The Year That Changed Baseball
Being a sports fan in November can be a bit overwhelming. Everything is happening, but nothing is actually being resolved. To be a sports writer with absolute freedom over your work in November is enough to make Stephen A. Smith blush.
The NFL is in the heart of the season, but far from the playoffs. College Football is gearing up for the bowl games but still lost in a format deprived of a playoff system. The NBA and NHL have just begun their seasons with nothing of consequence decided yet and baseball free agency is in full swing, but the best is yet to come at the winter meetings. There is one sport reaching its finish line, however. NASCAR’s Jimmy Johnson is bearing down on his third consecutive championship, but there’s no need to worry: I don’t plan on switching my attention to NASCAR—this is a baseball website after all.
But, this article is about none of the above. This article is about a topic that has been almost fully exhausted in print and for which I have no reason to write about. But, after all, it’s November and I have absolute freedom to write about whatever strikes me. The story of this article begins back in 1998.
Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire (feature left in a SI cover) were in a dead heat for the single season homerun title. All eyes, whether of baseball fans or not, eagerly flipped to the sports section every morning to see who had hit a homerun last night. The fact that two men were chasing the decades old record in the same year was the best coincidence to ever happen to baseball. But, as we know now, it wasn’t really a coincidence. Sports fans, media, and executives conveniently looked past Sosa’s and McGuire’s godly muscles and rather focused on the result. They even were named “Sportsmen of the Year” by Sports Illustrated. No one suspected foul play and everyone realized that the homerun race and revitalized baseball. The race was the best thing to happen to baseball in recent memory.
Years later….
BALCO
Barry Bonds
Human Growth Hormones
Drug Testing
Anabolic Steroids
The Mitchell Report
Now we know.
Or do we? How much does the public really know about steroids? The common perception is that there are two results if a baseball player chooses to take steroids: (a) The steroids shrink his testicles to the size of two small marbles and (b) The player’s muscles grow inversely proportionately to his testicles. Only one of which is true—and unfortunately for users, A is true. Anabolic Steroids do not swell muscles. You don’t simply pop a needle in your behind and watch as your muscles double in mass. It’s not nearly that easy.
What steroids do is make it possible for players to work out longer and harder. By punishing those with massive muscles (who took steroids) the MLB is, in effect, punishing those who worked the hardest at their job. Should those who work harder, and are willing to do what it takes to be the best they can be, really be punished for it?
There’s no doubt that players using steroids need to be punished. Steroids are, after all, illegal. I’m not arguing for steroids. What I am arguing, however, is that steroids have been good for baseball. Without steroids the 1998 homerun race could have never happened and countless profit since then would have been lost. Although steroids are often touted as “ruining” baseball, I’m sure that behind the scenes, the executives in charge of the budget in the MLB Front Office are grinning their way to the bank. After all, they know better than anyone how much money the MLB has made because of steroids. I’d be willing to bet it’s more than most think.
When Sosa and McGuire juiced up and started smashing homeruns, they did so for completely selfish reasons. I’m sure they never comprehended how they would change baseball. It’s well documented that Barry Bonds first began taking steroids after seeing McGuire and desiring the media coverage he received. McGuire and Sosa popularized various performance enhancing drugs and in doing so, revolutionized baseball training. The whole steroid mess can be summarized succinctly:
Sosa and McGuire cheated as they chased the homerun record, and I’m sure the MLB couldn’t be happier.
The NFL is in the heart of the season, but far from the playoffs. College Football is gearing up for the bowl games but still lost in a format deprived of a playoff system. The NBA and NHL have just begun their seasons with nothing of consequence decided yet and baseball free agency is in full swing, but the best is yet to come at the winter meetings. There is one sport reaching its finish line, however. NASCAR’s Jimmy Johnson is bearing down on his third consecutive championship, but there’s no need to worry: I don’t plan on switching my attention to NASCAR—this is a baseball website after all.
But, this article is about none of the above. This article is about a topic that has been almost fully exhausted in print and for which I have no reason to write about. But, after all, it’s November and I have absolute freedom to write about whatever strikes me. The story of this article begins back in 1998.
Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire (feature left in a SI cover) were in a dead heat for the single season homerun title. All eyes, whether of baseball fans or not, eagerly flipped to the sports section every morning to see who had hit a homerun last night. The fact that two men were chasing the decades old record in the same year was the best coincidence to ever happen to baseball. But, as we know now, it wasn’t really a coincidence. Sports fans, media, and executives conveniently looked past Sosa’s and McGuire’s godly muscles and rather focused on the result. They even were named “Sportsmen of the Year” by Sports Illustrated. No one suspected foul play and everyone realized that the homerun race and revitalized baseball. The race was the best thing to happen to baseball in recent memory.Years later….
BALCO
Barry Bonds
Human Growth Hormones
Drug Testing
Anabolic Steroids
The Mitchell Report
Now we know.
Or do we? How much does the public really know about steroids? The common perception is that there are two results if a baseball player chooses to take steroids: (a) The steroids shrink his testicles to the size of two small marbles and (b) The player’s muscles grow inversely proportionately to his testicles. Only one of which is true—and unfortunately for users, A is true. Anabolic Steroids do not swell muscles. You don’t simply pop a needle in your behind and watch as your muscles double in mass. It’s not nearly that easy.
What steroids do is make it possible for players to work out longer and harder. By punishing those with massive muscles (who took steroids) the MLB is, in effect, punishing those who worked the hardest at their job. Should those who work harder, and are willing to do what it takes to be the best they can be, really be punished for it?
There’s no doubt that players using steroids need to be punished. Steroids are, after all, illegal. I’m not arguing for steroids. What I am arguing, however, is that steroids have been good for baseball. Without steroids the 1998 homerun race could have never happened and countless profit since then would have been lost. Although steroids are often touted as “ruining” baseball, I’m sure that behind the scenes, the executives in charge of the budget in the MLB Front Office are grinning their way to the bank. After all, they know better than anyone how much money the MLB has made because of steroids. I’d be willing to bet it’s more than most think.
When Sosa and McGuire juiced up and started smashing homeruns, they did so for completely selfish reasons. I’m sure they never comprehended how they would change baseball. It’s well documented that Barry Bonds first began taking steroids after seeing McGuire and desiring the media coverage he received. McGuire and Sosa popularized various performance enhancing drugs and in doing so, revolutionized baseball training. The whole steroid mess can be summarized succinctly:
Sosa and McGuire cheated as they chased the homerun record, and I’m sure the MLB couldn’t be happier.
