"Time heals all wounds" has been a cliche that's explained the
mending of many a malady, but in the case of steroids in baseball this
should not be allowed to occur. The fact that some players cheated the
game of baseball by taking illegal performance enhancing drugs (PEDs)
seems to be fading out of the consciousness of all that follow baseball
and this is extremely disconcerting. Those that cheated the game and
tainted its sanctity must be eternally held accountable for their
choices.
Baseball
needs to come down harder on steroid and illegal PED users. The
suspension system they have in place currently insufficient. More and
more players seem to be testing positive for illegal PEDs more than
ever. The risk/reward ratio is still extremely tempting. Just take a
look at one of the most recent cases of a positive test in Dee Gordon.
As a member of the Dodgers, he came up as a highly touted prospect
encumbering most of his potential from his speed. When Gordon got to
the majors in 2011 he achieved a good amount of success, but the
following two seasons, the league scouted him better and he stumbled
into a miserable, unproductive period. Dee's batting average and
on-base percentage statistics had dropped severely, which affected his
ability to influence the game on the base paths with his tremendous
speed. Free agency was quickly approaching and a fat contract was
desired as it would be by any player trying to find success in the major
leagues. Long story short, his production and stats grew exponentially
and the Miami Marlins ended up heavily investing in the second baseman
after having a career year right before eligibility for free agency.
Now, he's not playing because he's cheated the game and the Marlins'
franchise is first and foremost left to suffer along with fellow
teammates and of course the fans. I'd propose a heftier number of games
banned or a void of contract penalty because ultimately, everything
being weighed against each other, Dee Gordon makes out like a bandit.
The
immediate reaction by teammates and the franchise is perplexing as
well. Yes, Dee is their teammate and their asset that they do not want
to defame any further, but they generally supported Dee in this scenario
and seem to have his back. Supporting a person who has cheating within
the industry you work in and rely on for your livelihood seems a bit
off to me. Not only has Dee cheated to affect actual games and other
players' performances on the field, but the contract and the money that
he was awarded could have gone to someone else, someone that works hard
and plays the game clean. What's even more disturbing about this whole
situation is that somewhere down the line, Gordon's deception, based on
recent trends will be forgotten or even forgiven over time and could
eventually be embraced by baseball and find work as a coach or scout or
analyst, etc. This idea is incredibly disturbing. Baseball needs to
either let PEDs legally run rampant in the sport, which is not
recommended or be more staunch on its stand to draw the line where it
has drawn it and come down with harsher penalties for players that cheat
in the game and detriment the respectability of the sport.
Now,
you could disagree with MLB's ban on PEDs altogether. Why not just
allow the players to have the option to take whatever they want. It's
all for entertainment purposes after all. There was nothing more
entertaining than the home run race of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire back
in the late 90's which of course was fueled by their steroid use. You
could also argue that there's the place to draw the line on performance
enhancing is arbitrary. After all, even caffeine can be argued to be a
performance enhancer. Energy drinks, pre-performance powders, creatine,
etc, all enhance one's performance. So, why draw the line at a
particular drug. Well, society overall needs laws that draw the line
where things can become harmful to humanity as a whole. This is why
certain drugs are banned by governments. MLB has obviously researched
and come with a list of steroids and performance enhancing drugs that if
used, becomes exceedingly adverse to its employees and to the sport as a
whole.
In my opinion, those found cheating the game should suffer the following consequences:
1, Full season suspension
2. Current contract voided and renegotiated
3. Banned from any coaching positions in Major League Baseball post playing career
4. Banned from Hall of Fame eligibility
5. Stripped of any career achievements (MVP, CY Young, ROY, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, etc)
Many
players and former players cannot detach themselves from steroid use or
accusations of use. Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Rogers Clemens are
three of the bigger names whose reputations have been forever marred by
usage or accusations of usage. However, that hasn't stopped major
league clubs from hiring two of the three of them as coaches! There are
other players out there whose reputations seems to have escaped the
inimical nature of their past steroid usage.
Let's
take a look at some of those players and former players that seemingly
have been forgiven for their steroid use and still thrive in the sport.
More thought needs to be taken on whether or not these players deserve
to have their past chicanery forgiven and forgotten.
