Showing posts with label Steroids In Baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steroids In Baseball. Show all posts
Ex-White Sox pitcher Jim Parque Admits To Using HGH
Yeah, nobody else cares either. Sucks for him he had to release this information on the morning Buehrle throws a perfect game, he should have known!
Roger Clemens makes no sense, squared
I would make this more extensive if i didnt have finals the next 2 days, but here it goes.
Most of you have probably already heard the Roger Clemens interview this morning on Mike and Mike. And most of you have realized the idiotic logic Clemens made up...eerrr...used to explain why he would never use any drugs, ever. He claimed the past heart history in his family would make it suicidal for him to take steroids or HGH. He cited his brothers heart attack and the fact that his step-dad died of a heart attack. Clearly he has zero genetic relationship with his step father, unless he performed genetic tests to determine that he and his step dad share a common gene associated with heart disease, but something tells me he did not due so, hence his claim makes no sense.
However, here is some idiocy you may not have considered. Clemens threw under the bus...eerrr...admitted that his wife had take HGH to get in shape for their magazine cover photo. I have yet to start med school, but i'm pretty sure she shared more genetic information with her dad, than Roger shares with her dad. So Roger would never take HGH because it would be quote "suicidal", but would gladly let his wife take the hormone, even though it is superiorly much more "suicidal" for her. It's a shame baseball players are such morons.
Most of you have probably already heard the Roger Clemens interview this morning on Mike and Mike. And most of you have realized the idiotic logic Clemens made up...eerrr...used to explain why he would never use any drugs, ever. He claimed the past heart history in his family would make it suicidal for him to take steroids or HGH. He cited his brothers heart attack and the fact that his step-dad died of a heart attack. Clearly he has zero genetic relationship with his step father, unless he performed genetic tests to determine that he and his step dad share a common gene associated with heart disease, but something tells me he did not due so, hence his claim makes no sense.
However, here is some idiocy you may not have considered. Clemens threw under the bus...eerrr...admitted that his wife had take HGH to get in shape for their magazine cover photo. I have yet to start med school, but i'm pretty sure she shared more genetic information with her dad, than Roger shares with her dad. So Roger would never take HGH because it would be quote "suicidal", but would gladly let his wife take the hormone, even though it is superiorly much more "suicidal" for her. It's a shame baseball players are such morons.
In Defense Of Steroids: Manny Ramirez Edition
You can read my original post defending steroid usage in baseball here
Now if anyone had turned on their T.V. in the past few hours, I'm sure they are well aware that one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Manny Ramirez, has tested positive for steroids. Now I was all for giving players a free pass in the court of public opinion if you used steroids before 2003. I understand that EVERYBODY seemingly was doing it and if all these people around you are doing something, it's extremely hard for you to resist temptation. Again, I don't excuse their actions 100%, but I can see where their coming from. If parents don't tell their middle schooler or high schooler about the dangers of underage drinking and drug usage, then you shouldn't get mad when they get arrested one night with a DUI. Same thing here. These players weren't warned about the dangers of what they were doing and saw no negative consequences for their action until years later.
But those consequences did come. A handful of sluggers linked to steroids were summoned to Congress to testify. They vehemently denied all allegation. After that, the public never forgave those athletes for what they had done. This materialized in the fact that Mark McGuire has never come close to becoming a Hall of Famer. So after that, why do players still use steroids. Braves prospect Jordan Schaffer used steroids in the minor leagues last year, but he did it to earn a spot on a major league roster. But Manny Ramirez? The guy was great all throughout his career. Even if he did use steroids to put up all those good numbers, it's silly to continue usage.
Manny just signed a two year deal with the Dodgers. A big factor Manny signed in LA was because, really, no other team wanted him. Manny put up great numbers in the past two months of baseball to warrant big contracts from clubs. But no other teams would bite. So when Manny did sign a two year deal, and probably would have ended his career soon after that. So why still use steroids? Even if he sucks the next two years, it wouldn't matter but I can't imagine him going to another team anyway (at least not for the money he wanted) and he still would get his money no matter his performance. A-Rod can sort of cop out and use the expectation/ big contract card, but Manny can't (although granted he hasn't). Frankly, after the steroid policy is baseball was set in place, I can not excuse anyone, especially Manny's actions.
