JonathanDavis

April6,2016
CasualArgument
SteroidAbuseinBaseball

Steroidabuseisahugeissueinsportsanditneedstoberesolved.Athletesall
acrosstheworldaretakingtheseperformanceenhancingdrugstohelpthemgetbetter
andstronger.Majorityofthetimetheyaretakenillegally.Youcannottakesteroids
legallyunlessyouhaveaprescriptionforthem.Baseballremainstheposterchildfor
athletesshamedbytheiruseofperformanceenhancingdrugs,(Wright).Ifirsthand
believethatbaseballisdefinitelytheonesportthatabusesperformanceenhancingdrugs
themost.Ihavewitnessedplayersusingsteroidsfirsthand.Thereasoningbehindsteroid
abuseinbaseballistoone,becomebiggerandstrongerandtwo,tomakethemostmoney
possibleduringonescareer.
TheSteroidsEraof1994through2004hadamajorimpactonthegameof
baseball.Manyfanswouldgetsoexcitedthattheirfavoriteplayerswerehitting
unbelievablenumbers,butfinallyitcaughtuptothethemandbaseballfinallystartedto
crackdownontheproblemtheyhadgoingon.Steroidswerebannedin1991butdidnot
testmajorleagueplayerstill2003(Grossman,Kimsey,Moreen,Owings).Withthat
beingsaidplayersbreakingrecordsleftandrightandthiswasallbecauseofsteroiduse.
Thefirstreasonforbaseballplayersabusingsteroidsisbecausetheywantto
becomebiggerandstronger.Anabolicsteroids,commonlycalledroids,juice,hypeor

pump,arepowerfulprescriptiondrugs,(health.ny.gov).Peopleuseanabolicsteroidsto
enhancetheirperformance.Anabolicactuallymeansbuildingbodytissue.Sowhen
baseballplayerswanttogetbiggertheyusethissteroidsotheycanincreasebodymass
andbuildmuscletissue.Thisjustspeedsuptheprocessofanathlete,insteadofdoingit
thecorrect,safe,andlegalwaybygoingtothegymandworkingouttheproperway.Just
lookatthestoryofBarryBonds.Heisaprimeexampleofanabolicsteroidusage.Barry
Bondswentfromweighing185poundsin1991toatotalof228whenhehithisrecordof
73homerunsinoneseason.BarryBondswaschargedwithperjuryandobstructionof
justice.TheindictmentaccusedBondsoflyingabouthisuseofanabolicsteroidsand
otherperformanceenhancingsubstancesBayAreaLaboratoryCooperative,(Bonds).
BarryBondstookmanyriskstogetasbigashedidandheisjustoneofthemany
examplesofMLBplayerstakingsteroidstogetbiggerandstronger.
Thesecondreasoninvolvedinsteroidabuseismoney.Makingbigtimemoneyis
anyMLBplayersdream.Butisitthateasytogetthere?Thebetteroneperformsthe
betterthesalary.AnMLBseasonismadeupof162games,whichmustbeplayedin184
days.Toanynormalhumanbeing,thatisanabsurdamountofgamesplayedinsucha
shortperiodoftime.Youcannotforgetaboutallthespringtrainingandoffseason
conditioningtheyhavetodo.Soplayersneedtomakesurethattheirbodyisintopshape
toperformthebesttheycaneverygame.Somemaythinktheonlywayoutissteroids,so
theytakewhatevertheycantokeepthemattiptopshape.Itisknownthatveteranplayers
willsaythatyoucantplayonjustcoffeeandwater(Berg).Inawaythismakessense
becauseofhowstrenuoustheseasonis,butisitreallyworthharmingyourbody?Inthe

longruntheamountofsteroidsthattheseplayerstakewillharmtheirhealth.
Performanceenhancingdrugsareillegalinbaseballbecausetheybenefitplayerswilling
tojeopardizetheirlongtermhealthwithoutmedicallyadviseddosing...,(Berg).There
needstobeawaythatonecanknowthattheywillmakethemoneytheneedtomake
whichisintheircontracteveniftheyhaveafewoffdays.Itishumantohaveacoupleof
baddays.Thecombinationofwantingtomakesomuchmoneyandhavingsuchalong
seasonisdrivingthesebaseballplayerstotakesteroidsjusttomakeiteasieronthem
duringtheirseason.
AftergoingovertheinformationIhadsearchedandwhatIreallythoughtwere
thereasonsthatsteroidsareabusedespeciallyinthegameofbaseballisduetowantingto
getbiggerandstrongeralongwithwantingtomakeatonofmoney.IfIwereamajor
leaguebaseballplayer,IdonotbelievethatIwouldwanttoharmmybody,butIcan
definitelyseewheretheabusecomesfrom.Themajorleagueneedstolookintowhat
theycandofortheathletestogetthroughsuchalongseasonandhelpthemgettotheir
bestperformingabilitiesthesafeandlegalway.

References
"BondsWeightGainUsedasSteroidEvidencebyMany."Reuters.
ThomsonReuters,16Nov.2007.Web.04Apr.2016.
<http://www.reuters.com/article/usbaseballcrimebondssteroids
idUSN1639833020071116>.

"DepartmentofHealth."AnabolicSteroidsandSports:Winningat
AnyCost.N.p.,03Oct.2008.Web.04Apr.2016.
<https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/1210/>.

Grossman,Mitchell,TimothyKimsey,JoshuaMoreen,andMatthew
Owings."SteroidsandMajorLeagueBaseball."(n.d.):n.pag.BerkelyHaas.
Web.04Apr.2016.
<http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/rjmorgan/mba211/steroids%20and%20major%20league
%20baseball.pdf>.

Wright,Heather."The10MostNotoriousSteroidUsersinSports
History."BleacherReport.N.p.,13Apr.2009.Web.04Apr.2016.
<http://bleacherreport.com/articles/155381toptennotorioussteroidusers>.