Risk Vs Reward: Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs

ENC 1102
Ms. Politte
February 27, 2014

Risk vs. Reward: Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs

The steroids era in not only Major League Baseball, but in all professional sports really began in the early 1990s. In MLB, the commissioner, Byron Johnson, turned a blind eye to the players who were using PED’s because he wanted to draw fans back to the stands to see more homeruns. This worked for a while and then the use became illegal. Then MLB started testing their players in the early 2000s because they found that PED’s were harmful to the players and it was taking away from the sport. Today, most of the professional players who use PED’s do so for quick gain of fortune and fame. This is one of the many reasons why professional baseball
players continue to use PED’s although it is highly illegal in MLB. The first major issue involving PED’s came in the early 2000’s with the BALCO controversy. This controversy involved top baseball players of that year such as Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, and Gary Sheffield. Jason Giambi admitted to using PED’s before talking to BALCO and that he had taken PED’s provided by them as well. BALCO was a clinic that had provided these players with PED’s. BALCO was the clinic that created the “cream” and the “clear” which are steroids that were made to be undetectable by the test that were available for steroid usage. Quick fame resulting from the use of PED’s is a major factor in why professional baseball players continue to use them.
The risk that comes with PED’s is not important to these players; they just care about the fame. One important risk from using PED’s is that they can cause permanent physical illness and psychotic episodes that include aggression, violence, and rapid mood swings. Some rewards that these players see from using PED’s is increased muscle mass, increased performance, increased endurance, and a feeling of invincibility. Other side effects can include a plethora of problems, the worst being liver damage or cancer. More risks can include acne, excessive hair growth or loss, testicular atrophy (shrinking),
etc. The top three most controversial players in major league baseball concerning PEDS’ are Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, and George Mitchell.
Alex Rodriguez is the most recent player to be caught using PED’s and is facing the consequences of a long term suspension. When Alex Rodriguez admitted to the use of PED’s, it shocked the baseball world. He was one of the most admired baseball players in major league baseball in terms of his skill. Roger Clemens was one of the biggest disappointment when the public found out about his use of PED’s because he was one of the most promising players of the time, as he was a 7 time Cy Young Award winner. Anabolic androgenic steroids are a class of synthetic drugs that are designed to mimic the effects of hormone testosterone and are the most commonly used PED among major league baseball players. In sports, players tend to take mega doses of steroids which are sometimes 10-100 times the normal dosage that would be given for some medical conditions and they often use more than one type at a
time. The professional baseball player who do use PED’s get them from sports clinics and sometime even the black market. When they buy them from these places, the players follow the directions that the seller provides them or they take instructions from friends who have used them. This can cause serious harm because they might not be using them correctly and this could have a negative effect on them. A lot of the time the players are given PED’s from their personal trainers, sometimes without even knowing, but they are normally fully aware of what they are being given. The use of PED’s alters the way that the game of baseball should be. It alters the records that some players achieve, because without the use of PED’s they would never have a record in the first place. Children look up to professional baseball players as idols, and many want to be just like them one day. When they find out that they have cheated through the use of PED’s, they are sometimes devastated. Although there are a lot of players who get caught using PED’s, it is hard to catch every single player who has used them. The percentages of how many MLB players have actually used PED’s varies drastically. Jose Conseco estimated that 85% of players used them, Ken Caminiti estimated that 50% of players used them, and the MLB’s survey indicated that 5-7% of players actually used them, but these numbers are unlikely to be reliable. Alex Rodriguez is one of the most recent players to be caught using PED’s. He has three MVP awards, 14 All-Star selections, and two record-setting contracts. He first tested positive for the use of PED’s in 2006. He was not suspended for this test because a first-time offender receives a warning instead of a suspension. Right now Alex Rodriguez is appealing a suspension that would deny him playing for about one and a half seasons, or 211 games. If his suspension goes into effect it would be the longest PED-related suspension in MLB history. He says that he hasn’t used PED’s since 2006 and he called the accusation by the MLB “disgusting” and “laughable.” He also leaked documents that linked Ryan Braun, a professional baseball player, to the biogenesis facility, that Alex Rodriguez is accused of going to, saying that Ryan Braun has also used PED’s. Another famous player who has tested positive for the use of PED’s was Roger Clemens. He felt that the reward of using PED’s would be great, but it turned out to be just the opposite. He would have been an ideal candidate for the Hall of Fame with seven Cy Young Awards and 354 games played, but his use of PED’s took him out of the running to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Barry Bonds was another famous player who tested positive for the use of PED’s. He first tested positive for use in 2000. In 2000 he hit a career high of 49 homeruns and the next season he set a major league baseball record of 73 home runs. The cause of his major increase in home runs was his use of PED’s. In 2003, he told a grand jury that he did not “knowingly” use PED’s or growth hormones. These three players were icons of the league and were very popular players. When the public found out about their use of PED’s, they instantly became outcasts. Young players looked at them as role models, but now they look at them as cheaters, liars, and untrustworthy people. This destroyed their reputations, but that’s what they get for trying to cheat and take the honest competitiveness out of the game. Professional baseball players continue to use performance enhancing drugs because they like the quick fame that they can get, how strong they can be, etc. The players who use PED’s push aside the risks that PED’s can do to them in order to get better contracts, become famous, and to become a better all-around player. These players don’t realize how using PED’s can ruin their career and turn fans and teammates against them.

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