...Baseball has long been known as America’s pastime. It is a game that is full of history, from being the first sport to break the color barrier to helping a city recover after the tragedy of September 11th, 2001. However, part of baseball’s history would rather be forgotten by some. For example, the steroid era which was a time when many players used steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs to gain a competitive advantage over other players. Steroids affected players greatly because it helped them become bigger, faster, and stronger which allowed them to hit more home runs and stay healthier throughout the long, grueling season. Erickson, an orthopedic surgeon, claims that there is significant evidence to prove that steroids had an effect...
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...The steroid era created a great deal of change in baseball. Jayson Stark’s article “Bud Selig: 'Maybe I should have said more' about steroids” discusses Bud Selig’s feelings currently about the steroid era. Former Commissioner Selig said the result of the steroid era was that Major League Baseball ended up with the best drug testing in sports (Stark 1). The drug policy that is in place in Major League Baseball now didn’t get put in place overnight. There was no reason for steroid era players to be afraid of getting caught with steroids because the consequences would be minor at worst. Now there is a great deal of consequence if you are caught using performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. The game is believed to be as “clean” as...
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...Baseball Players and Using Performance Enhancing Drugs In the recent years the use of steroids in professional sports has become widespread, and major league baseball is more than any other. This paper will discuss using performance enhancing drugs will not get players into the Hall of Fame. Players use performance enhancing drugs to gain a competitive advantage over other teams and players. The definition of cheating is violating rules or restrictions to gain an advantage. It’s plain and simple and is a form of cheating. Major league players who got in the hall of fame in the past used their pure natural talent. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to recognize outstanding natural talent in the sport of Baseball. Look at our beloved long time baseball legends, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and many more. How would they feel to see professional baseball players cheat their way in and make it easy on themselves? Baseball meant so much to them and to see future players disrespect our baseball legends and allow them to go to Cooperstown, would be awful to past and present players. Baseball fans know players want to give it all and ultimately make it to the World Series and achieve other outstanding goals, but taking illegal drugs is taking it too far. This leads into the major league baseball punishments for using performance enhancing drugs. The major league baseball has punishments for players who use steroids and performance enhancing drugs. First...
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...RESEARCH PAPER Can Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED) actually be positive and beneficial for Major League Baseball? “As the likes of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez saw their usage exposed, the sport fought back with tougher drug testing and after the 2005 season produced a program punitive enough to minimize the game's doping culture.” (Braun's test result gives MLB major jolt; With MVP under cloud, steroid era is revisited Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY), "Probably the biggest sentence to which he was subjected is the impact on whether he'll be a lock for the Hall of Fame and the stigma that is now attached to his name and his records."(Barry Bonds is sentenced in enduring BALCO saga; No end in sight to BALCO's reach by: Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY). Quotes like these could have been seen all over newspapers and magazines all throughout the past decade. Yes, these athletes did use Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED), but a debate has raged on about just how right are we to scrutinize them for those actions and just how inappropriate their actions were? With baseball professionals on both sides arguing how much of an impact they really had on the game. More so, I'd like to ask the question of whether what they had done was actually in a way good for baseball, and whether Performance Enhancing Drugs should even be banned from baseball? Which, I believe they shouldn’t be for numerous reasons. In order to understand just how “not as out of...
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...Why steroid users should be allowed into the baseball Hall of Fame? The argument is simple and it’s about time for Cooperstown to open the doors to those who have admitted to or have been accused of using performance enhancing drugs or steroids. Ending the witch hunt: Baseball voters are trying to determine whether or not to vote on players these days based on crimes that players may have or not have committed years ago. Some baseball voters have stated that they would vote for players in the steroid era but they would not however vote for anyone found guilty. It’s hard to know who did cheat and who didn’t cheat in the so called steroid era but if one were to gain entry into the sacred hall then the door will open up for others based on their merits. Saving the Hall of Fame: Baseball has always been called America’s game and the Hall of Fame for baseball enthusiast has always been a destination. In 2013 the Hall of Fame only inducted 1 person in and he had not played in over 130 years. The induction ceremony takes place in the summers and it was always a place to go and honor your favorite players and learn about ones prior to them. As a new generation of fans grow up and the players form the late 90’s and early 2000’s are not in the hall fans will likely not make the trip to the place where legends are remembered. The Hall of Fame is a place to honor the greatest that have ever played the game. It is based on what a player does on the field. People agree that the...
