AROD, Steroids and Major League Baseball
February 9, 2009The poster child for MLB Alex Rodriguez (AROD), the centerpiece of the New York Yankee organization is now part of an exclusive group of players – those to test positive for steroid usage. Sports Illustrated has reported that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids back in 2003. How the face of MLB has changed again.
It was alright when Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds and Jose Canseco were labeled cheaters. Rogers Clemens hit MLB hard and now the news about Alex Rodriguez just drops an A-BOMB on MLB. Alex is the best player to play this sport in the past 25 years if not all time. He was the player that was going to cleans MLB record books, but now he is no better than Barry Bonds or Mark McGuire.
Jose Canseco said, “Alex used steroids,” and no one believed him. There is one thing that Jose may know and that’s steroids and steroid use. Back in 2005, Jose Canseco’s book Juiced made it clear that steroid use ran rampid in MLB. Everyone in baseball labeled Canseco as ‘the bad guy.’ They said he was just a bad guy out to make some money, but Jose had a story to tell and as more time passes, more truth comes out of his two books. The blame for this should be passed all over the place, from Coaches, GM, sports-writers to all players in the sport. For anyone who spent extended time in the gym, the writing was on the wall, many top athletes used and continue to use performance-enhancing drugs. I personally think back to the eighty’s and remembering hearing stories about athletes like Lenny Dykstra who added 15 lbs of lean muscle over the summer. Again, anyone who has been around knows that adding 15 lbs of lean muscle in a short time period and still maintaining 8-9% body fat is very hard to do and that steroids were usually helping out – especially in the late 80’s. I am in no way saying that Lenny Dykstra used any performance enhancing drugs, as I can not prove this or any drug use, but when an athlete achieves these sorts of gains in short time periods, they normally have some kind of assistance and we are not talking trainers.
The point of this article is not to point fingers or to say ballplayers are bad, but to put things in perspective. Many athletes use or have used performance enhancing drugs. From the cocaine Mets to the ‘BASH’ brothers drugs have been part of MLB for many years. The drugs have changed, but in the end athletes will always look to gain that edge over their competition. MLB now tests for many different drugs that were never tested for in the past. They have a set of rules in place to deal with the offenders and address players that look to get around the rules. But, MLB along with the media needs to accept their past. They cannot go back and change this and this witch-hunt will only continue to hurt the game of baseball.
With Clemens and AROD we now have two of the best players to ever play the game at their respective positions both caught steroid users. Doesn’t this actually tell you as the fan that both sides were in fact on a even or fair playing field? Lets not be naïve here, these are just the big names but the Guerermo Moto’s and the Rafael Palmiero’s of the world are more common than you think. So, when it’s all said and done – who actually cares? We the fan – I know. We can put a big asterix on the steroid years, but we need to accept all of the accomplishments that were achieved. Both McGuire and Bonds were great ballplayers before their steroid use. Did their productivity go through the roof with the help of science – yes, but the same can and will be said of many pitchers and other players in MLB. I am not going to boar anyone with the numbers cause in the end it just doesn’t matter. The point is plain and clear, we need to move on or tarnish baseball forever.
The Views and Opinions Expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect those of OnTheBlack.com
13 Responses to AROD, Steroids and Major League Baseball
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Lou Dukes says:
Steriods or not, I’m still watching the game
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Ronald Presta says:
Mr. Cooper. First thank you for letting me air out on this topic, but I can not agree with you on this. If this test was given to all active players in MLB then maybe I just might agree, but that was not the case. This was just a test for MLB to determine if there was a ‘steriod’ problem in the game. This list should have been destroyed after the results were in and sharing this information will only continue to hurt the game and achievements made to date by all players. Sharing this information will just hurt the players who were using substances that are now banned from MLB. In the end, we need to move on. The rules are in place and let MLB govern their organization.
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disneydavid says:
Mr. Cooper I agree with Ron here.
Revealing the rest of the names would have been the right course of action from the start if this journalist truly was interested in having the “truth” be heard, but to do it now will serve no purpose. MLB should be embarrased by the way this list was not protected in the first place, and they owe it to their players to protect their anonymity going forward.
What happened to A-Rod with regards to this situation is unfortunate, but is the direct result of over ambitious journalists trying to make a name for themselves. They are not interested in getting the “truth” to the public, nor are the concerned with the “integrity of the game”….they are solely concerned with getting the same fame and notoriety that they fault A-Rod for chasing.
If they named Homer Bush as the lone player out of the list of 104 there wouldn’t even be close to the same circus that has popped up over that name being A-Rod. Similarly, no one would remember the reporter who outed Homer Bush, but they will never forget the one that fingered Alex Rorriguez.
These reporters are doing the equivalent of shooting themself with a steroid filled needle by only naming that one, big name player. They are looking for a short cut to that fame and notoriety they so desperately crave without putting in any effort to get there.
