2008 Woodie Awards
Steriod Scandal
Natan Pill-Katan
Issue date: 3/2/05 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
The steroid scandal facing major league baseball is unlike any other sport stigma ever seen. However it is not without precedent. To find a comparable situation you have to go back more than 300 years, to the witch trials of Salem, Massachusetts.
Like the trials in Salem, there is no physical evidence needed for someone to be accused of using steroids, nor are credible witnesses sought. All it takes today to convince people that someone is on steroids is a muscular body and an accusation by a former player. In Salem all it took was doubletalk and a coerced witness.
The most important similarity is that the public's thirst for justice is so great that innocent people are being thrown into the fire by unfounded claims of acts that were not illegal. Before baseball fans or the governing body state that someone is on steroids, they should examine all the evidence and make sure that there are not other credible explanations.
Until the mid-to-late 1980s, players were chastised for working out and gaining muscle during the off season. Clubs believed that it would lead to more injuries and make the players slower. As the practice became more and more accepted players became stronger and started hitting more home runs, a result that mimicked steroid use.
Because the evidence is so scant, it is important that the public scrutinizes all the facts concerning any player's steroid use before making a judgment.
Is using steroids, which were illegal in the U.S but not in baseball, considered cheating? What about the massive amounts of cocaine used by baseball players during the eighties, or the scuffed balls, corked bats, and stolen signals that have been used since the invention of baseball more than 120 years ago? Isn't that unethical?
Judging the effects of steroids on a baseball players' performance is no more than guesswork these days. Bigger muscles don't improve one's hand-eye coordination. And how much extra muscle improves bat speed is still unknown.
When we take into account all the evidence currently available about steroids we only know that, with the exception of the few players who admitted using steroids, there is no way to know how many players are using steroids. Until the taking of steroids yields a measurable effect, we can not begin to judge the records and accomplishments of those who used steroids.
And, until two years ago none of the steroid-using players were cheating.
Like the trials in Salem, there is no physical evidence needed for someone to be accused of using steroids, nor are credible witnesses sought. All it takes today to convince people that someone is on steroids is a muscular body and an accusation by a former player. In Salem all it took was doubletalk and a coerced witness.
The most important similarity is that the public's thirst for justice is so great that innocent people are being thrown into the fire by unfounded claims of acts that were not illegal. Before baseball fans or the governing body state that someone is on steroids, they should examine all the evidence and make sure that there are not other credible explanations.
Until the mid-to-late 1980s, players were chastised for working out and gaining muscle during the off season. Clubs believed that it would lead to more injuries and make the players slower. As the practice became more and more accepted players became stronger and started hitting more home runs, a result that mimicked steroid use.
Because the evidence is so scant, it is important that the public scrutinizes all the facts concerning any player's steroid use before making a judgment.
Is using steroids, which were illegal in the U.S but not in baseball, considered cheating? What about the massive amounts of cocaine used by baseball players during the eighties, or the scuffed balls, corked bats, and stolen signals that have been used since the invention of baseball more than 120 years ago? Isn't that unethical?
Judging the effects of steroids on a baseball players' performance is no more than guesswork these days. Bigger muscles don't improve one's hand-eye coordination. And how much extra muscle improves bat speed is still unknown.
When we take into account all the evidence currently available about steroids we only know that, with the exception of the few players who admitted using steroids, there is no way to know how many players are using steroids. Until the taking of steroids yields a measurable effect, we can not begin to judge the records and accomplishments of those who used steroids.
And, until two years ago none of the steroid-using players were cheating.
