In recent history, the game of baseball has been rocked to its core by the use of Performance enhancing substances amongst some of the game’s biggest stars. The most intriguing question to come out of the era is what exactly led these men to genetically alter the bodies? One of the most popular books to come as a result of the steroid era is the 2006 book Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sport (New York: Gotham Books, 2007), by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams. Fainaru- Wada and Williams served as reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle, thus placing them at the center of this scandal due to San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds, who is seen by many as the poster child for the steroid era. It is a well researched and written book focusing on the investigation of the steroid distributor BALCO and the players who were known clients, in particular Bonds. In many ways, the book is presented almost as evidence in a trial, with Fainaru-Wada and Williams serving as the prosecution. One of the central ideas of the book is that Bonds, and other players, knowingly took steroids in order to gain the wealth and glory that came with men like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, who were thought to be, and have since been proven to have taken PED’s in the late 1990’s. The Book served as a confirmation for many that Barry Bonds had indeed cheated the game of baseball. Another source to consider when examining the steroid era is Jose Canseco whose book Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big. (New York: Regan Books, 2005), gives a firsthand account of the steroid era from Canseco, who admits playing a large part in it. The book goes so far as to name names of m...
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...f that he indeed had gambled on baseball. Davies then
focuses on the years of denial by Rose, until his eventual admission of having indeed bet on
baseball. Davies connects the Pete Rose scandal to that of the Black Sox Scandal, noting that the
discovery and subsequent banishment of Pete Rose over his gambling had “underscored the fact
that organized baseball had in fact been successful in eliminating fixed games from baseball
since the 1919 World Series.” This once again serves as a reminder of the everlasting effects
that the Black Sox Scandal, 60 years before Pete Rose, has had on the sport. Pete Rose serves as
a great example and a cautionary tale of the ramifications that cheating can have on players, even
the caliber of Pete Rose, whose own greed and demons led to his eventual downfall in the eyes
of both baseball and the general public.
To fully understand this book, people must go behind the book and find the true state of mind of the author. Unfortunately in this case, the author is the one and only Jose Canseco. Jose Canseco is what I like to call, “The black sheep in the family of baseball.” Canseco’s history can be related to such incidents of drug using, heavy drinking, numerous sexual encounters with hundreds of partners, and unreasonable acts of violence. This book goes into grave detail on how steroids have changed his life and how it is currently changing baseball.
The 1919 World series resulted in the most famous Scandal in Baseball history. Eight players from the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the series against the Reds and were banned from Major League Baseball. (“History files-Chicago Black Sox”) All eight players were expelled in an attempt to save the purity of the game. The White Sox lost the opening game of the series nine to one, and then ended up losing the series five games to three. (“Black Sox Scandal”) They had won the American league pennant and were highly favored to beat the Reds in the World Series. (“Bankston, Carl. L”)
Throughout the history of America’s pastime, baseball has continually battled scandals and controversies. From the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal to the current steroid debate, baseball has lived in a century of turmoil. While many of these scandals affected multiple players and brought shame to teams, none have affected a single player more than the 1980’s Pete Rose betting scandal. Aside from the public humiliation he brought his family and the Cincinnati Reds, nothing has done more to hurt Pete Rose than his lifetime ban from baseball making him ineligible for hall of fame. While many are for and against putting Pete Rose in the hall of fame, the four ethical theories, Kantianism, Utilitarianism, Egoism, and Ethical Realism, each have their own unique answer to the question. Through Kantianism Pete Rose should be inducted into the hall of fame, while Egoism, Utilitarianism and Ethical Realism all support the lifetime ban.
Baseball?s reputation has been painted with a red asterisk. The non-medical use of steroids has been banned according to the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990. Many baseball athletes have been caught or presumed illegal users of HGH or Steroids since the act passed in 1990. All these athletes have one thing in common, they want to have an edge or advantage on the game. Some athletes even admit to administering the drug to other athletes and themselves. Jose Conseco testified to personally injecting the steroids into Mark McGuire (Cote).
During the 1919 MLB season the Chicago White Sox were one of the elite teams. Many of the players had formerly been on the 1917 World Series winning team. The 1919 World Series has ever been a phenomenon to many sports enthusiast still to this day. The series started out seeming like any other World Series played before. Two highly talented and competitive teams playing for what some call the most prestigious honor in baseball, to be crowned world champions. But many adopt the Reds had some help. What started as a few simple gamblers trying get rich quick, turned into one of the most predominantly and surly one of the obscurest scandals in American baseball past and present? With the nation already in disorder the 1919 World Series scandal made many American lose assurance in the...
The reports made by Canseco have sparked another issue as to where the integrity of the sport lies, which is very significant to sport management. Baseball is America’s pastime and it’s a shame to see how the image of the sport is being tainted by these allegations. Although baseball recently adopted a tougher steroid-testing program due to the BALCO trial, it will take some time for the MLB to rid themselves of these issues. With new stiffer testing, the production of the major leagues elite might decline in the upcoming years. Sosa and McGwire chased Roger Maris homerun record of 61 by totally eclipsing it, smashing 66 and 70 homeruns respectively. Maris’s record was one of the longest standstill records in baseball history before the record was broken.