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...Does Steroids Provide An Unfair Advantage In Baseball or Does It Even The Playing Field? Baseball has been an American pastime for centuries and will be for centuries to come. Adults have been taking their children to baseball games since the Major Leagues first came about in the late 1800s. From the Philadelphia Phillies' great Astrodome to their current Citizens Bank Park or the Atlanta Braves' Fulton County Stadium to their more modern Turner Field baseball has been loved in America. Although the game is as old as it is, baseball has not changed even though the players continue to get better and better. Many fans first take is the use of steroids in baseball. But did steroids really help Barry Bonds become home run king? Because Hank Aaron had the record generations before and he reportedly never injected steroids. Every year it seems like a new player gets brought into the league that is going to be faster, stronger, and an overall better player; except the ones that have the records broken that is. Although steroids are supposed to make athletes bigger, faster, and stronger,; are steroids really making athlete's statistics better or simply bridging the gap between decent athletes and great ones? There are many aspects in hitting a baseball that coaches teach athletes at a young age. Seeing the ball well, swinging with your hips and not just your arms, being disciplined and not swinging at a ball out of the strike zone, these are all examples of what it takes to be a good...
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...Jason Alvey Major League Baseball: The Steroids Era The use of performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball is an issue that caused quite the uproar throughout the nation in the past decade. Superstars and public icons have fallen from grace after being so instrumental in the reemergence of America’s past time. Careers have been made and lost in single seasons under suspicious gains and losses in “abilities.” The United States Government has even begun to come down hard on baseball from many different angles. The main office of Major League Baseball, along with many active players, has taken steps to help prevent the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs. Many Americans claim to want a clean game and true records, but I am a true believer that steroids are here to stay and the public only pretends to care. Some of the biggest names and even some of the record holders in professional baseball have been accused of using various steroids to gain the competitive edge. Barry Bonds has been one of the most popular professional sports figures in this country for more than 15 years, but he is now waiting for a March court date when opening statements will be heard in his Federal perjury trial. Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, the two most instrumental players that helped the bring fans back to the stadiums after the 1994 players’ strike, will never be voted into the Hall of Fame because there is a suspicion that they used some type of performance enhancers. ...
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...“Mitchell’s Report Rips Mask off Baseball’s Steroid Era”, explain how the results of the Mitchell Report brought up an underlying issue that kept being avoided. George J Mitchell is a former democratic United States Senator from 1980-1995. Also, he was born in Maine and went to Georgetown University and the Georgetown University Law Center. USA Today with their article about steroids believe that the introduction of steroids into baseball has left a dark mark on baseball and should be stopped. While USA Today discusses the issue of steroids in the current Major League Baseball, they also do a great job at bringing in football to relate the two sports. USA Today brings out the point of how football players “weigh 318 pounds, up from 281 pounds two decades ago” (USA today). This quote is important because it highlights how that baseball isn’t the only sport that is suffering from the usage of steroids throughout the game. It also raises questions about how prevalent steroids are in other sports...
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...League Baseball’s so called “Steroid Era,” it was necessary for congress to step in and take control of the situation. Before congress did their investigation, Major League Baseball did not have strict enough rules to punish players who tested positive with any kind of steroid. Also before congress took control of the situation, there was a variety of drugs that players could use during that time that Major League Baseball had not banned or were not considered a “performance enhancing drug”. Even though the so called “Steroid Era” brought fans back to the game of baseball after the lockout in 1994, it not only damaged the reputation of baseball but it also damaged the purity of the sport. Not only did it affect baseball’s reputation and purity of the game, it also affected the fans who dreamt of playing in Major League Baseball. Now we will focus the main reasons why congress took control of the steroid issue that surrounded Major League Baseball. First, Major League Baseball along with Congress noticed the issue of steroids due to Jose Canseco, an ex-major leaguer, who came clean about the steroid issue in his book titled Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ’Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big. In this book, Canseco explained how he taught a variety of players how to inject steroids and how it would benefit them in the future. Throughout his book, Canseco provided details as to the players, who later broke many records; that he taught how to use steroids. For example, Canseco stated...
