn’t going anywhere. It’s been around for many years and Recently MLB (major baseball league) has had issues with athletes using sport enhancing drugs. In 2013 Ryan Braun, Alex Rodriguez, Nelson Cruz and Jesus Montero were all...