Baseball and Steroids

[WWW.SETH.COM]

Has this been done before? If so, let me know.

I know some of you don't pay that much attention to sports and I, myself, am a casual fan as opposed to a devoted follower of the athletic sector of entertainment. But a baseball phenom, Manny Ramirez, the nutty, psycho slugger for the LA Dodgers has just been suspended from play for 50 games for taking a banned substance. The substance is actually used to produce testosterone and recover from the after effects of steroid use.

I was hoping we could talk more about the overall issue of steroids and baseball. Or indeed, performance enhancers in any sport. It seems that America's pastime is becoming one big scandal wherein some of the most famous names (currently and previously) are accused of using steroids. Now, I am no fan of cheating. And I think that there is something fundamentally dishonest about claiming you got to the Show with a combination of drive/ambition/talent/hard work, only to have the truth come out that you invested in high-test steroids.

I can understand baseball's reluctance to really crack down on steroid use. The more points scored and home runs smashed, the more money the league's owners will make and the more money the players will be entitled to. People like high-scoring games. But if the only way to accomplish that end is to shoot up with a performance-enhancing substance, I think that the ends do not justify the means in a moral sense.

Jamie Moyer, a Phillies pitcher and long-time baseball player, has recently been quoted saying that the current policy of suspensions is not enough to really get players to take the banned-substance policy seriously. As of today, the policy is 50 games out for the first offense, 100 games out for the second offense. Moyer suggests a policy of a year out for the first bad pee-test result and a lifetime ban from professional baseball for the second incident. Is that too harsh? Is there anyone who make an argument FOR the ignoring of steroid use in professional baseball?

[Pube Truth]

I think the only argument for steroid use in professional baseball or sports in general stems from the argument for legalization of drugs. If these substances were all legal, the argument would be that every player has the same opportunity to use them if they so choose, in which case how is it cheating? If a player in that possible world chose to turn their balls into shrinkydinks just to get a few more home runs or whatever, so what?

The problem comes down to the fact that most of the substances that are banned are illegal as well. So when a player chooses to break his contract AND the law, it becomes an issue of fairness to the law/contract abiding players. And when we talk about fairness, what's the point of having umpires and referees in a game to keep people following the rules if they aren't going to follow the rules of the game off the field?

My other problem is that with other professions, if there is a clause in the employment contract about drug testing, you can bet that if someone fails a piss-test, they're not just going to suspend that person's employment for a certain amount of time. That person's getting canned. Fast. Why should baseball players or any other professional atheletes be held to different standards than the average joe? They're already getting paid a butt ton (sorry for the jargon, that's an industry term of course) of money, it's not like they'd have to go on welfare or something once they were fired.

So all in all, the players that think the consequences are too harsh are probably using, in which case they are a bunch of overpaid jerks who, if they were doing any other kind of worthwhile job, would get shit-canned in two seconds flat. Because let's remember folks, professional sports hardly affect the state of the union.

[Larry Flyntz]

I think that there is something fundamentally dishonest about claiming you got to the Show with a combination of drive/ambition/talent/hard work, only to have the truth come out that you invested in high-test steroids.

I tend to disagree with this sort of reaction.  I mean, I agree that there is dishonesty involved (obviously), but it isn't like steroids can turn a so-so player into an all-star.  The highest-profile steroid users (Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, etc) were great ball players before they went on the juice.  They had drive, ambition, talent, and they worked hard.  If you don't have those four things to begin with, steroids won't really do you much good.  Steroids can't make a bad player good, but they can make a good player great.  So, while I agree that this sort of dishonesty is bad, and I think these people should be punished, we should keep in mind that a lot of steroid users were still great players.  Especially when you consider Rodriguez's and Bonds' early years (back when they were skinny), they would've made it to the Hall of Fame without any sort of enhancement.  Also, it seems that players don't start using steroids until after they get to "The Show."  So, they generally get there based on their raw talent.

I'm not sure how I feel about the punishment system, though.  Part of me agrees with Moyer that it needs to be harsh, but that has problems.  Just look at J.C. Romero, who got suspended for 50 games because of an over-the-counter supplement he bought at GNC.  All the evidence that I've heard suggests that he did not intend to take a banned substance.  It sounds like he did not know that the supplement included a banned substance.  Anyway, he got the same punishment as Manny Ramirez, who clearly intended to cheat.  That just doesn't seem fair.  I'm not sure if handling it on a case-by-case basis would be great, but the imposition of a hard-and-fast rule leads to bad results like Romero's.

[WWW.SETH.COM]

The highest-profile steroid users (Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, etc) were great ball players before they went on the juice.

New admissions seem to suggest that A-Rod may have been on the juice very early in his baseball career.

[Larry Flyntz]

The highest-profile steroid users (Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, etc) were great ball players before they went on the juice.

New admissions seem to suggest that A-Rod may have been on the juice very early in his baseball career.

I hadn't heard that.  I would find that hard to believe - this guy sure doesn't look like he's juiced up:


But who knows, maybe he was.  Either way, Rodriguez had raw talent.  Steroids can give you power, but they can't teach you how to play the game.

[WWW.SETH.COM]

Rodriguez had raw talent.  Steroids can give you power, but they can't teach you how to play the game.

Yeah, but they can translate an easy pop fly into a straight-up-the-pipe grand slam. And for a player like Manny Ramirez, who has never been known for his amazing fielding, hitting is the way he makes his money.

[GREGORIAN CHANT!!!]

I tend to disagree with this sort of reaction.  I mean, I agree that there is dishonesty involved (obviously), but it isn't like steroids can turn a so-so player into an all-star. 

Brady Anderson and his 50 home run season completely disagree with you here.

I think PEDs are something that baseball fans are just going to have to accept as one of the norms of the era. None of the records or championships won are tainted. Without the strict drug testing policy that is now enforced by MLB, all players had some sort of opportunity to use PED's. Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gherig never played against black players, yet few seem to question their records. Baseball has gone through many changes over the years and this is just another one of them. Honestly this is a non issue and just an opportunity for sports media to fellate themselves and say "Hey, we told you all along, this was too good to be true." The average fan doesn't really care, yes it is fun to call A-Rod a cheater, but him using PED's isn't something I haven't heard about before. It has pretty much been baseball's biggest secret for the last 10 or so years that A-Rod may have been using steroids as early as high school. What's more interesting is that A-Rod is one of the most contrived people in American culture, he has a team of publicists who formerly worked for the White House.

All this being said, if somebody walked up to me tomorrow and asked if I would take a needle in the ass to make it to the major leagues and make millions of dollars, I wouldn't even think twice. Kenny Powers would agree with me as well.

[WWW.SETH.COM]

Kenny Powers drives away in a truck crying.

[GREGORIAN CHANT!!!]

After dropping some great quotes that include "If there's one thing I hate it's losing. If there's two things I hate, it's losing and getting cancer." and "I play real sports, ain't tryin to be the best at exercising."

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"Fundamentals are a crutch for the talentless."