1. Jordan Schroeder
ENC 3241
Daniel Powell
March 10, 2013
Performance Enhancing Drugs & Major League Baseball
Abstract
In the mid-1990's Major League Baseball experienced a nearly instantaneous change in
the way the game was played. The days of pitching duels, shut outs and complete games
seemed to be a trend quickly becoming extinct. The Home Run had become king of baseball but
the feats accomplished by some of the baseball's best at the time became highly scrutinized in
the early 2000s. A myriad of scandals and investigative reports revealing the widespread use of
Performance Enhancing Drugs throughout the baseball community shook the baseball world
and tarnished the reputation of Major League Baseball and many of its greatest players.
Since then the MLB has come a long way. Through testing, strict penalty and harsh
public scrutiny, PED use in the MLB has shrunk incredibly from a game once saturated by it to
one in which scandal is rare.
History of Performance Enhancing Drugs in the MLB
2. Long after greats such as Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Roger Maris and Willie Mays had
come and gone, Major League Baseball faced a new era of baseball; an era in which the long
ball reigned supreme. While the aforementioned were all exceptional Home Run hitters, they
were aberrations. They dominated, they stood head and shoulders above their competition.
They were men amongst boys.
In this new era of baseball these preeminent figures made not have stood out so
prominently, in fact, they may not have stood out at all. They would have been just another one
of the many baseball players launching balls out of the yard like child's play and putting up
gaudy season Home Run totals.
However, there will always be one major difference between Ruth, Aaron, Maris and
Mays and the free-swinging, big hitters of this new era. That difference is what makes all of the
accomplishments of the aforementioned 'greats' even more impressive.
That difference is steroids and that difference has marred the image of Major League.
The Steroid Era
The Steroid Era, or The Home Run era, began sometime in the middle of the '90s. Some
of leagues greatest Home Run hitters emerged during this time; hitters such as Mark McGwire,
Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez and, the poster child of steroid users in the MLB,
Barry Bonds. One could argue the great Home Run Race of 1998 truly marked the beginning of
the Steroid Era as the desire to break the once unbreakable records was at an all time high.
In 1961, Yankees' Right fielder Roger Maris set an all time record for Home Runs in a
3. season hitting 61 long balls. At the time Maris was the only player in history to hit over 60
homeruns besides Babe Ruth, who had launched 60 homeruns only once in his career, in 1927
(Baseball Almanac).
It would take 27 years before another player would achieve the impressive feat of
hitting 60 Home Runs. In 1998, not one but two players hit 60 Home Runs, Sammy Sosa and
Mark McGwire. Not only did they both launch 60 big flies but they both beat Maris' record of
61; McGwire as Home Run champion putting up a prodigious 70 dingers. The unbeatable record
had been beaten and convincingly but it would not stand for long.
In 2001, Barry Bonds would go to hit 73 homeruns, a new MLB record. Since then no
player has come within 15 homeruns of Bonds' record.
BALCO Scandal, Mitchell Report & Other Black-eyes for Baseball
Shortly after his record breaking season, Bonds' integrity became compromised with the
BALCO Scandal in 2003. BALCO was a vitamin shop that produced a steroid concoction that was
undetectable by MLB testing equipment and distributed the concoction to many professional
athletes.
Bonds was called to testify at a grand jury hearing and denied knowingly taking any type
of steroid but conceded he may have taken a form of steroid under the impression it was
flaxseed oil and arthritis rubbing balm (Williams).
In 2005, Jose Canseco released his tell-all book, Juiced. The book detailed the rise of
steroids in the MLB and also cited many big name players as users.
4. In 2006, San Francisco Chronicle reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada
released Game of Shadows, a nonfiction book further detailing steroid use in baseball and
further tarnishing the MLB's image.
Perhaps the most damaging of all the literature against the MLB came in 2007 with the
Mitchell Report. George J. Mitchell led a 20-month investigation into PED use; investigating
further into the BALCO scandal, Signature Pharmacy and Kirk Radomski, a bat boy for the New
York Mets and a known anabolic steroid distributor. The Mitchell Report details that most
major league players and managers were aware of the extent of PED use as made evident by
the following excerpt:
The illegal use of these substances was not limited to the players who are identified in
this report. There have been many estimates of use. In 2002, former National League
Most Valuable Player Ken Caminiti estimated that “at least half” of major league players
were using anabolic steroids. Dave McKay, a longtime coach for the St. Louis Cardinals
and the Oakland Athletics, estimated that at one time 30% of players were using them.
Within the past week, the former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Jack Armstrong estimated that
between 20% and 30% of players in his era, 1988 to 1994, were using large doses of
steroids while an even higher percentage of players were using lower, maintenance
doses of steroids. There have been other estimates, a few higher, many lower, all
impossible to verify.
In all, the report named 89 current and former MLB players most notably Hall of Fame
Ballot Nominee David Justice, the record holder for consecutive Saves converted Eric Gagne,
5. three-time American League MVP and the only player to sign two $200 million contracts, Alex
Rodriguez and, arguably the best pitcher of the era, Roger Clemens (Mitchell) . Of the 13
players to hit over 40 Home Runs that during the great Home Run Race season of 1998, 8 have
been linked to PED use through testing, the Mitchell Report, admission or other sources
(Bishop).
