The Impact of Steroid Allegations on Sports Heroes and Their Fans

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.

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.

Many children all across the United States and other countries try to replicate their favorite superstar athlete. Many athletes become the children’s idol and once the child learns that the athlete has cheated the game the athlete plays the child no longer looks up to the athlete. It is almost gotten to the point where no athlete that excels in a particular sport can be trusted. Every time a single athlete becomes great at their respective sport, speculation of steroid abuse immediately follows.

The media affects society in positive and negative ways. This can be seen in America’s national pastime baseball. Baseball is a sport that became the national sport in the United States in the late 19th century. From the beginning of the sport they tried to keep the highest standards to each player and ball club. There were times of scandal, but of all the things that happen to baseball substance abuse has been portrayed as one of the worst thing a player could do. To defame the baseball was to ruin everything the sport stood for. This research paper will look at one of the worst blotches in baseballs history, the steroid era.

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.

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

The performance that goes beyond the possible one by an average player received a critical attention by the Major League Baseball. The article, “Under Mounting Pressure: A History Of Media Influence On Major League Baseball Steroid Policies,” is based on the relationship between Major League Baseball and the media. The authors break down how the media reports on

In “We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals,” William Moller strongly criticizes the “. . . self-righteous media types who make a living by drumming up indignation from the masses” (Moller 548). In addition to criticizing the media, Moller also condemns the general public for demonizing professional athletes because “. . . the reason [insert name of professional athlete] did [or does] steroids is you and me” (Moller 547). In other words, he claims that society is to blame for athletes’ usage of performance enhancing drugs because “[w]e, the public, place the best athletes on pedestals, gods on high” (Moller 547-48). Therefore, Moller argues that you and I are hypocrites because at some point in our lives, we all cheat and do wrong, yet we expect athletes to be superhuman without the aid of banned substances. While I agree with Moller’s assertions, his explanations as to why athletes use PED’s are limited, thus lacking the oomph necessary to propel his argument to a new dimension. Ultimately, fame and fortune, pressure from fans, and the human nature to perform as best you can are all factors that cause athletes to use illegal stimulants.

The "steroid era" has been devastating for fans that appreciated the game, but no one cannot say that. Kids and adults were leaving the action players brought to the field every day. Many did not know a lot about the steroids being used by famous players, but there were rumors in and out teams. Having a substance that will guarantee help in hand-and-eye coördination, better endurance, speed, power, agility and more is the miracle substance for any athlete. Being fun and all, there are numbers that alarms scouts, managers, general managers, fans, media, and more when a player is being productive. When a player is having a good year on the field, making a noise and maintaining the level of play throughout the season is coming. Seeing the same player having more than one horrible season is also common. But when players’ stats are constant for many seasons, that is when red flags come up and questions are followed by it.

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.”

Famed writer Grantland Rice once wrote, “When the great scorer comes to mark against your name. He'll mark not won or lost but how you played the game” (World of quotes, 1). That buoyant attitude of selflessness and heart has slowly diminished throughout the course of time. Now, George Allen’s booming voice, former coach of the Washington Redskins, runs throughout head of America, “Only winners are truly alive. Winning is living. Every time you win, you’re reborn. When you lose, you die a little” (Harris, 67). It is with this frame of mind that athletes are pushed beyond the edge of reason. Although peer pressure and pressure from coaches are central reasons why one may use steroids, most users begin using in order to improve their self image or excel in sports. Ethics, integrity, and legality aside, some athletes will stop at nothing to attain “that extra edge”.

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.

If Rob Garibaldi had one wish it would be to play major league baseball. Growing up he played baseball throughout high school and college. There was one problem. He wasn’t as big as the other players. Beginning in his junior year of high school he was strongly influenced to take supplements to increase his strength. A few years later, after continued use of steroids, his life started to spiral out of control. He was feeling very depressed, struggling academically, and had become very aggressive. That bright, young man with aspirations to play major league baseball ended up taking his own life with a fatal gunshot on October 1, 2002. Ultimately, Rob Garibaldi killed himself but steroids could easily be deemed his accomplice.

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

This is a material world promoting material values, thus meaning that it should not be surprising to see individuals being willing to do everything in their power in order to make profits. Or should it? The sports community today is troubled by a series of athletes who have yielded to society's pressures and abandoned their principles with the purpose of taking performance enhancing drugs. It is difficult to determine if it would be normal for the masses to judge these individuals, concerning that they are actually one of the reasons for which these people have come to consider taking performance enhancing drugs in the first place. However, the only ones who can judge them are other hard-working sportspersons who have stood by their principles and who respect the idea of sport in general.