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...According to ESPN statistics, in the 2001 Major League Baseball Season, Barry Bonds sets a MLB single season record with 73 home runs. ESPN stated it was a time period when steroids were common and a part of the game of baseball. A time where players such as Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds recorded hitting statistics that were previously unachievable in professional baseball. If you do not know who they were, these players were known for their power, they were known for their home runs. These kind of players do just randomly appear out of nowhere, they trained their entire lives to get to this point, they deserve it, or do they? These kind of players showed everyone who loved the game of baseball that even though their numbers were...
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...Steroids in the game of Baseball | The Physical and Statistical Effects | Anonymous | Many players have been accused of the use of steroids. Some have denied it, but has been proven guilty. Some have admitted by will that they have used Performance-Enhancement Drugs/Steroids at some point during their career. EXTERNAL PHYSICAL EFFECTS There are several signs known of to identify steroid use. For example, in men he might notice baldness and growth in the chest (around the breast) area. In women she might notice increase facial hair, reduction around the breast area, and their voice may deepen. In both men and women they may notice Jaundice, aching joints, mood swings, and nervousness. There also can be major effects for men and women from steroid usage; for example, high blood pressure, liver damage, increases of bad cholesterol, males risk shrinking of the testicles and infertility. Females’ menstrual changes these are some of the noticeable signs of steroids use. There has not been any conclusive proof that the use of steroids alone would make a drastic change in the body size or weight. Although steroids are said to enhance the muscle mass, which could give a false belief of increased body strength. To acquire the muscle mass and body strength desired one would need to have a workout plan in place. If the ligaments and tendons are not strong enough to support the muscle mass one could end up with torn ligaments and tendons. Steroids alone...
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...Steroid Use in Major League Baseball Student Name Course Name Instructor Date Steroid Use in Major League Baseball Thesis: Steroid use is prevalent in major league baseball. Players choose to use steroids despite steroids being banned, the effects steroids have on their bodies, and the impact steroids have on their careers and reputation. I. Steroid use is banned in major league baseball. A. Banned substances enhance players’ performance. 1. Batted-ball speed increases when a player takes steroids. 2. Home-run production increases with steroid usage. B. Major league baseball policies ban the use of several substances by players. 1. The league and the players’ union have strict policies against the use of steroids. 2. The league conducts regular testing to ensure players are drug free. 3. Penalties result from steroid use. II. The body is seriously affected by steroid use. A. Several negative physical effects exist to the body. 1. Steroid use affects natural hormone production. 2. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other cardiovascular problems are physical side effects. 3. Steroids cause liver problems. B. Psychological problems exist due to steroid use. 1. Aggressive or enraged behavior has been reported as a side effect. 2. Addiction has been reported also as a side effect. III. The steroid scandal has negatively impacted players’ careers and reputation. A. Players’...
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...The argument above is valid because it is in proper modus ponens form. To better understand this argument, you first must understand who the steroid users are, and better understand what the Hall of Fame is. Steroids are a type of organic compound that enhances one’s athletic and physical performance. A steroid user is someone who regularly uses and/or is addicted to taking steroids. The Hall of Fame is baseball’s greatest fraternity. The Hall has the collections of baseball historic players. To enter the Hall of Fame, you must be on the ballot to enter. To be placed on the ballot, a player must have at least ten years of MLB experience and, if alive, be retired for five years. A deceased player may be placed on the ballot after six months of his passing....
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...Baseball, Steroids and Business Ethics: How Breaches of Trust Can Change the Game: Knowledge@Wharton (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1902) Baseball, Steroids and Business Ethics: How Breaches of Trust Can Change the Game Published : February 20, 2008 in Knowledge@Wharton The day after former Senator George Mitchell released his damning report on performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball last December, President George Bush, a former baseball-team owner himself, seemed to speak for many disgusted fans when he pronounced, "Steroids have sullied the game." The Mitchell Report fingered 89 professional ball players, but many of these allegations were nothing new for baseball watchers. Game of Shadows, a 2006 exposé by a pair of investigative journalists, and Juiced, a 2005 tell-all memoir by player José Canseco, described a world of professional baseball rife with performance-enhancing drug abuse. The ongoing scandal, which first surfaced in the late 1990s, has bubbled on for a decade, leading commentators to label it the "steroids era." With fans aware of such egregious bad behavior, why has attendance at Major League Baseball games reached record-breaking highs during that same time period? Are baseball's "consumers" impervious to the ethical lapses of their teams? No, say Wharton professors, but the case demonstrates how bias, competition and a lack of oversight worked together to create an ethically toxic atmosphere. This is a single/personal...
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...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...
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