Now I still contend Manny should be in the Hall of Fame. Even if he used steroids his entire career in the MLB, he still had great plate recognition and a great swing. And although he might not have hit as many HRs as he did, he still would have had a shit ton under his belt. Not only that, but I'm sure the vast majority if pitchers were juicing too. If a juiced hitter hits a HR off of a juiced pitcher, isn't that still the same and if neither did steroids? Now I know I'm going to unfortunately have to hear a lot about this on ESPN over the next couples weeks (hell if ManRam's contract negotiations lasted months, I can't imagine where this is going...), but please ESPN, for the love of Jesus, stop promogulating steroid usage!!!
Now if anyone had turned on their T.V. in the past few hours, I'm sure they are well aware that one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Manny Ramirez, has tested positive for steroids. Now I was all for giving players a free pass in the court of public opinion if you used steroids before 2003. I understand that EVERYBODY seemingly was doing it and if all these people around you are doing something, it's extremely hard for you to resist temptation. Again, I don't excuse their actions 100%, but I can see where their coming from. If parents don't tell their middle schooler or high schooler about the dangers of underage drinking and drug usage, then you shouldn't get mad when they get arrested one night with a DUI. Same thing here. These players weren't warned about the dangers of what they were doing and saw no negative consequences for their action until years later.
But those consequences did come. A handful of sluggers linked to steroids were summoned to Congress to testify. They vehemently denied all allegation. After that, the public never forgave those athletes for what they had done. This materialized in the fact that Mark McGuire has never come close to becoming a Hall of Famer. So after that, why do players still use steroids. Braves prospect Jordan Schaffer used steroids in the minor leagues last year, but he did it to earn a spot on a major league roster. But Manny Ramirez? The guy was great all throughout his career. Even if he did use steroids to put up all those good numbers, it's silly to continue usage.
Manny just signed a two year deal with the Dodgers. A big factor Manny signed in LA was because, really, no other team wanted him. Manny put up great numbers in the past two months of baseball to warrant big contracts from clubs. But no other teams would bite. So when Manny did sign a two year deal, and probably would have ended his career soon after that. So why still use steroids? Even if he sucks the next two years, it wouldn't matter but I can't imagine him going to another team anyway (at least not for the money he wanted) and he still would get his money no matter his performance. A-Rod can sort of cop out and use the expectation/ big contract card, but Manny can't (although granted he hasn't). Frankly, after the steroid policy is baseball was set in place, I can not excuse anyone, especially Manny's actions.
Now I still contend Manny should be in the Hall of Fame. Even if he used steroids his entire career in the MLB, he still had great plate recognition and a great swing. And although he might not have hit as many HRs as he did, he still would have had a shit ton under his belt. Not only that, but I'm sure the vast majority if pitchers were juicing too. If a juiced hitter hits a HR off of a juiced pitcher, isn't that still the same and if neither did steroids? Now I know I'm going to unfortunately have to hear a lot about this on ESPN over the next couples weeks (hell if ManRam's contract negotiations lasted months, I can't imagine where this is going...), but please ESPN, for the love of Jesus, stop promogulating steroid usage!!!
A-Rod Didn't Just Use Steroids...He Also Tips Shitty
Sports Illustrated writer Selena Robert has released more information about A-Rod, all of which will be detailed in her upcoming book "A-Rod". In addition to the charges she's already placed against him (all of which he's admitted), she alleges the following:
- A-Rod didn't stop using steroids when he came to the Yankees.
- A-Rod used steroids in high school. His coach and teammates in high school can apparently back this up.
- A-Rod has a gambling problem.
- A-Rod "pitch tipped" while on the Rangers, signaling opponents at the plate about which pitch selection a pitcher was using in lopsided game with the hope that they would eventually return the favor.
