Steroids in Baseball…When will it end?

It all started with one man Jose Canseco, and one book “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big.” The book came out in 2005 and since then their has been a lot turmoil. Since then the Mitchell Report came out, baseball implemented suspensions for anyone who tested positive and there’s a mysterious list from 2003 with all the names that tested positive for performing enhancing drugs.

Lets break this down starting with who Canseco named in his book. The names included Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Jason Giambi, Iván Rodríguez and Juan González. Palmeiro was found guilty, Giambi admitted and McGwire is in denial. People he named in his second book include Jason Grimsley. Alex Rodriguez, and Albert Belle. We know how the A-Rod thing turned out. He admitted to using in 2003 while he was with Texas. Is Canseco the only credible source? No the government also released the Mitchell Report.

Here are just some of the names that were in the Mitchell Report. The names include Barry Bonds, Garry Sheffield, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Miguel Tejada, Troy Glaus and many others. The report names 89 MLB players. So out of these players Barry Bonds can’t be found guilty because his trainer Greg Anderson won’t testify. Sheffield use to live with Bonds so he is in the mix of controversy. Andy Pettite admitted to using and Roger Clemens is in denial as well. Then again Roger has other issues to deal with as well.

Then their is New York Times who has a list of over 100 players who tested positive in 2003. Their have only been 8 names released that include Sammy Sosa and the most recent Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. If you remember 2003 was the year the Red Sox won their first World series in 87 years, so should it be tainted? No. Sammy Sosa hit 50 or more home runs four years in a row and has a total of 609 home runs. Should that have an Astrix by it? No. Barry Bonds who holds most home runs all time and in a single season. Should it be stricken from the record books? No.

At first when all these steroid allegations came out baseball had no policy, no consequences, and no enforcement of any kind. If you think about the steroid era lasted about 15-20 years because things started getting cleaned up in 2005 and experts say it started in 1990. It’s obvious certain guys took steroid. McGwire, Sosa and Bonds are obvious ones. Look how small they were when they first started playing. Then look how huge they got over the years. Getting that big doesn’t happen naturally so it’s obvious. To me it’s an era that started because no one cared. It also happened because when baseball went on strike in the mid 90’s they needed something to happen to get baseball in the mainstream again. So in 1998 you had McGwire and Sosa break Maris’ record. No one suspected anything because it was great for baseball, and it got people back into baseball. In 2001, after 9/11 happened Barry Bonds put an entire country on his back chasing McGwires record. No one said anything because it helped the country, it helped baseball.

What I am starting figure out is that the only people who care about this, are the people in the media and the government because thats what this country does. They focus on the negative and not the positive. I agree with the fact that steroids should be out of sports but I don’t agree with condemning players like Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, and even Bonds. They all played in the same era. Let them be in the Hall of Fame. Like I said it baseballs fault for not having a policy until 2005 so how can it be cheating if their is no policy or no rules regarding the matter.

The one thing that bothers me is that the New York Times gets all these names illegally because according to the players union the names are a part of court sealed documents that are confidential. So how does the Times get these names? Simple the lawyers who are involved with baseball and the investigations with baseball. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is right. They just need to release all the names from the 2003 doping list and get it over with. I personally think the lawyers who have the names are getting paid a lot of money to release one name at a time. They think they are going to systematically destroy baseball but what they need to understand is that the fans of the game don’t care. They will continue to buy tickets to watch their teams and favorite players.

The one thing that surprises me the most is that the lawyers who release these names to the NY Times and Jose Canseco aren’t dead. Why do I say that? Because these guys make a lot of money and they wanted to they could put a hit out on these guys for trying to destroy their names, legacies, reputations and prevent them from making a living. Guys like Clemens, Sosa, Bonds and McGwire have had their names and legacies tarnished. Guys like Ortiz, Rodriguez, and Manny are well on their way to the same fate especially Manny who was suspended this year for testing positive. I am serious when I saw I am surprised Canseco is still alive.

It’s pretty sad that one guy, who is a complete idiot and psychopath has that much credibility. All he was trying to do was get even with baseball and make as much money as possible. Guess what? He accomplished both and the media and government couldn’t leave well enough alone. I would like to end by saying that I am glad that sports are cleaning up and being played fair and on equal ground. However those who took steroids before the any policies were implemented should not be punished and not keep them out of any Hall of Fames. It is each leagues fault for not implementing policies when policies should have been put in place long ago. I hope these reports, and these names who are supposedly on a list end soon because I for one am sick of hearing about it. Let these athletes play and quit trying to hold their past against them. The steroid era is dead but it won’t be officially dead until the media shuts up about it. When will that happen? Hopefully sooner then later.