steroids

[johniam]

I have no intention of buying Jose Canseco's book, but all this press does raise the question...steroids: right or wrong?

All sports present some way to cheat. Ty Cobb says in his autobiography that during his playing career (1905-1928) it was actually legal to put any substance on the surface of the baseball (molasses, chewing tobacco, vaseline, etc.) if you were a pitcher, but you couldn't puncture the surface of the ball. He said also that unlike today where a typical baseball game requires the use of 60 balls, back then they tried to make the same ball last 4 games and balls hit into the crowd had to be returned to the playing field. Once a foul ball got wedged between a metal fence and a concrete wall. When the catcher retrieved the ball he noticed it had been punctured. The pitcher enjoyed the results of this and once word got out it became a soap opera for the umpires to calculate who was puncturing the ball: first basemen would have files in their glove and do it between innings, pitchers would wear rings with a sharp edge on them, etc.

The Oakland Raiders teams in the 70s would spray stickem all over the uniforms and gloves of pass receivers to have an advantage. NBA players seem to know how to foul and not always get caught. I suppose with all the money at stake at the top pro levels of each sport that the pressure to cheat here and there is a reality that many will succumb to.

It has been argued that no amount of steroids will teach anyone how to hit a good major league pitch. True, but if someone already knows how to hit a good major league pitch, steroids could certainly make the difference between a fly out to the warning track and a home run. How many times a year?

Mark McGwire gradually built up to his home run totals. He hit 49 his rookie year (1987), had up and down years for the next 10 seasons, hit 52 in '96, 58 in '97, then '70 and '66 for the next 2 yrs before injuries ended his career. Barry Bonds never hit more than 49 until he hit 73 in '01. Hmm. It seems kind of convenient that Sammy Sosa hit over 60 at precisely the same time McGwire did; especially since this feat hadn't been done in 37 yrs....?!?!

IMO all three of those guy took steroids and probably many others. The deaths of Lyle Alzedo (Raiders lineman who admittedly took steroids and died of brain cancer at 43) and Ken Caminitti will send a message to anybody who is tempted to try them, but like drugs and rock stars, this situation will probably have to run its course and that may take awhile.

I attended a Cardinals game in 2001. I sat next to a guy from Kansas City who saw Pujols play as a college student a couple yrs earlier. He said AP wasn't near that large bodied then..."must be hittin' the roids." He was matter of fact about it, but I can't help wondering about AP now.

I still am wondering...

Did MLB's waygb pressure some players to take steroids?

Should home run records since 1995 have an asterisk?

What potential lawsuits are there if other players die prematurely?

Any thoughts?

[Mark Sanguinetti]

Nicely written Johniam. I recall Mark McGwire publicly saying that he used a dietary supplement to help build up his muscles during his record home run year. He even endorsed it and may have gotten promotional money for this. This supplement was legal, at least at this time, for major league baseball. However, I heard that this dietary supplement was illegal for use by players of the National Football League. Quite a paradox. A body building supplement that was illegal for the behemoths of the NFL, but O.K. for major league baseball players. And this one McGwire swore by and said helped him build size and strength.

As for Jose Canseco. A newspaper writer in the 1980s wrote an article stating that Jose was using steroids. Jose Canseco then denied it and the story eventually blew away. So what does Jose do now that he is retired? He braggs about his steroid use during his entire career that he previously had denied and then implicates other major league ballplayers also as users. I guess he will say most anything to save face, protect his career or sell a book depending on the season. However, he better forget about ever being considered for the major league baseball hall of fame.

As for Barry Bonds, I have a friend who is a local San Francisco Bay Area major league baseball scout. A conversation I had with him one time discussed the use of steroids among major league ball players. Barry Bonds he said absolutely was a user.

[johniam]

quote:

So what does Jose do now that he is retired? He braggs about his steroid use during his entire career that he previously had denied and then implicates other major league ballplayers also as users.

Talk about making the team "take one for him". Nice.

Since the opinion of some is that MLB engineered this to win back fans they lost because of the 1994 strike, I wonder if they did something similar in the 1920s. Babe Ruth started having his own mammoth home run seasons not long after the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

[Mark Sanguinetti]

Yes Johniam. They changed the ball. Before the 1920s it was softer and much harder to hit for distance. After this time they tightened the seams and the central core making it harder and more compact. The result was greater flight. Of course, all teams used the same ball. Ruth was clearly the most powerful hitter and took advantage of this before others were able to. However, other powerful hitters followed his lead including fellow New York Yankee Lou Gehrig.