- A-Rod tipped the minimum, 15%, at Hooters.
In Defense Of Steroids, Part II
You can read my initial, "Part I", post here
One argument you have probably heard over and over again about steroids and their users, is that while steroids might not have been illegal in baseball, they were illegal to use in the United States. Therefore, alleged or proven users were still breaking U.S. law. It is this argument that is used to put down and look even further down upon steroid users. But I want to use an example to disprove this point.
Player A: Alex Rodriguez
ARod admitted to using steroids (although I'm going to refuse to believe this the same way that a "smoking gun" found in a home without a warrant, although is indisputable evidence, it's still not allowed in court because it violates the 4th amendment, but I digress...). For the rest of his career, he will forever be associated as a steroids user. There will a clout of secrecy and guilt surrounding him forever about his stats and his playing career. ARod (according to his story but that's beside the point) did steroids in a place where it was legal but his being ostracized for it. Even if ARod takes a piss test after every game and is 100% clean from now on and goes on to break the HR record, his career will still be tainted.
Player B: Josh Hamilton (I hope you see where I'm going with this)
This young man has great natural talent and that's why the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays drafted him #1 a few years back. However, Hamilton became addicted to heroin and drugs with relegated him out of baseball during the beginning of his career. Hamilton broke US laws not not baseball laws (Yes, I'm sure there's a technical clause in the MLB contract that you can't do illegal drugs but what Hamilton didn't violate the sanctity of the game). Hamilton put on a great show at the 2008 Home Run Derby and went on to have a damn fine 2008 year and 2009 looks just as good. If Hamilton stays clean, he will probably go on to have a damn fine career. We applauded Hamilton for what he has been able to do. So while he broke US law, we are still proud he stopped and was able to overcome.
What hypocrisy is this!? Let's assume both players never do drugs again and both go on to have careers that force people to look back and say "Damn, those players were good!" People will look back on Hamilton in an extremely positive light. People will be even more impressed that he was able to do it as a former addict. But not ARod. No mater, ARod will always have the negative stigma attached to him. Both men broke the US law and took drugs they were not allowed to take. Except one was related to baseball and one was not. Clearly, the drugs related the baseball appear to be much more "punishable".
So please, stop with the whole "it violated US law" excuse. Also, please read my original post "In Defense of Steroids", so you can get a better understanding of steroids and baseball and why, no mater what, you shouldn't look down on steroid users.
One argument you have probably heard over and over again about steroids and their users, is that while steroids might not have been illegal in baseball, they were illegal to use in the United States. Therefore, alleged or proven users were still breaking U.S. law. It is this argument that is used to put down and look even further down upon steroid users. But I want to use an example to disprove this point.
Player A: Alex Rodriguez
ARod admitted to using steroids (although I'm going to refuse to believe this the same way that a "smoking gun" found in a home without a warrant, although is indisputable evidence, it's still not allowed in court because it violates the 4th amendment, but I digress...). For the rest of his career, he will forever be associated as a steroids user. There will a clout of secrecy and guilt surrounding him forever about his stats and his playing career. ARod (according to his story but that's beside the point) did steroids in a place where it was legal but his being ostracized for it. Even if ARod takes a piss test after every game and is 100% clean from now on and goes on to break the HR record, his career will still be tainted.
Player B: Josh Hamilton (I hope you see where I'm going with this)
This young man has great natural talent and that's why the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays drafted him #1 a few years back. However, Hamilton became addicted to heroin and drugs with relegated him out of baseball during the beginning of his career. Hamilton broke US laws not not baseball laws (Yes, I'm sure there's a technical clause in the MLB contract that you can't do illegal drugs but what Hamilton didn't violate the sanctity of the game). Hamilton put on a great show at the 2008 Home Run Derby and went on to have a damn fine 2008 year and 2009 looks just as good. If Hamilton stays clean, he will probably go on to have a damn fine career. We applauded Hamilton for what he has been able to do. So while he broke US law, we are still proud he stopped and was able to overcome.
