Let’em cheat
Why allowing steroids in baseball could be a good thing
ROMER BAUTISTA STAFF
It seems that every week, another professional athlete is accused of using underhanded tactics to gain an upper hand in their sport. More often then not, these athletes are being accused of using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). The use of steroids and other PEDs appears to be especially rampant in Major League Baseball, where, prior to the 2005 season, there was little to no policing of their use.
From 1995-2004, as MLB tried to climb back into the American conscience as a prominent sport (following the 1994 work stoppage), the men in charge of MLB operations, namely Commissioner Bud Selig, wisely turned a blind eye to what, in hindsight, was an obvious increase in steroid use across the league. How else would one be able to explain how a nearly 40-year-old home run record could be broken six times in the span of a decade?
Of course, Selig and company never worried about maintaining the integrity of the sport. Their only concern was once again making baseball “America’s pastime.” If the sport was forever tarnished, then so be it. And their plan worked. The steroid-fuelled 1998 home-run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa single-handedly brought MLB back into the sporting world forefront.
In 2005, however, the U.S. Congress decided it was time for baseball to put an end to the obvious steroid use going on, and essentially crack down on the very thing that helped turn the sport around. Superstars like McGwire, Sosa, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens, who were once the face of baseball, were now being looked upon as villains. Even new superstars are feeling the brunt of this turn of events. Nowadays, once a player begins to play at a high level, a cloud of doubt is raised as to whether their success is au naturel, or helped by the use of PEDs.
And therein lies the problem facing Major League Baseball. How is baseball supposed to continue to grow as a business, when its one successful business tool from the past decade is taken away? The solution is simple: (throwing all legal issues aside, of course) tell Congress to screw off and do away with drug testing all together. It would save everyone a lot of trouble if MLB would drop the entire holier-than-thou approach they have taken the past couple of years, and simply give its players free reign to inject whatever substance they want into their bodies. It’s become laughable to see players continue to deny their use of PEDs when the evidence just keeps piling up.
Think about the endless possibilities a steroid-filled MLB would bring us. Pitchers would be able to throw faster and harder. Baserunners would be able to speed around the base paths like never before. And hitters would continue to knock the cover off the baseball at record-breaking rates. The game would be more exciting than ever, and MLB fans have already shown that their interest in the sport is inherently tied to the amount of excitement surrounding the game.
I am a baseball fan, and I have been for as long as I can remember, but let’s be serious about the sport for a second. To the average person, a regular baseball game is tolerable at best. Home runs are what attract casual fans to baseball. By abolishing the drug policy, the fans will get more home runs, and MLB will get more fans. It’s a win-win situation.
Of course, there will be those baseball purists who feel that steroids are a form of cheating and have ruined the sport. To them I say, get with the times. Baseball has long been a sport full of cheaters. In 1919, the infamous Chicago White Sox were found to have thrown the World Series after accepting a payment from the Mob. Pitchers, throughout history, have been caught red-handed doctoring baseballs with the likes of pine tar, emery boards, and even wedding rings, to gain an unfair advantage. Corking bats was the “it” thing to do for a hitter in the ’90s looking for a little help.
What sets steroid use apart from these other forms of cheating is that it has become widespread, not just in baseball, but in all professional sports. Whereas doctoring baseballs and corking bats still leaves a bad taste in most fans’ mouths, the use of steroids has become commonplace. Another athlete using steroids? What else is new.
Some may bring up the negative health consequences of steroid use — balding, nausea and vomiting, high blood pressure, increased risk of disease, and shrinkage of the “boys” — but to a professional baseball player, are these concerns a priority, or is winning a championship worth the risks of steroids? Based on former ball player Jose Canseco’s estimate that nearly 85 per cent of baseball players use steroids, it’s clear that a majority of baseball players would willingly take on the risks associated with steroid use if it means a better chance at a championship.
The advent of PED use is simply an example of how times have changed. Cheating in sports is only going to become more sophisticated and more difficult to trace. It is time for MLB to embrace these changes, and act accordingly. It may be their key to continued success.
