...Steroid Use in Major League Baseball Student Name Course Name Instructor Date Steroid Use in Major League Baseball Thesis: Steroid use is prevalent in major league baseball. Players choose to use steroids despite steroids being banned, the effects steroids have on their bodies, and the impact steroids have on their careers and reputation. I. Steroid use is banned in major league baseball. A. Banned substances enhance players’ performance. 1. Batted-ball speed increases when a player takes steroids. 2. Home-run production increases with steroid usage. B. Major league baseball policies ban the use of several substances by players. 1. The league and the players’ union have strict policies against the use of steroids. 2. The league conducts regular testing to ensure players are drug free. 3. Penalties result from steroid use. II. The body is seriously affected by steroid use. A. Several negative physical effects exist to the body. 1. Steroid use affects natural hormone production. 2. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other cardiovascular problems are physical side effects. 3. Steroids cause liver problems. B. Psychological problems exist due to steroid use. 1. Aggressive or enraged behavior has been reported as a side effect. 2. Addiction has been reported also as a side effect. III. The steroid scandal has negatively impacted players’ careers and reputation. A. Players’...
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...“Mitchell’s Report Rips Mask off Baseball’s Steroid Era”, explain how the results of the Mitchell Report brought up an underlying issue that kept being avoided. George J Mitchell is a former democratic United States Senator from 1980-1995. Also, he was born in Maine and went to Georgetown University and the Georgetown University Law Center. USA Today with their article about steroids believe that the introduction of steroids into baseball has left a dark mark on baseball and should be stopped. While USA Today discusses the issue of steroids in the current Major League Baseball, they also do a great job at bringing in football to relate the two sports. USA Today brings out the point of how football players “weigh 318 pounds, up from 281 pounds two decades ago” (USA today). This quote is important because it highlights how that baseball isn’t the only sport that is suffering from the usage of steroids throughout the game. It also raises questions about how prevalent steroids are in other sports...
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...Todd Gillispie Prof. MacAdams 8/23/10 Sports Ethics: How Technology Alters the Balance of Fairness Over the years sports have made great strides in improving fairness so as to create a more competitive form of entertainment. In the early years before the advancements in technology and development of enhancement drugs, it was talent that set athletes apart from one another. But as the number of athletes rose and the revenue generated by sports, as well as the salaries of players, escalated exponentially, so did the need to excell. Accordingly, athletes looked for anything that would give them an edge. Sports enhancers were used to obtain a competitive advantage, thus disrupting the concept of fairness. The problem of fairness did not only lie in the use of enhancers, but also with play calling. In most sports you have an official or team of officials who are solely responsible for ensuring all calls are made correctly. Because of “human error”, as well as the possibility of biased officiating, the idea evolved of using camera systems whose sole duty is to record all plays that can be replayed to ensure that calls were correctly made. In this paper I will analyze two forms of technology – one from a pure technology perspective and one from a medical perspective - that have both positive and negative aspects in tipping the scale of fairness. For most sports, the sole purpose of a video replay system is to determine the correctness of close calls or...
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...Steroids in Sports University of Phoenix Introduction to Research and Information Utilization RES/110 Timothy Wong February 01, 2010 Steroids in Sports How has the use of steroids affected sports? It all started in 1952 with Soviets Olympic debut in Helsinki, but it did not make a large impact until the 1954 World Weightlifting Championships when the Soviets won most of their weight classes. Steroids have been around in sports for a long time, but how have they affected each sport up till today. Everyone hears about the superstars that have been involved in the recent steroid activity, but most people do not hear about how it all started in sports. In this research paper one will see where it all started from and how it has progressed throughout all sports. One will see this through articles, web sites, and some newspapers. This is an interesting topic with all the recent steroid use in baseball such as Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, and Mark Maguire just to name a few. Everyone knows about these big names and how they have affected baseball over the last few years so how did this all start, why did they want to use steroids, and what has the government done to stop this from being a problem in the future. One would think that this is not a big problem in sports today after all of the attention that has came from the government and the media, but it still is in the sports that do not have drug testing in such as high school sports or minor...
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...League Baseball’s so called “Steroid Era,” it was necessary for congress to step in and take control of the situation. Before congress did their investigation, Major League Baseball did not have strict enough rules to punish players who tested positive with any kind of steroid. Also before congress took control of the situation, there was a variety of drugs that players could use during that time that Major League Baseball had not banned or were not considered a “performance enhancing drug”. Even though the so called “Steroid Era” brought fans back to the game of baseball after the lockout in 1994, it not only damaged the reputation of baseball but it also damaged the purity of the sport. Not only did it affect baseball’s reputation and purity of the game, it also affected the fans who dreamt of playing in Major League Baseball. Now we will focus the main reasons why congress took control of the steroid issue that surrounded Major League Baseball. First, Major League Baseball along with Congress noticed the issue of steroids due to Jose Canseco, an ex-major leaguer, who came clean about the steroid issue in his book titled Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ’Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big. In this book, Canseco explained how he taught a variety of players how to inject steroids and how it would benefit them in the future. Throughout his book, Canseco provided details as to the players, who later broke many records; that he taught how to use steroids. For example, Canseco stated...