Bartolo Colon
"Big
Sexy" failed a drug test in 2012 while a member of the Oakland
Athletics. Bartolo seemed to have hit a wall come the end of 2009. By
2010, he was out of baseball and almost forgotten. Come 2011, Colon
returned to baseball as a New York Yankee and had himself a pretty
productive year. Then as an Athletic, the right-hander put up even more
impressive numbers amidst a failed PED test, which cost him 50 games.
Seemingly quickly forgotten, Bartolo kept right on pitching in the
majors and with pretty solid success. Now, as a member as the New York
Mets, Bart has reached a whole new level of popularity and is quite
frankly, loved by the fan base of the Mets and of baseball in general.
His devil may care demeanor coupled with his "prowess" at the plate has
cemented Bartolo Colon in the hearts of many a baseball fan who seem to
forget that "Big Sexy" failed a drug test in 2012 while a member of the
Oakland Athletics and was suspended for it. Apparently, the fact that
the cherubic starting pitcher cheated the sport has escaped many as he
is now loved greatly by fans and fellow teammates/league-mates alike.
resource links:
Andy Pettitte
There
have been few others who have ever played the game of baseball that was
more liked and respected than Andy Pettitte, which is why Pettitte's
inclusion on the Mitchell Report came as a shock to many. Pettitte
eventually released a statement apologizing and that he used human
growth hormones in 2002 to recover from injury quicker. Many accepted
the apology because of Pettitte's good character and reason for the use
because doing it for the sake of injury recovery is a more benign excuse
in the eyes of anyone that could be critical. Well, using a banned
substance to recover quicker from an injury versus healing from an
injury though a legal process should be held in the same light as
someone using a banned substance to enhance performance and cheat on the
field. Andy Pettitte should not get a pass because he was merely doing
it to recover. Illegal is illegal. Cheating is cheating.
resource link:
Jason Giambi
Many
have been pegging the "Giambini," as Yankees radio announcer John
Sterling so endearingly nicknamed him, as the perfect candidate to be a
manager in the big leagues. No matter the clubhouse, everyone seems to
sing his praises, whether it's towards his knowledge of the game or just
his overall rapport among players in the clubhouse. Lest we all forget
that Giambi was mentioned in the Mitchell Report for using illegal
substances in 2002. The lefty slugger later admitted his usage and
apologized to fans and teammates using performing enhancing drugs. The
long time first baseman broke into the league on the Oakland Athletics
during the "Bash Brothers" reign of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. Both
men of course have been deeply linked to the steroid era. Giambi was
swept up in all of it and had a huge hand in the BALCO grand jury case
in which he was granted immunity for his testimony. Giambi's career
tail spun after the BALCO trial and never produced to the same levels
as before the steroids indictments again. However, as time has passed
his reputation seemingly has recovered. It will not be surprising to
see Jason Giambi become a hitting coach in the near future for a major
league club, which seems to be a trending theme for former players
accused of illegal PED
resource links:
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Matt Williams
In
short, Matt Williams was mentioned in the Mitchell Report after
evidence that Williams purchased illegal performance enhancing drugs in
2002. He admitted that he was prescribed it to recover from an ankle
injury, but stopped using because there were no results. Matt Williams
became the first former player attached to steroids to manage a major
league team when he was donned the new Washington Nationals manager in
2014. There was some resulting flak from critics around the game of
baseball, but ultimately a player who cheated the game was allowed to
manage and influence a whole team! The logic behind this notion is mind
boggling. What does a hiring like this say about the state of
baseball? There seems to be no sanctity in respecting the sport. Matt
Williams is just another example along with Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds
that cheating may ultimately be worth it.
resource link:
Manny Ramirez
Manny
seemed to traverse the steroid obstacles with ease maybe because of his
fun-loving mantra that surrounded him. Manny was seen as a playful
character in the sport constantly clowning around or making hilariously
bone-headed plays in left field. The bathroom shenanigans in the Big
Monster will always be a part of his lore. However, the RBI machine who
had so much influence on the Red Sox World Series championship runs in
the 2000's had been suspended multiple times for steroid usage, once in
2009 and then again in 2011, while playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers
during the twilight of his career. There hardly seemed to be any outcry
from people around the game of baseball from this. If anything it
seemed as if people felt bad for Manny. They deemed his multiple
offenses as Manny's attempt at staying in the game as long as possible
because he genuinely loved playing the game so much. It was just
another case of "Manny being Manny" which became his unofficial slogan
during his career. Manny apologized for the mistakes he had made and
maybe that's all it takes for some to forgive, but for someone who has
so much love for the game, he sure didn't treat it with any respect
while playing it.