In 2007, The New York Daily News reported Barry Bonds tested positive for
amphetamines, a banned PED by MLB standards (Quinn). This effectively proved the league's
best power hitter (Bonds), starting pitcher (Clemens), closer (Gagne) and third baseman
(Rodriguez) were all guilty of doping in some form at some point or another.
Performance Enhancing Drugs in the MLB Today
While it is generally believed that PED use in the MLB is much less prevalent than in the
past, it is still far from extinct. In October 2011, one of the league's budding young stars, Ryan
Braun, tested positive for unusual testosterone levels, a sign of doping, and was suspended 50
games by the MLB.
Braun immediately appealed the ruling and eventually won but Braun's hands may not
be entirely clean. Representatives for Braun argued protocol for handling urine samples had not
been followed since the sample had been stored for 48-hours while waiting for a drop-off
center to open (Belson and Schmidt). The argument created enough reasonable doubt as Braun
6. ended up winning the appeal by a 2 to 1 vote despite no evidence of tampering or motive to
tamper.
Unfortunately for Braun, this would not be the only time he was accused of doping. In
early 2013 The Miami New Times reported a Miami-area clinic, Biogenesis, had supplied
multiple athletes of many different professional sports with a multitude of PEDs, from Human-
Growth-Hormone to anabolic steroids. Of the countless names listed in the clinic's client list a
few names stood out: Blue Jays outfielder, Melky Cabrera (who was fresh off a 50 game
suspension during the 2012 season), perennial power hitter, Nelson Cruz, habitual offender,
Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun (Elfrink). So far no suspensions have been meted out to the
aforementioned players.
Nonetheless, the number of players being implicated to PEDs is nowhere near the 89
named in the Mitchell Report six years prior. From 2005 (when the MLB first began drug
testing) to 2007, 18 players had tested positive and were suspended for using PEDs. From 2008
to 2010, only nine major league players had been suspended for using PEDs. Of the nine only
one was suspended for HGH: Manny Ramirez, who is now out of the league. Since 2011, no
major league baseball players have been suspended by the MLB.
The Future of Baseball and Performance Enhancing Drugs
No matter what preventative measures the MLB may take there will always be PEDs in
baseball. Currently the MLB uses a three-strike system for PED offenders (no pun intended).
7. First time offenders receive a 50-game suspension, a second offense is met with a 100-game
suspension and a third offense warrants a lifetime ban from the MLB. The MLB and the Major
League Baseball Player's Association have both considered increasing the penalties for
offenders but will not do so until, at the earliest, 2014 (Simon).
Personally, I do not believe stricter penalties are feasible or even necessary. Often times
suspensions are due to performance enhancing drugs other then HGH, testosterone and
steroids but anti-fertility drugs or other drugs that imply steroid use but do not entirely prove
drug use as a means to improve performance. Also, there are cases in which an athlete may
take a supplement not knowing it contains something on the MLB's banned substance list. For
instance, the last player to be suspended by MLB, Ronny Paulino, was suspended for using diet
pills to lose weight. After the suspension Paulino asserted he did not take the pills to gain an
edge but accepted his suspension, nonetheless.
Cases like this make me doubt the MLBPA would allow any remarkable increase in
penalty severity, especially in light of the Ryan Braun appeal victory. Though a jump from a 50
to 75-game suspension may be plausible, the likelihood of a 'no-tolerance' policy being enacted
is slim to none.
Not only is such a jump unlikely but it is also unnecessary. In recent years PED use in the
MLB has been a declining trend. This may be in part to the stigma and negative publicity
associated with a failed drug test. Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, Mark Mcgwire
and Sammy Sosa have all, so far, been denied entrance into baseball's Hall of Fame despite
putting up gaudy numbers and being some of the league's biggest, most influential names due
to their association with PEDs.
8. Major League Baseball's great players of today know that if they want to be held in elite
company, to compared to the Babe Ruths and the Hank Aarons, they need to achieve with
integrity. They cannot take shortcuts, they must work and they must persevere.
They must be aberrations, not cheaters because Major League Baseball and its fans do
not take too kindly to cheaters.
9. Bibliography
Belson, Ken, and Michael Schmidt. "Braun Wins Appeal on Positive Test and Avoids
Suspension." New York Times. (2013): n. page. Web. 9 Mar. 2013.
Elfrink, Tim. "A Miami Clinic Supplies Drugs to Sports' Biggest Names." Miami New Times.
(2013): n. page. Web. Mar. 2013.
Mitchell, George. "THE MITCHELL REPORT: REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER OF BASEBALL OF AN
INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO THE ILLEGAL USE OF STEROIDS AND OTHER PERFORMANCE
ENHANCING SUBSTANCES BY PLAYERS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL." . N.p., 13 12 2007. Web. 9
Mar 2013.
Quinn, T.J. "Caught in the act". SI.com.
Simon, Andrew. "Weiner Says Stricter PED Penalties a '2014 Issue'." MLB.com. (2013): n. page.
Web. 9 Mar. 2013.
Williams, Lance, Mark Fainaru-Wada. "What Bonds told BALCO grand jury". San Francisco
Chronicle.
"Year by Year Leaders for Home Runs." Baseball-Almanac. Baseball-Almanac, n.d. Web. 9 Mar