What hypocrisy is this!? Let's assume both players never do drugs again and both go on to have careers that force people to look back and say "Damn, those players were good!" People will look back on Hamilton in an extremely positive light. People will be even more impressed that he was able to do it as a former addict. But not ARod. No mater, ARod will always have the negative stigma attached to him. Both men broke the US law and took drugs they were not allowed to take. Except one was related to baseball and one was not. Clearly, the drugs related the baseball appear to be much more "punishable".
So please, stop with the whole "it violated US law" excuse. Also, please read my original post "In Defense of Steroids", so you can get a better understanding of steroids and baseball and why, no mater what, you shouldn't look down on steroid users.
In Defense Of Steroids
First of all, steroids in baseball gets a bad rep. In football, it's only a four game suspension and no one really thinks anything of it. One of the greatest defensive players in the game right now, San Diego LB Shawn Merriman, was caught doing steroids. He took his suspension and no one really thought anything of it. It's almost worse for Merriman than for Bonds because Merriman plays a more physical position and he job specifically requires strength. So why is it abhorrent for baseball players to do steroids and not football players?
The reason is the culture of each sport. Football came out a long time ago and said doing steroids was a no-no. They came out at a reasonable time and told all football players early on about the negative affects of steroids, and knew it created an unfair competitive edge. Baseball didn't do that. They implicitly said it was acceptable to do steroids even though it is bad.
What people don't understand is this culture of baseball. EVERYONE in baseball is guilty of steroids being rampant in the sport. There was a code of silence in baseball, if you said something, you would be ostracized from the game you love so much. Roy Oswalt came out recently pissed that he had to play a player on 'roids but I didn't hear him say anything when he saw players using it. In fact, Oswalt played with Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens and I didn't hear a peep from him then. I'm sure he and every single player in baseball knew of at least one person doing steroids or HGH and they didn't say a thing. I don't think people quite grasp the psychological and sociological impact there is in this situation. Think about this. You're a student in a giant math lecture hall. The professor is going over really fast some equation that you don't understand. Why don't you raise your hand to ask the professor to slow down and go over the equation so you can learn it. I mean, you're paying money for an education, you should get one right? Well, normally you don't because there's hundreds of other kids in the class who look down on you if you wasted THEIR time. There's sociological and psychological factors that make an environment that's not conducive for you to ask questions. Now the culture of baseball was not even close to the factors that go into you in a giant lecture hall.
If anyone outed a player, you personally then would have felt punishments. Outing a player was just something you could not do. ESPN is running a week long OTL special on steroids, and former A's trainer and conditioning coach (who played with Conseco and McGuire and many other 'roid users because the A's were a huge club to bring in steroids into baseball) said that he knew Conseco was doing steroids and he couldn't do anything and he didn't want to do anything. Not only would this coach never find a job again, but the A's would lose a huge asset to their team in Conseco.
(SIDENOTE: I just want to go off on a little tangent here. A few months ago, Jose Conseco said that Alex Rodriguez did steroids and nobody believed him. People thought this was a publicity stunt and Conseco got a lot of crap for this. It also looked extremely fishy when reports came out than Conseco blackmailed Magglio so that Mags would get his name out of Jose's new book. A-Rod has since admitted to doing steroids. It now makes you wonder about Magglio as well. Look who's laughing now)
The biggest offender to the culture of steroids in baseball was Bud Selig. One of the only defenders I've heard of him was Skip Bayless, and Skip makes a valid point. Skip talked to Selig during the late 90's when 'roids was rampant and Selig admitted that he was up against one of THE most powerful unions in the U.S. in the Players Association. The Association knew testing for steroids would hurt their clients and thus did everything in their power to stop Selig from being able to do anything about testing for steroids or HGH in baseball. I think this is a good point. However, I refuse to believe, that as the commissioner of ALL of Major League Baseball, he could not do a single thing. Selig didn't speak up, Selig didn't make public his dislike for steroids, Selig didn't publicly try to enforce testing, Selig didn't do shit. And this contributed to players being "allowed" to do steroids.