I think more scrutiny should be placed on the media and the means by which they go about collecting their information…I am sure they are way less than “forthcoming” with their methods there as well. -
disneydavid – you raised some good points. My concern is that baseball will never be able to move on from this. I thought MLB was at a point where we could put the roids stuff behind us, and then this AROD story came out. I think if the rest of the list does not come out, we will have people speculating for years. I say put the list out now, kill the speculation and move on. BTW – thanks for you comments and hope you become a regular on the site.
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ericberc says:
List or no list…cheating or not cheating. Why does there have to be a rule established by MLB to say taking steroids is bad. If i recall, there is a LAW that says taking anabolic steriods in this manner is illegal. MLB has gone the route of the WWE.
but maybe i should be more forgiving…maybe it’s the fantasy leagues that i participate in that add to the pressures that these professional atheletes endure. The pressure that results in them taking illegal substances so they rank high in HR’s on Yahoo’s Fantasy Baseball Rankings. BTW, i think A-Rod is still a top 3 pick in any league.
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riuccio says:
Your right ronzo, who cares if they do roids. The way I see it , anyone who is willing to shorten his life 15 to 20 years and shrink his testicles just to entertain me is ok in my book.
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Ron – 1st off. Stop calling me “Mr. Cooper”. I’m not 80yrs old
If this was just a test for MLB to determine if there was a ’steriod’ problem in the game, then names should have never been collected. The test should have been blind and there would have never been a list. I put that on the union.ericberc – agreed. It’s against the law.
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Again, I disagree. The names were collected so that MLB could inform any player who failed the test, that they did in fact fail. This would be helpful as many MLB players “don’t know what they are putting into their bodies.” Then, when they put a standard testing policy in places, those players that did fail prior would know (in advance) they may need to adjust thier supplements to fit the new and every changing rules in MLB. So, the intentions were fine, but execution was far from great. This list should have been destroyed, but the players union dropped the ball.
And in regards to my man riuccio – I agree 100% they are entertainers and I am entertained by the 250lb player banging 500 ft. HRs. Life span shortened a few years and bank book grows substantially.
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gigla says:
Here we go again! I have to say I was neither suprised nor upset by the news of arods name being dropped on this list. But where are the other 103 names? and this wasnt all the players it was just a test case, so that has to make you wonder…just a good old witch hunt by a reporter more interested in selling her book in 6 months than finding out who is really doping as well as arod! This guys stats should tell the story he has been a sonsistant performer his whole life. I am sure after his career is over with and we take out the 3 yrs at texas and he still has enough homeruns to break the hr record people will have to give him his due.
Its a sad state of baseball to say that everyone is using steroids but its true..and your point about lenny dykstra is right on! remember he wasnt half the player he was until he left the mets and started juicing with another cheat darren daulton remember him? that philly team was a bunch of juicers.but lets face facts…they all were and are, baseball turned a blind eye to this for decades not years and this is all there fault no one elses so..to hear selig say he may punish arod because it was illegal…”give me a break” then your stort should shut down because more than half the players on rosters today used, wish baseball would start actually being truthful with themselves and stop acting like the kid at the back of the bus that makes u get up outta his seat until the busdriver tells him to stop, my point is they act like there only wrong until they gte caught…hahaha…pretty pathetic. -
Gigla, I love your enthusiasm on this topic and I agree with many of hte points you made. In the end, if its not steriods, it will be HGH, when MLB learns how to test for HGH, then it will be DRUG Z. In the end, the players MLB/NFL etc who make MILLIONS will always find drugs and ways to get around any and all testing that get put into place. With that said, I strongly believe that ML Ballplayers are not using streiod and if they are, they will get caught in time, but they are using other performance enhancing drugs (like HGH), which will give them the advantage they need and allow them to continue to earn and life the ‘life of fame.’
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Playsnotwatchsports says:
It’s my belief that there should be truth in adverting. Baseball has alway been seen as a sport for kids to look up to, is it fair to hold all player to these expectations? No, we pay them to wow us and they do. But when they get caught we (the fans) love to rips them down from there pedestal. Baseball is no different from any sport that expect high level of excellence from their players, differing only in false obligations of honesty.
I believe sport in general would benefit from a Juiced and natural category. This would give people who cared some what of a guarantee and those who don’t the games they will love.
I personally could care less about what’s happening in baseball or most sports, as for me the real fun is in playing and I don’t feel any pressure to keep up with the Juicer! So I say what ever!
xman
Plays sports not watch sports
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xman, thanks for the comments. Your opinion on the topic is very unique. I am not sure if this two league system actually works, but I do like the concept of ‘truth in advertising.’ I think that MLB is working to get to that place. They have in place a set of rules to limit the abuse of banned substances. They are making progress – small steps or not.
Nice write up Ron. At this point I think MLB should come out with the remaining names on the list, get this over with and move on. Your right, we either need to move on or be stuck in this forever.