If you are an avid sports fan and there is a chance to make superstar athletes whom you admire much faster, stronger and better, would you be in favor of that opportunity? Performance enhancing drugs have been a very controversial topic ever since American professional athletes introduced them into the sports world during the 1990’s. Many athletes have experimented with these drugs over their careers and have been tested, and ultimately caught, but does this really put the MLB in the direction they and the fans want? Although some researchers and critics may consider performance enhancing drugs a method of cheating, PEDs actually benefit professional leagues by increasing fan interest, revenue, and levels of play. If performance enhancing …show more content…
For most fans who show little interest in the sport of baseball, most know about the home run and the excitement that comes with it. Therefore it is the most appealing play in the game of baseball and can be increased with the use of PEDs. An athlete's goal is to be the “strongest, fastest, most home run hitting dude in the world then, why wouldn’t you find every tool known to man to make that a reality” (Tirado). If PEDs were freely available, players would be able to crack more dingers and increase interest of all spectators. In 2000, run production on per game averages increased to above 10 as it stood at 8 runs per game in 1992 as a record 17 hitters had over 40 home runs in the ‘97-’99 seasons. Not only do PEDs increase a hitters’ power at the plate, they also generated more five tool players. These special players excel at hitting for average, power, speed, throwing, and fielding. During this era, more interest was generated because, “The number of five tool players during the steroid era was mind boggling… It seemed like every team had their own version of today’s Mike Trout, helping to draw more fans to every game just to see them play” (Keolanui). These players are classified as very rare in the modern MLB, but during the late ‘90s, there were at least 15 players who made incredible impacts to their own teams and the fans …show more content…
There are a handful of clean and innocent athletes that are forced to compete with a disadvantage because they are following the rules. Many pundits can argue that “One of the problems with the Mark McGwire/ Sammy Sosa home run races in retrospect is that they didn't even seem real” (Rosenberg). Even though this race attracted many new fans, critics imply that the competition is fake. Along with the uneven level of play, players are cheating there ways to the top. Authors such as Patrick Saunders highlights the instances where “he sees athletes giving 110 percent, he gets upset that they’re not trying as hard as he does” (Saunders). To get to the prestige level of baseball that is the MLB, the athletes’ incredible stories of the hard work they put in and obstacles they had to overcome are always interesting and inspirational to the next generation of baseball; PEDs take away this opportunity. Lastly, avid fans are interested in player statistics and like to compare them. PEDs create an unfair environment for players and the “Use of PEDs diminishes the historic achievements of clean athletes from other eras. I want to be able to compare Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Albert Pujols without drugs being part of the equation” (Saunders). Because of the uneven use of the drugs, players now become uncomparable because their raw talents are masked. Valid claims can be made relating to the idea that