That's the kind of environment in which baseball finds itself. Davis hasn't put on any extra weight, nor has his head grown. He's always been viewed as a power hitter with immense potential, but until last year he never realized it. His swing looks exactly the same, he has protection in the lineup with an impressive O's offense, and, perhaps most importantly, he's entering his physical prime in his age 27 season.
A-Rod and Ryan Braun are a different story. With the Tony Bosch/Biogenesis suspensions expected to be levied in late July/August, multiple legacies are on the line. A-Rod's image, considering his playoff woes (not including 2009, which is a discussion for a different day), his up-and-down personal life and his injuries probably can't get worse. Another PED fiasco on his record would just be the dagger in the heart of one of the most statistically mind-boggling careers in MLB history.
Braun, on the other hand, has a lot more to lose. The former National League MVP could have been in the clear a year after being exonerated from similar charges on a technicality. Instead, the second connection brings up the same labels attached to Rodriguez. He has a ton of talent, but in the end he's a liar, a hypocrite and a cheater.
The mindset of a steroid user in any sport shouldn't be difficult to analyze. Major League baseball had a then-record high in average attendance in 1994 (a strike-shortened season) with close to 31,000 people going to games. Then in '95 and '96, that number dropped to about 25,000 and 26,000, respectively. The numbers were still climbing, but baseball was not experiencing the same success it had before the strike.
If you're Ryan Braun, or A-Rod, wouldn't you want to be remembered in that way? Rodriguez was a must-watch ticket every single time he stepped in during his prime. As a Cubs fan, Braun was one of the scariest players on any opposing team.1 Along with Prince Fielder, Braun was half of arguably the best 1-2 punch in any lineup in the Majors. If I'm a baseball player, I want other fans to be terrified of me, and I want my own fans to adore me. I'll take any edge I can get, and if that means steroid use, then so be it. Whether or not unnatural substances gave him an advantage, A-Rod almost single-handedly won the Yankees the 2009 World Series. Steroids may have helped them reach that pillar of excellence and prestige and earned them a ton of money. If steroids are going to turn me from very good to Hall of Fame-caliber, I might be taking that risk too.
Who is the true home run king? Is it Barry Bonds with his single-season 73 and his 762 career dingers? Is it Hank Aaron with his 755? What about Roger Maris, who peaked from 1960-1962 with 39, 61 and 33, but didn't hit more than 28 in any other season?2
It's a question that goes beyond power numbers and cuts to the core of a player's "integrity." Baseball more than any other sport is tied to tradition and "playing the game the right way." These terms are all bogus. Using steroids is no different to me than smoking pot or taking Adderall. If it's against the substance abuse policy and they get caught, then they should get punished. McGwire and Sosa are being retroactively vilified for something the league let happen. Bonds was never formally convicted or charged with anything more than obstruction of justice. Sosa was the only one of the three who was ever suspended for performance enhancing measures, and that was only because of a corked bat later in his career that the commissioner could not ignore.
If a baseball player uses steroids, he should be punished, but not because it says anything about his character or his respect for the game. He broke the rules and he probably didn't do it out of spite. In all likelihood, he did it because he was rehabbing a nagging injury, he was getting old, or he wanted to be remembered as one of the all-time greats. I don't have a problem with steroid users until they get caught, and I don't have a problem with them once they serve their suspensions for breaking the rules.
There's clearly an extra stigma attached to steroid-users, and that might be the root of the problem. Steroid users become great, those who don't are simply good enough. Players are not going to suddenly stop looking for competitive advantages. Don't punish players from history for the league's lack of enforcement. If they created such a black mark on the sport, then prevent it from ever happening again.
It's a question that goes beyond power numbers and cuts to the core of a player's "integrity." Baseball more than any other sport is tied to tradition and "playing the game the right way." These terms are all bogus. Using steroids is no different to me than smoking pot or taking Adderall. If it's against the substance abuse policy and they get caught, then they should get punished. McGwire and Sosa are being retroactively vilified for something the league let happen. Bonds was never formally convicted or charged with anything more than obstruction of justice. Sosa was the only one of the three who was ever suspended for performance enhancing measures, and that was only because of a corked bat later in his career that the commissioner could not ignore.
If a baseball player uses steroids, he should be punished, but not because it says anything about his character or his respect for the game. He broke the rules and he probably didn't do it out of spite. In all likelihood, he did it because he was rehabbing a nagging injury, he was getting old, or he wanted to be remembered as one of the all-time greats. I don't have a problem with steroid users until they get caught, and I don't have a problem with them once they serve their suspensions for breaking the rules.
There's clearly an extra stigma attached to steroid-users, and that might be the root of the problem. Steroid users become great, those who don't are simply good enough. Players are not going to suddenly stop looking for competitive advantages. Don't punish players from history for the league's lack of enforcement. If they created such a black mark on the sport, then prevent it from ever happening again.
1.Even though he was still second in his own division to Albert Pujols
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2. See what I did there? Right back to the Davis discussion - a player with one exceptional year is now extremely suspect, but since it was in 1961 Maris must have been clean
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I think you're arguing that athletes who use steroids are being treated or thought about unfairly, in relation to the pot-head or the casual pre-test cram-session Aderall user since they're not really good for the body, but at the end of the day, it's their body, and if they want to break it that's their business. Here's the problem though:
ReplyDeleteAthletes are public figures.
(I know that comes as a bit of a surprise since it's not like there are several 24 hour-sports-all-the-time TV channels, but there it is.) Being a public figure brings with it certain responsibilities. Whether players want to admit it or not, they are role models for children. Whether they should be role models or not is immaterial, the fact remains that kids look up to these players with the intent to emulate them. And as amusing as it might be to see a Patrick Kane passed out on a bar table, or to hear that Plaxico Burress shot himself in the thigh because he thought it was a good idea to bring a gun to a night club tucked it into his wasteband, (idiot), some kids see that and think that that's acceptable behavior - if you're an athlete. And so, kids get the idea that when (not if, when) THEY grow up to be professional athletes they can do whatever they want. They don't need to learn how to read because they'll just make the NFL (probably not) and they can just pay someone to do all that "smart" stuff for them.
Since they are role models, steroid use by professional athletes just shows kids that it's ok to cheat to get ahead if you can't do it on your own. What happens to other people who have cheated to get ahead? *cough* Madoff *cough* This country legally frowns on cheating when large amounts of money are concerned. How much does A-Rod make? $275 mill over 10 years? Though for an athlete, even if you get caught, so what? You're already a millionaire. "Fine, I'll sit around for half a season and then I get my job back. Maybe I'll catch up on Psych." We're teaching kids to grow up with a lack of common sense and an unhealthy disregard for the rules that will end up getting them seriously screwed up, or in prison. The reason players like Sosa, McGuire and Bonds are being retroactively vilified is because baseball knows that it can't be seen to condone "role models" who have cheated to get ahead.
And this is all without mentioning the whole, "kids will start using steroids at a young age so that THEIR bodies can fall apart too" thing...
Steroid are muscle enhancers and can only give you great results if you follow the prescription.
ReplyDeleteSteroids Canada