Steroids, Are They as Bad as we Think?
Let’s start off with what steroids actually do.Steroids cause an increase in muscle bulk,strength and endurance. So basically they make you a better athlete? Wrong. Steroids do not improve any of the factors that make an athlete good; for example agility, athletic skill, cardiovascualr capacity, or hand-eye coordination. They basically do nothing to help the performance of a player. If someone is terrible at hitting the ball steroids will not help them to get ahold of the ball. When they do finally hit the ball steroids will help them jack it out of the park though.
So after all of this, why are steroids banned from MLB? Steroids have been part of baseball history for years, but nobody knew it and if they did know it they did not care. This steroid usage gave way to the “Steroid era.” There is no definet starting point to this era and there is no ending point, but most believe it started in the late 1980’s. Steroids have been banned in MLB since 1991, but was not enforced until 2003. The league started implimenting leaguewide random testing which made it harder for players to get away with steroid use.
The main reason this banning occured was because of an increase in offensive output that made ridiculouse home run record during that time period. The highest number of homeruns in a season was 61 in 1961 by Roger Maris. After that it slowely began to rise and rise up to what it is today, 73 home runs by Barry Bonds.
- They are banned because it threatens the health of many athletes.
Causes tumors of the liver and kidneys, heart conditions and psychiatric problems
- They affect the integrity of baseball.
It’s not about whether you win or lose, its how you played the game.
- It makes the sport unfair.
It is not fair that one person uses steroids and hits homeruns more than someone who works hard and does not hit as many because his power is not there.
So do they really help a player with being the best of the best? Should they be legal in MLB? Thats your decision, but let us know what you think.
Baseball's 28th Out 