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...Using Performance Enhancing Drugs In the recent years the use of steroids in professional sports has become widespread, and major league baseball is more than any other. This paper will discuss using performance enhancing drugs will not get players into the Hall of Fame. Players use performance enhancing drugs to gain a competitive advantage over other teams and players. The definition of cheating is violating rules or restrictions to gain an advantage. It’s plain and simple and is a form of cheating. Major league players who got in the hall of fame in the past used their pure natural talent. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to recognize outstanding natural talent in the sport of Baseball. Look at our beloved long time baseball legends, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and many more. How would they feel to see professional baseball players cheat their way in and make it easy on themselves? Baseball meant so much to them and to see future players disrespect our baseball legends and allow them to go to Cooperstown, would be awful to past and present players. Baseball fans know players want to give it all and ultimately make it to the World Series and achieve other outstanding goals, but taking illegal drugs is taking it too far. This leads into the major league baseball punishments for using performance enhancing drugs. The major league baseball has punishments for players who use steroids and performance enhancing drugs. First offense is a fifty game...
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...focus on winning and sometimes this desire is so great that they turn to anabolic steroids. Players that use anabolic steroids receive an unfair advantage over their opponents. Sports figures such as Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez, and Roger Clemens are excellent examples of athletes who superseded their competitors through the use of these banned substances. Steroids directly affect the body by increasing the size and strength of muscles. The gain in body mass and power enhances an athlete’s performance and allows him or her to overpower and physically dominate others on the playing field. Steroids therefore directly boost a player’s fitness and competitiveness . Athletes that do not use anabolic steroids are forced to keep up with their cheating competitors through natural methods of muscle mass gain. This can be a frustrating and futile task when in direct competition with a cheating athlete....
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...There has been no bigger or constant story in the world of baseball than the consistent illegal use of performance enhancing drugs. Performance-enhancing drugs are any substance taken to perform better athletically. This term is referenced often and typically refers to anabolic steroid use in sports by professional and amateur athletes. Other substances may also be taken to improve performance, including human growth hormone (HGH). The on going epidemic has brought the attention of some the biggest names in sports into question. Roger Clemens, Sean Merriman and Lance Armstrong just to name a few of what could possible be hundreds according to the Mitchell report. (Thesteroidera.com) The Mitchell report was an investigation 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, as well as other major sports. The report helped put in the spotlight the ongoing problem mainly found in athletics today. The drugs allowed players to excel far beyond their god given talent and allowed them to produce power numbers never seen before. Not only does “Doping” hurt the integrity of the sport and the athlete, but also causes serious health risks, both mental and physical. I don’t believe there was anyone more intrigued by the epic home-run race of 1998 between Sammy Sosa and Mark Mcguire. The two heroes of the time seemed to sea-saw back and forth until ultimately Mcguire...
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...Baseball: The Steroids Era The use of performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball is an issue that caused quite the uproar throughout the nation in the past decade. Superstars and public icons have fallen from grace after being so instrumental in the reemergence of America’s past time. Careers have been made and lost in single seasons under suspicious gains and losses in “abilities.” The United States Government has even begun to come down hard on baseball from many different angles. The main office of Major League Baseball, along with many active players, has taken steps to help prevent the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs. Many Americans claim to want a clean game and true records, but I am a true believer that steroids are here to stay and the public only pretends to care. Some of the biggest names and even some of the record holders in professional baseball have been accused of using various steroids to gain the competitive edge. Barry Bonds has been one of the most popular professional sports figures in this country for more than 15 years, but he is now waiting for a March court date when opening statements will be heard in his Federal perjury trial. Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, the two most instrumental players that helped the bring fans back to the stadiums after the 1994 players’ strike, will never be voted into the Hall of Fame because there is a suspicion that they used some type of performance enhancers. Roger Clemens is arguably the...
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...Ian Havlin WR-115 Clemenzi-Allen March 16, 2015 Do you even take juice: Excitement, Power, Steroids? Have you ever wondered about how far the human body can be pushed? The amount of stress that you can overcome that leads to a massive amount of growth. Are our bodies being limited from super natural abilities? If I told you that there was a possible way that you could feel stronger, faster, have an increase in muscle growth while also losing fat, would you take this product? Well what if this product offered several possible side effects such as development of male breast tissue, increased acne, hair loss, high blood pressure and causes temporary sterility. Would you still take this product? Lastly, if I told you that with proper dedication...
