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SudokuLegendFinal

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years, 10 months ago

Joe Knittel

Kem Crimmins

Final Paper

May 01, 2006

 


Baseball: A Steroid-Infested Mess

 

What comes to mind when one hears the word “baseball”? In the past, many fans would not hesitate to say, “A sport enjoyed by millions throughout the world and one of the most dominant sports in America.” Or an even stronger reaction might evoke something like, “America’s pastime”. In the past, these replies would be commonplace, but recently, the game of baseball has not reached as large of an audience as it had in the past. Several variables, including increased ticket prices and lack of players’ effort, could have played a part in the decline in baseball’s popularity, but possibly the most crippling change in the sport involves the advent of steroid usage by professional baseball players. Recently, some upper echelon Major League Baseball players have either admitted to, or have been accused of, using some sort of banned substance during their playing career. The attention these players have received has turned some fans against the sport. Some of these supporters have gone so far as to stop watching games on television and many have ceased going to games in person. The magnitude of this issue is somewhat greater than most people would think. The problem does not revolve exclusively around baseball’s fan base; it coexists as an issue in America’s economy. Sports in America represent entertainment. Baseball, basketball, football, and hockey provide thousands of jobs and play an important role in the nation’s financial system. A deceitful aspect of Major League Baseball such as steroids should not bring about an economic decline in America; a stricter steroid policy must be enforced in the coming years in order to stop baseball from going totally down the hill. With a stricter policy regarding steroids, fans will return to the sport once again making it “America’s pastime” and consequently improving the United States’ economy.

Steroids have certainly brought about a decline in baseball, but what exactly are steroids and why are they bad for the sport? According to Wikipedia, a steroid is, “a lipid characterized by a carbon skeleton with four fused rings” (Steroid 1). This definition is very broad and may even be confusing to the average person, so in order to explicitly define what some baseball players are illegally putting into their bodies, the definition of anabolic steroid fits much better. Anabolic steroids are “a class of natural and synthetic steroid hormones that promote cell growth and division, resulting in growth of several types of tissues, especially muscle and bone” (Anabolic steroid 1). Basically, players that abuse such products are increasing the hormones in their bodies in order to increase cell growth and become stronger. Anabolic steroids were discovered in the early 1930s. German scientists found that these steroids would be effective in some medical procedures and throughout the 1940s and ‘50s doctors prescribed these drugs to stimulate growth in children, to preserve muscle mass in cancer patients, and to induce puberty in males. Some reports of bodybuilders using anabolic steroids exist as early as the late 1930s, but several decades passed before baseball players began using these products to increase their muscle mass. Some steroids that began gaining prevalence in baseball during the early 1990s are sold under the names: Dianabol, Deca-durabolin, Winstrol, and Fina. At the time, many of these steroids were not illegal so of course some players found the need to abuse these products in order to obtain an advantage over their competition. Odds are these players were unaware that the steroids they used would later have crippling effects on their bodies in addition to fans’ disgust directed towards them. Elevated blood pressure, acne, increased aggression, enlargement of the heart, liver damage, and fluctuation in cholesterol levels are all side effects associated with anabolic steroids (Kuipers 1). These drawbacks pale in comparison to their fans’ disproval. Baseball fans enjoy the sport because each pitcher has the ability to get out of a jam with one pitch and each batter can change, in some cases drastically, the score of the game. Once a select few players introduce steroids into their bodies, they have an advantage over every other player in the game.

 

 

In the case of Barry Bonds, one of the greatest baseball players of all time and also an accused steroid user, opposing pitchers are so afraid of his mighty swing that they would rather intentionally walk him roughly twenty percent of the time instead of facing him at the plate. If Bonds can be linked to steroids, this behavior will provide proof of just how extensively steroids can change the game. Even if Bonds never admits to using steroids and he is never found guilty of abusing such products, several predominant players have already been found guilty of utilizing anabolic steroids.

 

A great contrast exists between the way professional baseball was played during the pre-steroid era (before 1994) and how players currently play. Equality between pitchers and batters stood out as one of the most important aspects of the sport during the pre-steroid era. In each league, a considerable amount of top notch pitchers existed as well as an array of top batters. Additionally, a good batter gained recognition not only for his ability to hit the long ball, but also his ability to help his team win the game. Possibly one of the most recognizable differences between old school baseball and new school baseball includes the fact that records lasted for a very long time. Records were broken because the player achieved an outstanding feat that would be very difficult to duplicate. Without steroids playing a role in the sport, baseball seemed to have more intricacies and overall incorporated more suspense. With hitters focusing more on scoring runs with singles and doubles rather than home runs, each run carried significant importance. In years past, pitchers were required to throw quality pitches in order to get out of jams without letting up a run. Because games contained much lower scores, if a pitcher made a mistake and let up a run, the opposing team would be in a much better position. Conversely, batters frequently needed to get a hit at one clutch moment during a game. If they came through, the game would be theirs to win. If not, the opposing team would more than likely win. From a fan’s perspective, these certain scenarios made baseball a great sport to watch because that key moment in the game could come at any point in time.