If you're a player and you see teammates all around you doing steroids, nobody is saying anything, these players doing great things, and having no negative consequences, what's the downside then to you for doing steroids? No one would have predicted the negative backlash steroids would have caused ten years down the line. I'm sure if Mark McGuire knew he wouldn't get into the baseball Hall Of Fame if he did steroids, he would have not done them. But nobody knew back them. People need to remember that what these players were doing was not against the rules of baseball. Sure, what they were doing was against US law, but this becomes a negligent factor in terms of the way players played the game. From a rational, economic, sociological, and psychological perspective, baseball players had no reason to NOT do steroids.
The vast majority of players who did steroids were not the big players like Bonds, A Rod, and McGuire, they were guys on the cusp on making major league rosters. It is extremely hard to get into the big leagues from the minors. If you're in the minors and you see your teammates around you getting called up, why would you not do steroids? This environment is almost forcing you to do steroids.
Injecting steroids or HGH alone does not magically make a person better or stronger. A player still has to work out and condition himself to play baseball. They still have to have the skill to see the ball coming towards the play and have the hand/eye coordination to hit the ball. These are all things steroids don't improve. However, once a player makes contact, sure, 'roids make that ball go deeper and farther. As my roommate puts it "You know, Barry Bonds may not have hit 72 HRs that year, but he still probably would have hit 50 had he not been on steroids" Also, while some batters might have been juicing, you don't know is that pitcher was juicing as well. Again, steroids doesn't help with control but sure it does help with speed. Maybe those pitchers were trying to get themselves a competitive advantage as well so the batters were forced to do HGH or 'roids.
Also, I would like to interject something. People seem to give Andy Pettitte a free pass because he fully admitted early on that he used steroids and that it was only for an injury. However, one of the reasons steroids was made illegal was for the purpose of healing from injuries and not just from constant use to build power. You're not allowed to help speed up the process of injuries because this also gives you an unfair advantage compared to everyone else that had to deal with injuries without steroids.
Steroids was so rampant in baseball that you can not say for 100% certainty who was and was not using steroids. You don't exactly know which players were using or if most of them were. This means you can not say just how "skewed" the stats are. Let's say Roger Clemens was facing Barry Bonds and Bonds hits a home run. Is not that a legitimate HR for the record books? If both the pitcher and the batter using performance-enhancing drugs, if the ultimate outcome not the same as if both players did not use the drugs? This is why I don't think players who we know did use steroids should get penalized in the record books or in the hall of fame. You can not say for certain what exactly the competitive edge actually was.
In fact, throughout history, there's always been things that have skewed numbers. The dead ball era most certainly deflated stats and hurt players like Ty Cobb. Way back in the day, black people were not allowed to play baseball. You don't think the addition of black people would have decreased the current white players numbers? The pitching mounds have been moved back and forth and up and down, all which affect players numbers as well.
People also don't realize that steroids saved baseball. In the summer of 1998, Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa (who actually BTW seemingly is getting farther and farther away from being connected to steroids) were both in the hunt to beat Roger Marris' record of 61 HRs in a single season. Baseball was lackluster and boring until these two competitors from rival teams starting facing off against each other. Because both were "on steroids", they were able to bring fans back into the game of baseball.
Now don't get me wrong, despite the title and my whole speech, I am not advocating that people do use steroids or HGH or anything of the sort. Steroids have a lot of negative consequences to the human body, especially to young kids who probably are the biggest age bracket to use steroids. It stunts development and creates physical problems. I am also not letting these players completely off the hook. Despite the fact that probably a vast majority of people did juice, there are plenty who didn't. People still have take personal responsibility for their own actions. A lot of what the Nazi's did in Germany was because if the culture Hitler created and psychological tests (like the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgrim Experiment)back this up, however, you can't put all of the blame on the culture. (NOTE: I am not comparing baseball to Nazi Germany, I am just using that as an example of where culture dictates human behavior)
I believe the blame does start at the top. Bud Selig and the owners and the Player Union and such all had the power to put a stigma in the culture with little repercussions to themselves and culture is trickle down. But all players need to take responsibility for their actions as well. They knew full well what they were doing was giving themselves a competitive edge.