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...McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez saw their usage exposed, the sport fought back with tougher drug testing and after the 2005 season produced a program punitive enough to minimize the game's doping culture.” (Braun's test result gives MLB major jolt; With MVP under cloud, steroid era is revisited Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY), "Probably the biggest sentence to which he was subjected is the impact on whether he'll be a lock for the Hall of Fame and the stigma that is now attached to his name and his records."(Barry Bonds is sentenced in enduring BALCO saga; No end in sight to BALCO's reach by: Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY). Quotes like these could have been seen all over newspapers and magazines all throughout the past decade. Yes, these athletes did use Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED), but a debate has raged on about just how right are we to scrutinize them for those actions and just how inappropriate their actions were? With baseball professionals on both sides arguing how much of an impact they really had on the game. More so, I'd like to ask the question of whether what they had done was actually in a way good for baseball, and whether Performance Enhancing Drugs should even be banned from baseball? Which, I believe they shouldn’t be for numerous reasons. In order to understand just how “not as out of the ordinary” as they were deemed to be the actions of athletes were, we must look into the history of performance enhancement in sports. Once we do, we realize...
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...Key Terms Anabolic steroids Compounds derived from testosterone that promote tissue growth and repair. Anabolic refers to processes in the body that covert simple substances into more complex compounds (Uretsky, 2006). Anorexia Athletica A disorder of compulsive exercising. People tend to be more obsessed with maintaining abnormally low body fat percentage than with body weight (Davidson & Porter, 2013). Blood doping The use of products that enhance the uptake, transport, or delivery of oxygen to the blood. Blood is taken out a few months before competition and then packed, frozen, and stored. A few days before competition, the blood is returned to the body to increase the red blood count by up to 20% (Blood Doping, 2007). Erythropoietin...
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...magazines columns were indifferent and negative to his home run record. The expressions from them are very different from wild enthusiasms and cheers when he broke Mark McGwire’s single season home run record because Bonds is under suspicion for steroid use. Beside in these cases, major leaguers’ performance enhancing drugs stories rise out many different way such as Jose Canseco autobiography, Mark McGwire admits he uses the steroids and goes on to hit a then record 70 homers. According to the MLB official site, the investigation of MLB organization found that 5 percent to 7 percent of 1438 tests were positive about performance enhancing drugs during the 2003 season. The Major League player were used performance enhancing drug and even existence of the drug policy keep under suspicion about it nowadays . So, I think MLB need to improve current performance enhancing drugs policy. According to the MLB official site, Major League Baseball’s drug policy joint drug prevention and treatment program is established by agreement after the 2004 season between the MLB Players Association and the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball in order to ban baseball players’ performance enhancing drugs including anabolic steroids and other illegal drugs. There was one unannounced mandatory test for each player and random tests to selected players with no maximum number from the start of spring training through the end of the regular season.(Findlaw, 2005) Moreover, there...
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...PEDS standing for Performance Enhancing drugs, most commonly referred to as steroids. The question is though how do these PED’s effect baseball? Why do people feel the need to take steroids in baseball? I’ll tell you why it helps you in everything you do on the diamond, from running to throwing and to hitting it helps you achieve things you never saw possible as a normal person. It help you out to a point that it is just unfair and not fit for baseball. Steroids have changed baseball as we know it and not in a good way. They have made the Major League of Baseball or also known as the MLB look a question such as, Are PED users able to make it into the Hall of Fame? What is the appropriate consequence for these players getting caught? And is...
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...Jeremiah Johnson 11/2/2011 Alan Bone ENGL 1020 2B The Steroid Era in Baseball Major league baseball was founded in 1869 and has gone through several different eras in its history. There was the Dead Ball Era, which started in 1869 and ended when Babe Ruth became a ball player in 1919 and now the Steroid Era, which ran from 1992 thru 2006 (Vassalo). The Steroid Era has forever scarred the game and something needs to be done to restore it to its glory days. The MLBPA should agree to impose stricter sanctions on steroid users because the current penalties are too lenient, steroids have altered the game and stiffer penalties would deter players from using. The MLBPA should agree to impose stricter sanctions on steroids users because the current penalties are too lenient. From 2002-2004 baseball did not suspend players for a first-time steroid offense. They instead would offer the player counseling. Only after a player was caught again, was he suspended. When Senator Joseph Biden was told “the current testing policy does not suspend first time offenders-instead they get counseling,” he said, “it’s a joke, it’s a real joke” (Purchia). How could anyone expect anything to get done with a policy that lenient? The following year the MLBPA decided to try and make the steroid policy a little bit stricter. The MLBPA should agree to impose stricter sanctions on steroids users because the current penalties are too lenient. At the beginning of the 2005 season, baseball changed...
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