Steroids in Baseball

[The Brain]

Originally posted by JimmyBlueEyes
I am amazed that not too many of you out there seem to give a fuck about this. Where the fuck is Brain?? This is some important shit here.

Hi. <img src=http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif>

Eh, I actually think we <i>can</i> overlook it, for several reasons:

1) We already know that athletes take health supplements of all various types just to keep going, and are usually dosed with stuff like cortisone just to play through the pain. The physical activity of sports is so grueling, and an athlete's time in the spotlight is so fleeting, that they probably should take whatever is necessary to perform well for as long as they can. Having said that, they should all know the risks that taking such things will affect them long after their playing days are over-- trade success now for pain and frailty later.

2) I don't care how much steriods they pump into their bodies, it still takes tremendous amounts of genuine skill to connect with a baseball coming at them at 90+ mph from 60'6" feet away, and send it flying. If anything, all those extra muscles probably slow their bats down (although you can make an argument that the added strength might turn a few would-be pop-ups into homers, but that is debatable).

Say what you will about Bonds, but that guy has a near-perfect batter's eye-- he's almost impossible to strike out, and will often make solid contact on the ball. Jose Canseco, conversely (who admitted to using steroids), may have 470+ HRs under his belt, but he's also got a hell of a lot more strikeouts, too.

And if so many players are on the juice, why is it that only a select few hitters had over 50 HRs last year, or for the past few years for that matter?

3) The supposed "edge" acquired by players gets negated if so many players are taking it, as has been alluded. If the pitcher is taking steroids, and the hitter is taking them too, then aren't we <i>back</i> to a level playing field?