Zachery Stephen Julie Ramon English 101 November 20, 2012 Hall of Fame vs. Steroids Seven-time gold glove winner, 298 career average, 762 home runs (all time record holder), 2558 RBI's, ten time all star, four time most valuable player, and 71 home runs in a season (major league record) considered by many the greatest hitter that ever lived no doubt this man should be a hall of famer. Right? According to most experts no because the man listed above is Barry Bonds who played in baseballs "steroid era" and is believed to have used performance enhancing drugs. According to buysteroids.net there is no exact and clear-cut definition for it , but loosely speaking, it is any substance intended to improve a particular physical skill-set or performance, particularly in the realm of sport competitions (Enhancing Drugs). The "steroid era" in
Baseball has long been the pastime in American sports and the steroid use has caused an upset due to the tradition of the game (Carise). Players see using steroids as an artificial advantage compared to the earliest days of the sport (Carise). Players have made statements, such as “…in 2003, David “Boomer” Wells claimed that up to 40 percent of major leaguers use steroids” (Carise). In 2005, Jose Canseco who was a known steroid user for his entire career said, “…that up to 80 percent of major leaguers had taken steroids” (Carise). Testing in baseball did not begin until 2003 and steroids did not make Major League Baseball’s banned substance list until 1991 (Carise).
Players are getting payed enough money by the teams to play good in games without using performance enhancing drugs. No teams are paying their players to cheat the game and risk getting cought when they invested in the players. Gary Wadler, a leading expert who serves on the World Anti-Doping Agency's, commented on the MLB drug situation by saying, "I do think in their heart of heart baseball wants to get rid of drugs,” but they're not keeping up. The guys that are cheating are very astute, as we have learned” (Nightengale 1). In this article, the league can’t even come close to keeping up with the drug problem.
In fact, Fehr and the Players Union are also opposed to testing for illegal drugs as they feel that it violates the privacy of the athletes (Leshanski 2). If the union refuses to change its stance and become more receptive to drug testing it is possible that Congress will decide to institute drug testing legislation which undoubtedly would result in years of court battles. As it stands right now Major League Baseball is the only one of the major sports that does not have mandatory drug testing – they even do drug testing in the minor leagues! It is because the minor league players are not eligible for membership in the MLBPA at this point in their careers they cannot be “protected” or shielded by a union that doesn’t give a damn about its members’ health (Verducci 8). In addition to not having a mandatory drug testing policy, presently baseball is the only major sport that does not test for recreational drugs (Verducci 4).
Alex Rodriquez is one of the many players who were tested and had performance enhancing drugs (PED) in his system. Later in 2003 Alex Rodriguez won the Most Valuable Player award and his third consecutive American League home run title. To date Alex Rodriquez has hit 647 career home runs, despite his ridiculous stats I
The only physicians the author interviews in his book involve the topic of genetic doping. How could you write a book on steroids and not interview Harrison Pope, M.D. from Harvard, the leading expert on anabolic steroids? Jendrick dismisses the medical consequences of steroid use, blaming the media for sensationalizing and spreading misinformation about steroids. While I agree that the media uses scare tactics to alarm the public and grab more ratings, his claim that 99% of testicular shrinkage returns to previous size after discontinuation of steroids is more irresponsible.
However, studies have shown that the majority of the public are against the use of steroids in professional sports. The main reason being, that it ruins the integrity of the game and the high standards of sportsmanship and character that come along with being a professional athlete. Barry Bonds and all who have violated the rules and cheated to get to the top, should pay the ramifications and not be allowed into the Hall of Fame, the game’s greatest
o here it is, something Manny Ramirez definitely does not deserve: a way to make it right with the people who supported him most. Latest from Kriegel Make good, Manny: No one is more let down than the good citizens of Mannywood. Maybe Manny should pay them back. No answers: If you're looking for answers on Manny from the Dodgers, stop. All you'll get is an apologist for a cheater.
Babe Ruth "The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime." --Babe Ruth The Great Bambino, the Sultan of Swat, the Babe. These nicknames spark a since of awe of wonder and amazement even 50 years after the person for whom these names applied had died. We know what the man did.
He uses statistics showing, there are billions of dollars put aside for those who get affected by the side effects of the drugs. Elliott shows how Americans are jealous of athletes and they “secretly want to see stars fail”(para 3). Based on these arguments presented, Elliott does a fabulous job convincing the audience that there are problems with drug usage and how easily they are accessible. The author grabs the audience’s attention by claiming how easily drugs are prescribed by doctors or attained via the black market. Elliott uses ample amounts of examples that shows how America is slowly turning to drugs for every short-come presented.