No End in Sight for the Raging Steroid Controversy

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

You might say that baseball's steroid controversy is raging. 

Before "'roid rage" became a sound byte, I remember a pitcher named of John Rocker who had a smack down with a reporter in public.  At the time, baseball fans were muttering, "He needs an anger management course." 

It turns out that Rocker is on the long list of steroid users.  So is Rocket Roger Clemens.  When I read his name on the list, I wondered what in the world he would say to his kids. 

The next day, Clemens answered my question by issuing a public statement denying that he used illegal drugs.  Aaah, so that's what he told his kids.

Andy Pettitte was quick to offer this unusual apology.  "I'm sorry I used steroids for two days."

I expect the next round of denials to be something like:  "I only used steroids for two minutes."

The steroid controversy is big news in baseball, but only moderate news in cycling (Floyd Landis) and track (Marion Jones).  Juice was only passing news in the wrestling world when Chris Benoit died.

I suspect we're going to hear a lot more about 'roids in football and basketball as this thing plays out.  Regardless of the sport, many athletes will blame personal steroid use on their trainers and doctors.  Many of the accused have already said things like, "I didn't know what was in the syringe."

The "I didn't know" defense is compelling.  Now that I think about it, I can't be sure what's in the syringe my doctor uses when he gives me a shot.

Getting the "shooters" to play ball isn't going to be easy until prosecutors start offering immunity.  Barry Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson, has been jailed twice already for refusing to cooperate with authorities.

Comments

[Rob Caruso]

Sam is so right!!!
Famous Cardinals pitcher and 30-game winner, Bob Gibson said if steroids were available when he was playing, he would have taken them. Anything to get an edge. He says Denny McClain would have, too. If MLB can't detect it or won't enforce it, they can't go back in time and penalize players for it. Clemens deserves to be in the hall of fame and if this keeps him out it's a damn shame. MLB should test for it enforce it moving forward. They shouldn't go back in time and play "witch hunt" after the fact for things that were in some cases legal at the time.

[Sam Hoff]

I think we all need to put ourselves in a position of an athlete who is trying to become financially set for life, by getting a long term guaranteed Multi-million dollar contract.
There are about 7500 players in the USA that get paid to play baseball (Majors and Minors) with significant turnover every year. Of these 7500, much less than 5% are financially set for life.
In order to be one of those select few, you and your family would probably do some desperate things. I don’t doubt if I was a 25 year old decent guy at AAA and I had to get to the majors and start producing soon, I would try anything possible to get to the next level.
Going forward, MLB should test like crazy, they should do blood test to detect HGH (which cannot be detected with MLB’s current policy of urine tests), watch the players like hawks, and punish those that cheat.
But MLB and fans must also realize that for the last 20 years, eyes have been looking the other way, and winks and nods have been passed off as testing. To persecute and ostracize players for trying to get an advantage under that atmosphere is hypocritical.

-Sam