Baseball is my favorite sport and, because of that, I can't avoid this topic any longer. Steroids have plagued this sport since the late 1980s and the league is only now starting to do something about it.
I've tried to find another topic to write about, but every time I try to look for something, I'm drawn into steroids. ESPN The Magazine has put together an enlightening report on how steroids have affected the game over the last 18-20 years.
Up until last year, Barry Bonds' record 73 homers was one of the greatest highlights of the game, rather than the nadir of the sport. In reality, the 2001 season for Barry Bonds was the beginning of the end for baseball's credibility.
The media had questioned players bulking up back in 1998 when Big Mac had been caught with androstenedione, but the glory of breaking the home run record overshadowed the fact that the means to an end might have been against the rules. Everybody was forced to acknowledge steroids when the San Francisco Chronicle printed secret grand jury testimony from the BALCO case that Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield had unknowingly used steroids and Jason Giambi admittedly used the illegal performance-enhancing substances. That happened in December of last year.
Now almost a year removed, penalties introduced by the commissioner's office has a 10-day suspension for a first offense, 30 days for a second offense, and 60 days for a third. We can all list two or three players who have been suspended for steroids (Alex Sanchez, Juan Rincon, Ryan Franklin) under the new policy.
Commissioner Bud Selig made an intelligent move by bringing Hall of Famers to Congress with him in May to suggest stiffer penalties (50 games, 100 games, lifetime ban). And home runs significantly decreased this season, with teams hitting 434 fewer home runs in sum for an average decrease of 14 dingers per team.
Still, I cannot realistically look back on the past 15 years of baseball history and say with a clean conscience that they were legitimate. In 2001, Luis Gonzalez increased his home run count from 31 to 57 by reportedly changing his batting stance. He ended up leading the Diamondbacks to a title. Matt Stairs hit 38 dingers in 1999 but hasn't reached more than 21 since then. Brady Anderson hit 50 home runs in 1995, but never hit more than 24 before or after that season.
The example which hurts the most comes from my favorite team, the Philadelphia Phillies. Lenny Dykstra's 1993 near-MVP campaign has all signs pointing to steroids. His home runs jumped to 19 after being in single digits for the previous seven seasons and his slugging percentage went up 80 points. How would you feel about the 2004 Red Sox if you knew Manny and Big Papi were juicing and that Schilling was injecting himself during the season, causing the ankle injury?
Do the last 15 years deserve an asterisk? I am in favor of one. There have been at least three MVPs (Caminiti in 1996, Canseco in 1988, Giambi in 2000) admittedly on steroids. How many more are there? Ivan Rodriguez is linked. We all know about Mr. 7-time-MVP Barry Bonds. Juan Gonzalez is another likely abuser. What about Sammy "Will cork for food" Sosa who is now out of the job in Baltimore? His four seasons of hitting 50-plus home runs all came after the age of 30, when players generally begin to decline.
The Oakland Athletics made three World Series trips with what was reportedly an anabolic dream team. The San Diego Padres in the mid-90s are another suspected steroid hub. What other teams might have been built by the needle? We all know about the Caminitis, the Palmeiros, and the Giambis. But who else is out there that hasn't come forward?
We'll never know the full truth. And people can toss around allegations forever. But what bothers me most is not that people cheated; it's that some people won't acknowledge that there was a problem with the game. Sure, players have cheated in different ways for decades (doctoring a ball, corking a bat), but taking anabolic steroids to enhance performance is not only cheating, it's illegal in the United States and damaging to the human body.
The stigma steroids attach to successful athletes is even more disturbing. How do we know that Andruw Jones didn't look for something to enhance his power this season? He also claims to have altered his batting stance. What about Adrian Beltre's career year last year and subsequent incredible drop off this year? Will we ever be able to view success as a sign of athletic prowess rather than the mark of a cheater?
And in the ESPN report, Victor Conte alleges that players may already have moved on to oral steroids that are harder to detect. They leave your body faster but still produce the same effect.
I'll leave you with this: Barry Bonds put together four of the greatest statistical seasons of all time, and each one came after he turned 35. As much as it hurts me to say this, Roger Maris will always be my home run champion.
