With the World Series ending last week all of baseballs many problems got pushed back into the closet once again without any resolutions. During the heated negotiations of labor dispute from this summer the problem of steroid use came to a head when two former all-stars came out and stated that steroid use in professional baseball is rampant. They admitted that they used the banned substance. Not only did these allegations hurt the integrity of the game that millions of fans support annually, but the negative effect that is passed down to the youth. The impressionable youth now think to become a professional they have to use steroids without knowing all the negative side effects. Still yet we see many baseball players looking more like professional body builders than the prototypical average sized athlete. Not saying all of the 235 pound baseball players are juicing, but it does lead to some suspicion of steroid use. Steroids are a dangerous price to pay not only for the player, the integrity of the game and the youth of the beloved national past time.
2. What would posses professional athletes to the brink of harming their body for a game? The athlete obviously had to practice for years before the opportunity of the major leagues approached them. Anyway what would the use of steroids in baseball be beneficial? Steroids do not help one hit a ninety eight-mile per hour fastball, or help field a ground ball, or even make a throw more accurate. One the other hand steroids can make one run faster, throw harder and hit a ball further. There have been two confirmed cases of steroid use in Major League Baseball. Ken Caminiti, the 1996 National League MVP, and Jose Canseco admitted to using steroids during their careers. The first to come out and admit his steroid use was Caminiti. Caminiti started using steroids the year he won the MVP. What started out as a way to help his shoulder injury ended up as the best season of his career exceeding all his statistics the previous year.