The Black Sox scandal has its roots in gambling. Betting on baseball games was nothing out of the ordinary, and seeing that the World Series was the biggest game of the year, gambling was getting extreme. People were placing their bets on which team would win, with a hefty sum of money to be divvied up in the end. Some thought th...
Performance enhancing drugs have been a longstanding problem in sports. It not only deteriorates the honesty of the game, but also can have broader social affects that one may not even realize. The use of performance enhancing drugs is especially apparent in Major League Baseball. This problem can be traced back to the 1980’s when baseball was facing one of its first “dark periods”. During the 1980’s Major League Baseball was experiencing a home run drought. Home run totals were down as far as they had been since Babe Ruth, and fans were seemingly becoming bored with the sport. The lack of home runs was a growing concern for players whose salary relied on home run totals. Players needed to find a quick way to boost their power and performance in order to keep the sport alive and to keep bringing in their paychecks. This desire for fame and fortune introduced steroids into Major League Baseball in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Home run totals jumped tremendously during these decades and players were willing to risk being caught using illegal substances in order to shine above the rest. New idols and role models started to sprout up from these outstanding home run statistics and young children started to take notice. This all came tumbling down when these new idols and role models who were making the big bucks and hitting the ball out of the park tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Here lie the affects of a growing social problem in sports. These famed athletes become walking advertisements and promotions for the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports. The influence professional athletes have over aspiring young athletes is very powerful and these roles models make it seem acceptable to use performance ...
The World Series of 1919 was found out to be thrown by the Chicago White Sox, creating many problems within the American League. This World Series was different than many others. The 1919 World Series was played in a best-of-nine series, rather than being played in best-of-seven like all other World Series games before it. The other team involved, the Cincinnati Reds, had no idea of the scandal. The Baseball Hall of Fame states in their article “Guide to the Black Sox Scandal (American League),” Gambling was not new to baseball. There is evidence that White Sox players, in 1917, paid pitchers from the Detroit club, who beat Boston during the pennant stretch run $200 each.” This shows that the White Sox not only cheated in the 1919 World Series, but also in the 1917 season. There were 8 players involved in gambling with the 1919 World Series, including many of the league’s best players. The eight players involved included Eddie Cicotte, Oscar “Happy” Felsch, Arnold “Chick” Gandil, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Fred McMullin, Charles “Swede” Risberg, George “Buck” Weaver, and Claude “Lefty” Williams. These 8 players, threw the game for a cash reward from 5 separate gamblers who were involved in the scandal. Abe Attell, Bill Burns, Arnold Rothstein, Billy Maharg, and Joseph “Sport” Sullivan, were all indicted along with the players for gambling with the 1919 World Series, and was considered as a “crime against baseball
scandal of all time, The 1919 World series. Corruption, money, greed, power, and even organized
Pete Rose nicknamed “Charlie Hustle” was a major league baseball player who played between 1963 and 1986. He broke Ty Cobb’s hitting record on September 11, 1985. “He finished the 1986 season and retired with record 4,256 total hits, 14,053 at bats in 3562 games played.” Pete Rose was on his way to the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, he was accused and investigated for gambling on baseball games while he was an active player and a manager. “In 1991 Pete Rose received a lifetime ban from baseball hall of fame
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 era in sports from the late 90s and into the 2000s has often been nicknamed “The Steroid Age” due to the raging use of anabolic steroids and other PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) by professional athletes. The usage of drugs in sports has never been more prevalent during this time, and many people are making it their goal to put an end to the abuse. Influential athletes such as Lance Armstrong, Alex Rodriguez, and Roger Clemens, who were once held as the highest role models to the American people, now watch as their legacies are tarnished by accusations of drug use. The American population, and lovers of sports everywhere, have followed in astonishment through recent years as many beloved athletes reveal their dark secrets. As organizations such as the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) and BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative) attempt to halt the use of PEDs, both the drug users and their high-end suppliers work diligently to avoid detection. The use of performance enhancing drugs in recent years has proven to be cancerous to the honesty and competition of modern sports. Although some strides have been made over the past few decades, the use of steroids is in full swing in Major League Baseball, The dangerous side effects of the drugs are often overlooked and many do not realize the message this sends to the youth. The support for halting the usage of PEDs is in need of attention or professional sports will face the loss of all progress made through the past two decades in its war on steroids.
Sports and their associated rivalries are one of America’s favorite pastime and involve passion and emotion. Think about baseball and automatically the rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees comes to mind. Their hostilities make the Hatfield and McCoy feud look like Jack and Jill at Sunday school (O'Connor, 2004). It is one of the oldest, most famous, and definitely one of the fiercest in all of American sports. This is a rivalry that is never boring, and played out over and over again with every series making the rivalry stronger. The rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees is the ultimate rivalry, the history of this rivalry goes back to the early 1900’s,proud and confident are the New York Yankees with acquisitions and curses, restless and frustrated are the Boston Red Sox and their fans.
This game of a stick and ball has captivated the United States during good and bad times. In either time most of us today can remember stories of players from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. These are legendary figures in the sport of baseball that have are celebrated as hero’s and in scandal, i...