As steroids began gaining popularity around 1994, the sport began to change quite rapidly. The greatest change dealt with the equality of pitching and batting. Suddenly, many batters had bulked up and focused on hitting the ball much farther. These batters were able to take control of the game by themselves instead of waiting for their respective teams to put together each run with an assortment of singles, stolen bases, and sacrifice bunts. These steroid-powered batters warranted their power hitting with the respect that they received from fans (although the fans were clueless about the steroid usage in the MLB at the time) and greater pay. Teams were willing to pay extra for star players who were able to drive in runs at a pace never seen before. One statistic that shows quite clearly the change in batting patterns during the last decade is OPS. On-base percentage, calculated using the equation:

 

 

added to slugging percentage, calculated using the equation:

 

 

gives the result, OPS, which stands for “On-base Plus Slugging”. Using data collected from The Baseball Archive Database and CBS Sportsline, the graph below relates the league’s average OPS to each year and clearly shows an increase in power hitters during the last decade.

 

 

However, a direct effect of the recent OPS increase is an increase in cumulative ERA, or Earned Run Average, for the league. Overall, pitchers have not been able to control batters’ sudden power increase and only a few of the best pitchers are able to keep opposing teams to relatively low scores. In essence, the introduction of steroids in baseball continues to fuel steroid abuse now. Frequently, legitimate hitters who have never broken any rules during their baseball career are tempted to abuse the products that have made some of their peers rise above the rest. Although the drugs are illegal, these players want to obtain higher status in the league in order to obtain a greater paycheck and respect. Steroid usage has caused significant damage to the baseball world in the past decade; much information regarding this subject matter can be obtained from sources who have indeed abused banned substances during their career.

 

Few people know more about the effects of steroids than actual steroid users. Two star sluggers, Ken Caminiti and José Canseco could possibly be the best sources of information relating to this topic. Without Caminiti, the world may never have known about the extent of anabolic steroid usage in baseball. In a 2002 article in Sports Illustrated, he made the outrageous claim that roughly half of all Major League baseball players were using steroids. Caminiti’s statement brought much attention to the previously unrecognized problem and opened the floodgates for other comments. Sadly, Ken Caminiti passed away before another superstar would release an Earth-shattering book documenting his experiences with anabolic steroids and accusations of other players. In February of 2005, José Canseco released his book entitled, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big. Throughout the pages of his book, Canseco claims to be the “godfather of steroids” explaining that he taught trainers and various players how to properly inject steroids. Canseco also accuses his teammates of using steroids, “I would inject myself, and Giambi and McGwire would be one stall over, injecting each other”. Around the same time Canseco’s book was released, he also took part in an interview with Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes. In response to a question about his career and how much success Canseco would attribute to steroids, he responded with, “…being 6'4", 250, running 4-3 40s, the 40-40. Hitting 600-foot homeruns. Who knows?” He also says that without steroids, he would have never made it to the Major League. Certainly, if a man can go from a minor league-caliber player to a super star professional, steroids have created a problem in baseball. A change must be made regarding the Major League Baseball’s steroid policy.

 

Baseball has already lost considerable respect from people everywhere due to steroid usage. Steps have been taken by Commissioner Bud Selig to facilitate the elimination of anabolic steroid abuse in the sport. Recently, the commissioner has introduced a policy that states several points. If proof exists showing a player’s abuse of steroids, he would be suspended from play without pay. Depending on the amount of times he has disobeyed the law would determine how long his suspension would last. Selig also increased the amount of times each player would be tested each year, but not enough. In order to eradicate steroid usage in baseball, the random testing procedure currently utilized will not do. Each player must be tested at least twice per year and many more players must be randomly tested in order to keep the sport as “clean” as possible. In addition, the steroid tests must be improved to detect a greater variety of drugs due to fears that some players have found a loophole in the tests. Currently, human growth hormones, illegal substances in Major League Baseball, are used by players as a steroid substitute. Because human growth hormones are produced naturally by the pituitary gland, no tests exist that can detect such a substance at this time. Or order to stop players from illegally using these pseudo-steroids which provide very similar effects, a test must be created that detects human growth hormones. If scientists produced such a test and the drug policy required each player to undergo two tests per year, steroid usage in baseball would be greatly diminished if not entirely eliminated.

 

Steroids have adversely affected the game of baseball. Not only does baseball’s fan base suffer when steroids are abused by these professional athletes, but several other problems arise. Most of these steroid users either have already experience side effects from the drugs they have used or will in the future, thousands of jobs would be cut if anabolic steroid usage were to cause a strike in Major League Baseball, and as more and more players use steroids, the sanctity of a splendid sport slowly fades away. Some progress has been made to keep baseball a great sport in America, but only part of the problem has been accounted for. Kids need to be taught at a young age that steroids are not a good way to become stronger; they are dangerous and regular exercise is a much more efficient means of gaining strength. Maybe if the professional, supposed role models to these children recognize the problem with steroids, kids will learn too. If this occurs, anabolic steroid usage will no longer be a problem in the game of baseball.

 


 

Works Cited

 

"Anabolic steroid." Wikipedia. 14 Aug. 2006

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabolic_steroid>.

 

Canseco, José. Interview with Mike Wallace. 60 Minutes. Feb. 2005. CBS. WCBS.

 

Canseco, José. Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got

Big. New York, NY: Regan Books, 2005. 1-304.

 

Kuipers, Harm. "Anabolic Steroids: Side Effects." Encyclopedia of Sports Medicine and Science. 14 Apr. 2006 <http://sportsci.org/encyc/anabstereff/anabstereff.html>.

 

"MLB Stats." CBS Sportsline. 14 Apr. 2006 <http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/stats>.

 

"Steroid." Wikipedia. 14 Aug. 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steroid>.


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