So I think people need to stop putting such a negative stigma on the players who did steroids before 2003. Sure, if a player now does steroids, that players deserves all the criticism he gets. But ESPN needs to stop the hype and falsities of players who did steroids and HGH in the past. I think people think so low of players who juiced in the past because of the messages outlets like ESPN are displaying and this needs to stop. Also, I'm sick and tired of hearing about this 24/7.
The reason is the culture of each sport. Football came out a long time ago and said doing steroids was a no-no. They came out at a reasonable time and told all football players early on about the negative affects of steroids, and knew it created an unfair competitive edge. Baseball didn't do that. They implicitly said it was acceptable to do steroids even though it is bad.
What people don't understand is this culture of baseball. EVERYONE in baseball is guilty of steroids being rampant in the sport. There was a code of silence in baseball, if you said something, you would be ostracized from the game you love so much. Roy Oswalt came out recently pissed that he had to play a player on 'roids but I didn't hear him say anything when he saw players using it. In fact, Oswalt played with Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens and I didn't hear a peep from him then. I'm sure he and every single player in baseball knew of at least one person doing steroids or HGH and they didn't say a thing. I don't think people quite grasp the psychological and sociological impact there is in this situation. Think about this. You're a student in a giant math lecture hall. The professor is going over really fast some equation that you don't understand. Why don't you raise your hand to ask the professor to slow down and go over the equation so you can learn it. I mean, you're paying money for an education, you should get one right? Well, normally you don't because there's hundreds of other kids in the class who look down on you if you wasted THEIR time. There's sociological and psychological factors that make an environment that's not conducive for you to ask questions. Now the culture of baseball was not even close to the factors that go into you in a giant lecture hall.
If anyone outed a player, you personally then would have felt punishments. Outing a player was just something you could not do. ESPN is running a week long OTL special on steroids, and former A's trainer and conditioning coach (who played with Conseco and McGuire and many other 'roid users because the A's were a huge club to bring in steroids into baseball) said that he knew Conseco was doing steroids and he couldn't do anything and he didn't want to do anything. Not only would this coach never find a job again, but the A's would lose a huge asset to their team in Conseco.
(SIDENOTE: I just want to go off on a little tangent here. A few months ago, Jose Conseco said that Alex Rodriguez did steroids and nobody believed him. People thought this was a publicity stunt and Conseco got a lot of crap for this. It also looked extremely fishy when reports came out than Conseco blackmailed Magglio so that Mags would get his name out of Jose's new book. A-Rod has since admitted to doing steroids. It now makes you wonder about Magglio as well. Look who's laughing now)
The biggest offender to the culture of steroids in baseball was Bud Selig. One of the only defenders I've heard of him was Skip Bayless, and Skip makes a valid point. Skip talked to Selig during the late 90's when 'roids was rampant and Selig admitted that he was up against one of THE most powerful unions in the U.S. in the Players Association. The Association knew testing for steroids would hurt their clients and thus did everything in their power to stop Selig from being able to do anything about testing for steroids or HGH in baseball. I think this is a good point. However, I refuse to believe, that as the commissioner of ALL of Major League Baseball, he could not do a single thing. Selig didn't speak up, Selig didn't make public his dislike for steroids, Selig didn't publicly try to enforce testing, Selig didn't do shit. And this contributed to players being "allowed" to do steroids.
If you're a player and you see teammates all around you doing steroids, nobody is saying anything, these players doing great things, and having no negative consequences, what's the downside then to you for doing steroids? No one would have predicted the negative backlash steroids would have caused ten years down the line. I'm sure if Mark McGuire knew he wouldn't get into the baseball Hall Of Fame if he did steroids, he would have not done them. But nobody knew back them. People need to remember that what these players were doing was not against the rules of baseball. Sure, what they were doing was against US law, but this becomes a negligent factor in terms of the way players played the game. From a rational, economic, sociological, and psychological perspective, baseball players had no reason to NOT do steroids.
