Sharing My Thoughts On Steroids

In the aftermath of the revelation that Boston sluggers David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were on baseball's black list, I found myself to be experiencing many different emotions.  I know this will seem unnatural for many of us burly sports fans, but I'm going to try to get in touch with them, and find my true position on PED use in baseball.

Joy - This was the first and most obvious. FINALLY a star player for the Red Sox is exposed as a steroid user. Hopefully we can begin to put to bed the ridiculous ideas being spewed from Red Sox Nation that they have the only clean team in baseball.

Frustration - Again we only get a very brief glimpse of the mysterious 104 names. It's become painfully obvious that eventually, every important name on that list is going to come out. Can't we just do that already?

Anger - Now this was the least easily definable. There is something about this entire saga that just makes my blood boil, and in an entirely different way than is usually portrayed. I just can't stand the stance that Major League Baseball has taken on this entire issue. I will try and flesh this out.



Fact: According to various pieces of research, the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs was widespread in what is now considered the "Steroid Era" of baseball.

My Conclusion Either a) those in charge of the league (Selig, Fehr, etc.) were aware of this, and allowed it to continue, or b) those in charge of the league were not aware of this, and can therefore be labeled as hopelessly incompetent.

Fact: In 2003, MLB conducted anonymous testing, with the intention that if a certain quota of positive results were found, a penalty system would be implemented in 2004. The quota was met, and a confidential list of 104 positive test results was created, but not immediately destroyed.

My Conclusion: After many years of steroids being used in baseball, MLB finally decides to make an attempt to diagnose the growing issue.

Fact: Since the beginning of MLB administering punishments to those who test positive for PEDs, many players have been damned in an ever growing witch-hunt to "clean up the game."

My Conclusion In accordance to the outrages of many "holier than thou" sports writers and sports fans, Bud Selig has been at the head of the attempt to prevent the use of steroids in the game. So, the same administrators who allowed the game to develop in such a way (as we have already established with fact 1) through either their consent or incompetence, are now leading the charge to defame the players who took advantage of the system.

Now don't get me wrong, Bud Selig did not march up to Barry Bonds and demand that he start to take "the clear" so that the Giants could sell some more tickets. However, the idea that Bonds is being held accountable for the failings of an entire ERA of baseball by the purists is outrageous.

Imagine the following scenario. Two competing engineering firms are competing for one contract. Engineering Company A works entirely with tools made in the United States, at standard cost and quality. Engineering Company B is able to import tools from China. Now it has been made clear by those in the engineering profession that although a competitive edge can be gained from using the Chinese tools, it undermines American business, and they don't want any part of it. However, there is no punishment for using Chinese tools, and there is no way to check whether or not they are being used. If you're running an engineering company, and you begin to see many of your competitors use Chinese tools to gain considerable profits with no administrative consequences, how can you justify to your employees the business that you are losing by continuing to buy American?

Bringing the analogy back to baseball. Imagine that you are an 18 year old prospect from the Dominican Republic in the early 90s. There is no policy against using steroids in Major League Baseball. You're not terribly well off, and baseball seems like your one real chance to escape your situation. Can anyone honestly say that they wouldn't give themselves that advantage because of the integrity of the game? What if using steroids is the difference between making it on a roster and staying in the Dominican Republic?

Now I'm not condoning what was done by the players. I think that it would be great if baseball was played on an even field. I think that there are plenty of players who have never used PEDs, and are wrongfully slighted because of it. My position is that the wide use of steroids was spawned, not by individual players, but by a flawed system.

And now the creators of that system are out to find out what has "ruined" our beloved game so much.