Well, the regular season has ended, and we’ve had a couple of weeks to soak in all that we’ve seen. Offensive records are being tested at an annual rate, with the homerun record falling again this year. Barry Bonds, himself, stated that he doubts this record will even last past next year. Hack Wilson’s RBI record seems to be in jeopardy every season, as do just about every batting record except for breaking the .400 batting mark. What is the reason for this offensive explosion in recent years? There has been a fundamental change in the way that players approach the game, as now they are looking for the home run every at bat. Strikeouts no longer deter a player from taking a big cut with a two-strike count on him instead of shortening up and getting a hit. The training methods of modern day baseball are far superior to those in the past. Babe Ruth used to eat hot dogs in the dugout between innings. Now it’s difficult to find too many players that admit to eating hot dogs or junk food of any kind at all. Baseball is a year round exercise.  As soon as the season ends, the off-season training regiment begins for most players. Expansion has also left teams with watered-down pitching staffs that include starters who, most likely, should not even be in the majors. There is one variable that people tend to ignore, however, whether it be because of ignorance to the fact that it is going on, or just denial. A major concern in baseball is the widespread use of steroids throughout the league. Yes, the substance that is illegal and banned in nearly every other sport is actually a legal substance in Major League Baseball.

When Mark McGwire took assault on the near forty-year home run record, it was discovered that he was taking a supplement known as androstendione, or simply “andro.” This supplement can be purchased at nearly any health food or supplement store, and is considered to be a legal substance. There is some controversy as to its close relation to anabolic steroids, with many scientists stating that they are in the same family. However legal the acquisition of this supplement may be, it is illegal in all sports but one: baseball. When this discovery was made, there was some debate as to whether McGwire’s record should stand were he to achieve it. Big Mac stated that they are a legal supplement, but discontinued using “andro” for the remainder of the season and attained the home run record. Major League Baseball looked into “andro” and could not decide the legality of it in the sport, but decided if it was legal to purchase, it would not be banned from baseball. This does not seem like an outrageous stance to take even though the substance is banned throughout the rest of the sports world. Unfortunately, this is the same stance that baseball takes regarding a far more dangerous “supplement”: steroids.

Steroids used to be a legal supplement in the United States and were used by athletes such as body builders and professional wrestlers to gain muscle mass. Most other athletes looked at this excess bulk as something that would hold them back and decrease their athleticism and thus did not experiment with these drugs. This view soon changed as players in all sports were starting to get bigger while retaining their athletic abilities. Those that were left behind had the choice of being left in the new athletes’ wakes, or bulking up themselves so they could compete. For these athletes to catch up to the new breed, however, would take months or years to accomplish. Steroids offered a quick fix that many athletes could not resist. Things seemed too perfect, until people began to realize the negative side effects of steroids. It was soon after this that most sports organizations began barring their competitors from using “‘roids”. There were two major exceptions to this rule, however: the world of wrestling, and Major League Baseball.

Baseball has contended that there are not enough studies to support the claims of scientists as to the long- term effects of steroids on the human body. Though no real long-term studies have been conducted, there is enough evidence to support the fact the steroids are deadly. The powers that be at major league baseball, however, refuse to accept this evidence and allow their players to use whatever they want to supplement their training. There are no random drug tests, no committee to study the effects of steroids, and no hope of things to change any time soon. The reason behind the lack of a crackdown on steroids is the fact that bigger players equal more home runs and more revenue for the owners. All one has to do is look at the league now as compared to ten or fifteen years ago. Aside from the astronomical statistics that players are putting up, just look at the increase in size of these athletes. There are three perfect examples of an increase in the shear mass of players now: Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Jose Canseco. These are players that came up in the mid-eighties and were pretty wiry. McGwire and Canseco were on the larger side, but nowhere near the size they are now. Those who saw the interview with Barry Bonds where he was sporting a T-shirt know that he has gotten huge since he has come up. I am not saying that these players have used steroids, but both McGwire and Canseco played for the same team, can crush the ball, and now are almost too big to move. In a league where steroids are legal, and, according to many insiders, is very available, it is hard to look at these players and not come to some assumptions. Whether true or not, many of the players in this age will always carry a question mark with them as to whether they, in fact, used steroids to help them attain some of their impressive numbers. This is a real shame for those who have achieved all they have based solely on hard work and dedication, but until baseball decides to do something about this travesty, all power players of this era will be forced to answer questions about it for the rest of their lives