The Illegal Steroid Use in The Major League Baseball

The Major League Baseball organization is one of many sport organizations that takes a strong stance on athletes that use performance enhancing drugs. Mark McGwire played for the Cardinals in 1998. He had an amazing career as he broke the homerun record with 70 homeruns. Through his accomplishments, there was speculation that he took steroids. He was questioned about it in Federal Court and at first, he denied it. Later on, he admitted using Andro, which is a form of anabolic steroids. Another baseball player had a very similar story. Barry Bonds played for the San Francisco Giants. He likewise had very notable achievements, such as beating McGuire for the homeroom record and he passed Hank Aaron as the career all-time home run hitter.

The policies and procedures for drug testing within the four major sport leagues are changing rapidly, due to the rise of players using illegal substances. Major League Baseball currently has the best drug-testing program of the major sport leagues. Many of the substances athletes are taking can only be detected through blood testing. Major League Baseball is the only league that has fully executed blood testing to detect and deter those whom are using, or wish to use, HGH and other banned substances. Not only has Major League Baseball applied blood testing at the elite level, it has also implemented it in Minor League Baseball, as well (http://sports.espn.go.com). The league has taken a dominant stance on “stamping” out all banned substances and the penalties for an athlete testing positive are the most severe of any

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.

Some of the greatest athletes in the history of sports are Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGuire. One thing they had in common was that they all were Kings of hitting home runs in the 1990s and early 2000s. Another thing they all had in common, they illegally took performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) during their careers in Major League Baseball. They have been labeled as having a high lack of sportsmanship, being a poor role model for children, and cheaters, which are a couple of reasons why none of these players have been elected into the hall of fame. There have been experiments and studies that have proved that the use of PEDs affects both the physical and psychological parts of the human body. This is why athletes should be banned

     It was a warm, sultry night in September. The fans were crazed in anticipation as Mark McGwire stepped to the plate. With a gentle stretch, he paused, patiently poised, waiting for what would eventually be the greatest hit baseball had ever seen. The pitcher, Steve Trachsel, came set. He shot a determined look to the dirt. In a rivalry such as this (Cubs, Cardinals) he did not want to be the one to give up the great number 62. He cocked his arm back, to let loose what would be an eighty-eight mile an hour fastball that most men would not see fly by, but Big Mac was not most men. With one mighty swing, sixty-one was no more, ney sayers were silenced, and the game

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

Baseball is known as America’s pastime and is one of the most popular, respected sports on earth. Since the beginning of the sport, it seemingly advances with technology every year making faster and stronger players. The use of steroids became rampant and spread among players and has carried them away from the true history of the game they play. Controversy still today runs around the sport today about fines, punishments and record breaking. The past two decades of Major League Baseball have been tainted because of the use of performance enhancing drugs, also known as steroids, causing the loss of many fans and the true meaning of America’s favorite sport.

There has been no precise evidence that can relate steroids to Hall of Fame performance. I do agree that steroids will help an athlete a little but, it will not give them all star numbers. For example, steroids will not turn a Minor League player to a first ballot Hall of Famer. It is just not logical, the game of baseball is too complex and there are many other factors other than strength that makes an athlete great. Steroids would give an athlete more power but, even power will not lead to a drastic increase in performance. Not all hard hit baseballs go over the fence for home runs. To best measure power in baseball, they look at the players’ total bases per hit, this is how many bases you get to after you hit the ball. For instance, if you hit

           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.

Baseball is known as America’s favorite pastime. Any fan of baseball has heard the name Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds is one of the best baseball players of all time statistically. He leads the MLB in home runs in a single season (73), most career home runs (762), MVP awards (7), walks in a single season (232), and another 13 more records. Barry Bonds career was shrouded with a shadow. He was abusing steroids in the late 1990s and early 2000s. After winning 4 straight MVPs, and setting the single season record for homeruns, the MLB established the steroid and performance enhancing drugs bans. Barry Bonds was one of the athletes under investigation. Barry Bonds’ Steroid Scandal was a huge shock to the sport of baseball and the world of sports.

PED Use in Baseball PED use in baseball has been a big issue for baseball for a long time. It's been there biggest issue since the mid to late 80s unit now. It's still a very pressing issue for the League, and with a new commissioner a lot of fans, analyses, and people involved with the industry hope that tougher PED policies, and more and better testing will be put in place. Most fans feel that PED use taints records, that anybody that has records, whether it be league records or club records, they feel that they didn’t accomplish this himself and without the PEDs they wouldn't have accomplished what they did. One of the biggest examples and of this is Barry Bonds, although he was never found guilty of using PEDs, and which he still denies using them to this day, there was high suspicion that he was on them.

However the spotlight that steroids find themselves in are in professional sports, mainly Major League Baseball. Steroids have been an on-going issue with Major League Baseball. The MLB has been tainted in one way or another since the game began. However, now the game has been tainted with drugs that are giving some players an advantage over others. These players are also taking risks with drugs because they are constantly trying to attain a drug that does not get detected when they get drug tests. The MLB should outsource their drug testing policies to an independent organization like the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest between players and the MLB. In 1994-95, the MLB suffered a strike that resulted in the cancellation of the post season. Afterwards, fans were deterred from the sport. So in 1998,

Athletics play such an important role in our society, but, unfortunately, some in professional sports are not setting much of an example. The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football, and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message -- that there are shortcuts to accomplishment, and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches, and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid of steroids now.”

In the days when steroids were only being used by body builders and professional wrestlers, stories about performance enhancing drugs could only be found on the back pages of the newspapers. When former Oakland Raiders All-Pro Lyle Alzado admitted to steroid use in a 1991 Sports Illustrated article the whispers about what professional athletes were using steroids began to get louder. (Puma, 2005) Finally, in 2002, when Caminiti, a former MVP, came clean, two things were clear; athletes in all sports were using these drugs, and that they worked. The fact that steroid use had permeated our national pastime combined with the media explosion of the internet and 24 hour a day sports talk created a perfect storm which created the biggest sports story of the new millennium so far. However, two other facts remained clear, performance enhancing drugs were old news, and athletes in all sports from all over the world had been using them for years.

The sport that has gotten the most attention on the subject of steroids is Major League Baseball. Due to the suspected prevalence of them from the late 80’s up until the present day, the so-called baseball purists now question all the records and achievements