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Today’#146;s baseball is abounding in conspiracy theories that have, at thevery least, tarnished its image. Will Bud Selig contract the Twins and Expos?Are the hot dogs really that expensive that it is keeping all those retiredFloridians from attending Devil Ray and Marlin’#146;s games? Is Mike Piazzagay? (He came out’#133;and said he wasn’#146;t. Should we believe the reasonsthat baseball’#146;s premiere catcher gave for not having a wife?) Does thehumidor really work at a mile high? (I’#146;ve seen the analysis, but Mike Hampton’#146;sERA is higher than his 15 million dollar salary.) Is the mound at Dodger’#146;sStadium really higher than it should be? Why are owners building stadiums thatare the size of Little League parks these days?
With a Major League Baseball strike imminent, the great American pastime findsitself knee deep in something from which, this time, the sport may not be ableto recover. No, not corked bats and pine tar. This new round of questions thatthe MLB is mired in has brought into question the very integrity of the sportand the statistics it holds so dear.
We all know that, since the 1990s, pitchers have been put at a disadvantage.The issue has now shifted away from debate of whether it is fair to pitchersthat the balls are juiced to a question that I can’#146;t even believe I’#146;masking.
Is it fair to pitchers that the batters are on the Juice? Or do things balancethemselves out because the pitchers can counter with their own steroid-fueled95-mph heater?
This past week two former league MVPs charged that steroid use is so rampantthat somewhere between 50 and 85 percent of the players are on it
“It’s no secret what’s going on in baseball. At least half the guys are usingsteroids,’ Caminiti said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. ‘Theytalk about it. They joke about it with each other.”
Former third baseman Ken Caminiti told SI he used steroids in his MVP seasonof 1996, when he had the best season of his career, batting .326 with 40 homeruns and 130 runs batted in.
“It definitely enhanced my play,” he said. “It made me bigger and stronger.If I had to do it all over, knowing the problems I have now, I never would havetaken them.”
His comments followed those of Jose Canseco, who earlier this year fell shortin his case of the 500-home-run plateau after Montreal cut him.
Caminiti is a recovering alcoholic and was arrested for cocaine possession.Canseco is financially broke and needs for his new book–in which he revealsall of baseball’#146;s dirty little secrets–to sell big so that he came paythe alimony he owes his countless wives.
Yet, two ex-players with questionable motives aren’#146;t the only ones supportingthis claim. The discussion of steroid use has spread like wildfire throughoutthe league and on the airways.
“I’m not sure how (it) snuck in so quickly, but it’s become a prominent thingvery quickly. It’s widely known in the game,” Kurt Schilling told Sports Illustrated.“When you add in steroids and strength training, you’re seeing records notjust being broken, but completely shattered.”
The NFL and NBA prohibit steroids and test for them. The NHL and MLB, however,have no policy regarding their use.
“No one denies that it is a problem,” Selig said. “It’s a problem we canand must deal with now… I’m very worried about this.’
A ban in baseball would have to be collectively bargained with the PlayersAssociation, which translates into a near impossibility. Yet it’#146;s timefor players, especially those with multi-million dollar contracts, to starttaking responsibility for their actions, for their place as social role models.
Anabolic steroids elevate the body’s testosterone, increasing muscle mass.They are illegal in the United States unless prescribed by a physician for medicalreasons. Side effects can include heart and liver damage, strokes, aggressivebehavior and impotence.
The Players Association may argue that it is no one’#146;s place to regulatetheir dietary intake.
Perhaps they should take the time out to think of the impressionable 15 yearold student athlete that starts taking steroids so that he can make the cut,so that he can be like his idol, Barry Bonds.
