Barry Bonds: Should People Use Anabolic Steroids

For as long as sports have been around, countless numbers of athletes have been driven towards being the best, and doing whatever it takes to become successful. As sports become more competitive, many athletes strive to find a way to improve their strengths and abilities. One possible solution to the problem, is with the help of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), also known as steroids. Steroids first came to flourishing in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the 1970s, when Tom House a former pitcher in (MLB) openly recognizing that there were multiple players per team experimenting with steroids and human growth hormones. During the 1900s steroids quickly became much more excessive and widespread, according to Juicin’ in The Majors: A History of steroids in baseball written by Joshua Z. Lavine February, 2013. “ By the 1990s, steroids had become an epidemic….Rick Helling, a pitcher for the Texas Rangers and a player representative, stood up at the winter meeting of the Executive Board of the Major League Baseball Players Association and reported this problem…” Despite the pitchers cry and plea for awareness of the problem, he was ignored. Eventually the statistical evidence on the issue had come full force and much too strong to ignore. During the 1990s-2001 multiple players had hit sixty or

           Today in the United States, millions and millions of kids, teens, and adults watch and play in the sport of baseball. It is probably the number one sport looked upon and what is happening to it is a bit discouraging. Players have started “cheating” by using steroids to help them play stronger and better. They are in league where you have to be the best at what you do to play, and if your using drugs to cheat your way in, then it ruins the ethics of the game of baseball.

“Going, Going, Gone, Home Run!” everyone knows what this means when an announcer says it. The game of baseball is a different sport, unlike basketball and football; you do not necessarily need strength to be dominant. So, why are steroids a big issue in baseball? Steroids, in particular, anabolic steroids, build up cellular tissue or muscle. However, they do not give you the necessary skills to play the game. I am almost certain the world’s strongest man could not hit a home run on a major league field, so why punish those who have used steroids? Steroids are not like magic and transform and average man

Thesis: Today I would like to enlighten the class on what I’ve learned about Anabolic Steroids and the causes it has on our body.

“Bacsik 3-2 again. There’s a swing and a high fly ball, right-center field. Back it goes. Racing back, Logan jumping up, and that ball is gone! (Four-second pause) No. 756. Barry Bonds stands alone. And on the night of August 7, 2007, in San Francisco, California, Barry Lamar Bonds has hit more home runs than any major leaguer in the history of baseball.” (Times Union, ESPN). Barry Bonds hold the record for the most homeruns in baseball. His legacy is very well known, but it is also tainted. Barry Bonds took performance enhancing drugs, to get to where he is today. Performance Enhancing Drugs are hurting sports, and people. It defines the word “cheating” in all aspects.

Steroids are a hot topic of debate and controversy in the world of athletes and sports. Steroids fall under the umbrella of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) and are a dark cloud that have been hovering over the sports world for a long time. In the world today, steroids are the most relevant in major league baseball. Many baseball players, such as Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, and Mark McGwire, just to name a few, have ruined their reputations because of steroids. There are repercussions for PED use in major league baseball, which have cut down on the substance abuse by players but have nowhere near eliminated the problem.

Since Major League Baseball all-star Ken Caminiti openly admitted to Sports Illustrated to have used steroids during his career, steroid use as a muscle and performance enhancer has been uncovered and become a big issue Major League Baseball is wrestling with. The “ongoing and delicate subject, baseball’s dirty, little secret that is no secret anymore,” is a huge and growing problem (Curry B20). Now that light has been shed on the issue, critics are beginning to realize the magnitude of this problem and do not like it. Steroids are a cheating virus that is spreading quickly. Users cheat other players, themselves, the fans, and the game itself. Action must be taken to rid Major League Baseball of this virus

Thesis: Today I am going to persuade you all about the use of steroids in Major League Baseball, persuading you why steroids should not be allowed in Major League Baseball. I have a call to action for all of you to help others if they are considering using steroids, and next time you watch a MLB game to realize the impact of steroids.

In Major League Baseball, numerous players have put up tremendous statistics and record breaking numbers. There are a great amount of players in the league that have done this naturally, however it is not uncommon to see star players get caught taking performance enhancing drugs or steroids. Steroid use in baseball has been an issue since the earliest days of the game, and can be seen very frequently in players today. Jose Canseco was a star hitter in the major leagues, who had admitted to steroid later in his career. Canseco once estimated that 85% of other players were also taking performance enhancing drugs. Though that estimate is not proven, there are still many players today that are taking these steroids, and it needs to remain an issue in the eyes of the MLB. Taking these drugs not only promotes the risk of significant side effects and health problems to the player consuming them, but it makes changes to the game itself as well. The way the game is being played has changed over time due to this issue, and players are receiving advantages that other players are not. Overall, these illegal drugs are unfair to other players in the game and simply are not safe, and should never become legal in the league.

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.

Why Major League Baseball players would use steroids is the biggest question that every person in the world wants to know. I think MLB players use steroids so they can bulk up and get stronger, which will allow them to last through the long, seven-month season. I think that because they play 162 games a year during these seven months that this causes a great deal of wear and tear on their bodies. Especially if a player gets hurt, they might try to take illegal medicines, such as steroids, to help them get back on the field quicker, hoping that maybe they could help their team win the pennant.

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

Anabolic steroids have been abused by Major League Baseball players for years, it’s time to forever ban the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs before they ruin America’s past time. Why should athletes be able to cheat when teammates or rivals are competing with honest effort? Every year records are broken and new heights are achieved, the game of baseball is very simple yet very humble, and to deceive the game you love, forever will you be punished. Let me inform you with the origin in which PEDs were first used and where they came from, regulation, and a possible solution.

Major League Baseball’s (MLB) commissioners are debating about the anabolic steroids situation that is occurring in professional baseball today. To many professionals are getting accused of using the harmful drug. Professional baseball players are getting tested twice a year for anabolic substances throughout the course of the regular season. In order to stop steroids in MLB, commissioners should pass random drug testing. Tony Larussa stated, “By having random drug tests, it would make the game of baseball true once again.” Steroids are ruining the game of baseball, and the commissioners need to decide on something soon. By having random drug tests in Major League Baseball throughout the season, it would fix the problems that baseball is

For adolescents the side effects are growth halted prematurely through premature skeletal maturation and accelerated puberty changes. This could mean adolescents will remain short for the rest of their lives if they take anabolic steroids before the typical adolescent growth spurt.