resource links:
David Ortiz
As
"Big Papi's" final season comes to a close there is much talk of
whether or not the slugging DH will make the Hall of Fame. There are
some out there still hounding Ortiz about his failed steroid test back
in 2003, but the majority seem to want to give the lovable face of the
Boston Red Sox and baseball in whole a pass. David Ortiz himself has
been quoted saying that he was just "using what everyone else was using
at the time" and that the once failed drug test should not mar his whole
career. Ortiz is one of many player who try to hide behind the notion
that they didn't know what they were taking into their bodies and that
it was illegal. This should deemed as petty and irresponsible. Now,
you could weigh "Big Papi's" reputation as an ambassador to the game for
Hispanics, especially Dominicans against cheating the game and say that
his influence that came out of cheating outweighs all, but is that
really the message Major League Baseball should promote? I think not.
resource links:
Again,
there are plenty of players whose names will never be detached from
steroids such as Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Rafael
Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, etc. But there are some who seems to have
risen above the bad reputation or have just faded to the back of our
memories.
Other notable players of whom you may have forgotten that have been suspended for illegal PED use by Major League Baseball:
Mike Morse (2005)
Mike Cameron (2007)
Edison Volquez (2011)
Guillermo Mota (2012)
Freddy Galvis (2012)
Melky Cabrera (2012)
Marlon Byrd (2012)
Yasmani Grandal (2012)
Ryan Braun (2013)
Francisco Cervilli (2013)
Nelson Cruz (2013)
Johnny Peralta (2013)
Ervin Santana (2015)
Dee Gordon (2016)
Other notables mentioned in the Mitchell Report:
Gary Sheffield
Kevin Brown
Eric Gagne
Todd Hundley
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Paul Lo Duca
Brian Roberts
Mike Stanton (RP)
Miguel Tejada
Mo Vaughn
The
players themselves who have been found guilty of PED use should first
and foremost be responsible for their own actions, but there is one man
who seems to escape thought when discussing this dark cloud over
baseball. Former Major League Baseball commissioner had been at the
helm of the league starting in 1998, which could be considered the apex
of the steroid era. That was the same year Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire
were hitting homers to put baseball back on the map in the late 90's and
then the long ball became a lasting theme deep into the 2000's. Bud
Selig let it all happen even though he claimed to have attempted to put a
"steroid policy" in place and look into accusations that players in his
league were using, but none of his "efforts" came to fruition allowing
the seemingly tainted home run ball to save baseball from possible
obscurity and ultimately make Selig tons of money. None should be more
accountable for steroids in baseball than Bud Selig, whose reign as MLB
commissioner form 1998 until 2014 almost ruined the sport.
Acting
commission Robert Manfred has a huge mess to clean up and seems to be
on the right path when it comes to cleaning up steroids in baseball. It
is understandable that he cannot make sweeping and radical change
mainly because baseball is a very traditionalist sport that needs to be
carefully massaged and coddled when making changes, so the process
towards a stricter steroid policy may take some time, but hopefully
Manfred's ideas are trending in that direction.
Steroids
have tarnished baseball's reputation and those responsible for the
atrocity should be held responsible in the utmost way possible. They
should not be able to hold onto their lucrative contracts or be eligible
for various league awards and accolades or be allowed to coach and
influence younger minds and upcoming talent in the game. They've
cheated and disrespected a game that has been the fabric of upstanding
tradition for players and fans alike for so many years. It's time for
baseball to rid the sport completely of steroids and illegal PEDs and
come down hard on all that have disrespected it.
Image Resources:
Bartolo Colon: http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/14/63/70/3358223/3/920x920.jpg
David Ortiz: https://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2015/03/27/BostonGlobe.com/Sports/Images/orti723.jpg
other resource links:
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