The vast majority of players who did steroids were not the big players like Bonds, A Rod, and McGuire, they were guys on the cusp on making major league rosters. It is extremely hard to get into the big leagues from the minors. If you're in the minors and you see your teammates around you getting called up, why would you not do steroids? This environment is almost forcing you to do steroids.
Injecting steroids or HGH alone does not magically make a person better or stronger. A player still has to work out and condition himself to play baseball. They still have to have the skill to see the ball coming towards the play and have the hand/eye coordination to hit the ball. These are all things steroids don't improve. However, once a player makes contact, sure, 'roids make that ball go deeper and farther. As my roommate puts it "You know, Barry Bonds may not have hit 72 HRs that year, but he still probably would have hit 50 had he not been on steroids" Also, while some batters might have been juicing, you don't know is that pitcher was juicing as well. Again, steroids doesn't help with control but sure it does help with speed. Maybe those pitchers were trying to get themselves a competitive advantage as well so the batters were forced to do HGH or 'roids.
Also, I would like to interject something. People seem to give Andy Pettitte a free pass because he fully admitted early on that he used steroids and that it was only for an injury. However, one of the reasons steroids was made illegal was for the purpose of healing from injuries and not just from constant use to build power. You're not allowed to help speed up the process of injuries because this also gives you an unfair advantage compared to everyone else that had to deal with injuries without steroids.
Steroids was so rampant in baseball that you can not say for 100% certainty who was and was not using steroids. You don't exactly know which players were using or if most of them were. This means you can not say just how "skewed" the stats are. Let's say Roger Clemens was facing Barry Bonds and Bonds hits a home run. Is not that a legitimate HR for the record books? If both the pitcher and the batter using performance-enhancing drugs, if the ultimate outcome not the same as if both players did not use the drugs? This is why I don't think players who we know did use steroids should get penalized in the record books or in the hall of fame. You can not say for certain what exactly the competitive edge actually was.
In fact, throughout history, there's always been things that have skewed numbers. The dead ball era most certainly deflated stats and hurt players like Ty Cobb. Way back in the day, black people were not allowed to play baseball. You don't think the addition of black people would have decreased the current white players numbers? The pitching mounds have been moved back and forth and up and down, all which affect players numbers as well.
People also don't realize that steroids saved baseball. In the summer of 1998, Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa (who actually BTW seemingly is getting farther and farther away from being connected to steroids) were both in the hunt to beat Roger Marris' record of 61 HRs in a single season. Baseball was lackluster and boring until these two competitors from rival teams starting facing off against each other. Because both were "on steroids", they were able to bring fans back into the game of baseball.
Now don't get me wrong, despite the title and my whole speech, I am not advocating that people do use steroids or HGH or anything of the sort. Steroids have a lot of negative consequences to the human body, especially to young kids who probably are the biggest age bracket to use steroids. It stunts development and creates physical problems. I am also not letting these players completely off the hook. Despite the fact that probably a vast majority of people did juice, there are plenty who didn't. People still have take personal responsibility for their own actions. A lot of what the Nazi's did in Germany was because if the culture Hitler created and psychological tests (like the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgrim Experiment)back this up, however, you can't put all of the blame on the culture. (NOTE: I am not comparing baseball to Nazi Germany, I am just using that as an example of where culture dictates human behavior)
I believe the blame does start at the top. Bud Selig and the owners and the Player Union and such all had the power to put a stigma in the culture with little repercussions to themselves and culture is trickle down. But all players need to take responsibility for their actions as well. They knew full well what they were doing was giving themselves a competitive edge.
So I think people need to stop putting such a negative stigma on the players who did steroids before 2003. Sure, if a player now does steroids, that players deserves all the criticism he gets. But ESPN needs to stop the hype and falsities of players who did steroids and HGH in the past. I think people think so low of players who juiced in the past because of the messages outlets like ESPN are displaying and this needs to stop. Also, I'm sick and tired of hearing about this 24/7.
