Steroids In Major League Baseball

There has been widespread illegal use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances among players in the Major League of Baseball. The desire for success and achievement drives all great athletes. Baseball more so than any other sport has gathered the most attention when it comes to athletes using anabolic steroids to their advantage. The use is in violation of federal law and baseball policy and has considerably scoped the history of the sport. Fans often have wondered why athletes would risk their reputation and public shame by using steroids.

The reason athletes use steroids are because of the tremendous benefits including increased muscle strength, increased body size, and increased healing rates. But the biggest benefit

In the past few decades the news media has been reporting on the chronic use and outbreak of steroids and performance enhancing drugs in the sport of baseball. The media began to first target baseball athletes for steroid use back in 1988 with the Washington Post claiming Jose Canseco to be “the most conspicuous example of a player who has made himself great with steroids.” Jose Canseco is also known as the author of “Juiced” which is a book that publicly revealed and implicated many baseball stars using anabolic steroids.

As a result of media coverage the sport evolved with the implementation of new laws making steroid distribution or possession illegal and the implementation of mandatory random drug testing in the sport. During the steroids era, many MLB players posted statistics that were astronomical for any era of the game and the most prestigious records were shattered. From a sports media perspective, the extensive amount of coverage was understandable due to the steroid

All anyone has to do is simply look back at the scandals and completely discredit some of the greatest athletes of that time. If we can make the assumption that all players in baseball who used steroids were cheating than should we assume that all the previous records home run records held by Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, and Hank Aaron still stand? This being said because of the non-existent coverage of steroid use back in the day and the amplitude do news media that portrays steroid users in such a negative light. There has been cheating in the game for years with the Black Sox scandal, corked bats, etc., but in the past decade steroids have taken the most critique. But the fact and logic is that all these baseball players had god given ability, and dedication through practice to become the best (Mitchell, 2007).

Ultimately the media exposure now has a more profound effect on how players are viewed then they were previously. The news media can be held responsible for slanting the overall perception of certain players involved in steroids and raising the question of the integrity and morals of an entire general of baseball. In conclusion, I believe that the media has had an everlasting effect on how players have been viewed in the sport and had a grip on how history has been