...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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...“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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...The argument above is valid because it is in proper modus ponens form. To better understand this argument, you first must understand who the steroid users are, and better understand what the Hall of Fame is. Steroids are a type of organic compound that enhances one’s athletic and physical performance. A steroid user is someone who regularly uses and/or is addicted to taking steroids. The Hall of Fame is baseball’s greatest fraternity. The Hall has the collections of baseball historic players. To enter the Hall of Fame, you must be on the ballot to enter. To be placed on the ballot, a player must have at least ten years of MLB experience and, if alive, be retired for five years. A deceased player may be placed on the ballot after six months of his passing....
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...It has been a constant debate recently whether steroids and performance enhances should be allowed in sports today. This topic usually occurs in baseball but in recent discoveries, many football players are condemned for doping. Vast names in sports such as: Ray Lewis, Alex Rodriguez, and Christian Laettner were all suspended by their respected leagues for doping. Steroids should be banned in professional sports today because they give athletes unfair advantages, they’re horrible to the athletes’ body, and there can be severe side effects. There are copious types of steroids that athletes use. “The most common type of steroids that athletes use are anabolic steroids, or synthetic versions of the male hormone, testosterone” (Quinn). This particular...
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...Steroids are seen as the easy way out of hard work that one has to put in to be successful as well as being linked to some health problems. Do not be fooled from steroids it still is a drug. Like for Smelly one of the Bell brothers struggles from getting off the drug as he knows he won’t be able to stay away from it very long as he tells Chris. This shows just how much power this drug has on him that even Smelly knows he won’t able to say away from the drug. Then in competition where it is said that everyone uses anabolic steroids to enhance performance not all are punished for the use. For instance, in the 1988 Olympics when it was brought to attention that winner Ben Johnson used a banned substance and was striped of his gold medal. Although, who is now got the gold medal Carl Lewis was too taking a banned substance but why was it not brought forth to the media?...
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...What are anabolic steroids, and how have they affected the world of sports? Synthetic drugs that are correlated with male sex hormones are commonly referred to as anabolic steroids. These drugs can come in many different varieties, orally and injection-based. With high expectations in many sports programs, some athletes will turn to steroids for an advantage. Over the span of more than half a century, the world of sports has completely evolved at the hands of these drugs. Steroids have negatively impacted sports leagues worldwide in terms of player-health, league reputations, and record books. Anabolic steroids are known for providing a user with unmatched gains in agility, speed, size, and strength; however, the negative side effects of steroids...
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...[pic] |Source: |USDA/Agricultural Research Service | |Date: |January 3, 2007 | Berry Compound Thwarts Enzyme Linked To Cancer Science Daily — Recent research by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators has fortified the standing of pterostilbene (pronounced "tare-o-STILL-bean") for its health benefits, a compound found in berries such as blueberries and grapes, as a cancer inhibitor. During tests employing cell fragments from mice livers, ARS chemist Agnes Rimando and colleagues in Poland found that the compound strongly suppresses a type of an enzyme that activates cancer-causing processes. Rimando and her collaborators targeted an enzyme called cytochrome P450, which sets off a variety of compounds--known as "procarcinogens--that can turn substances such as cigarette smoke and pesticides into cancer-causing agents. Rimando has led numerous animal studies that focused on pterostilbene and its potential benefits to human health. This includes work showing that pterostilbene can help lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease, and that the compound is present in a genus of shrubs that includes many types of berries, including blueberries. She also led studies that found that the compound is a powerful antioxidant that shows cancer-fighting properties similar to those of resveratrol. Indeed, pterostilbene is a derivative of resveratrol, a compound found in large quantities in the skins...
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...Why steroid users should be allowed into the baseball Hall of Fame? The argument is simple and it’s about time for Cooperstown to open the doors to those who have admitted to or have been accused of using performance enhancing drugs or steroids. Ending the witch hunt: Baseball voters are trying to determine whether or not to vote on players these days based on crimes that players may have or not have committed years ago. Some baseball voters have stated that they would vote for players in the steroid era but they would not however vote for anyone found guilty. It’s hard to know who did cheat and who didn’t cheat in the so called steroid era but if one were to gain entry into the sacred hall then the door will open up for others based on their merits. Saving the Hall of Fame: Baseball has always been called America’s game and the Hall of Fame for baseball enthusiast has always been a destination. In 2013 the Hall of Fame only inducted 1 person in and he had not played in over 130 years. The induction ceremony takes place in the summers and it was always a place to go and honor your favorite players and learn about ones prior to them. As a new generation of fans grow up and the players form the late 90’s and early 2000’s are not in the hall fans will likely not make the trip to the place where legends are remembered. The Hall of Fame is a place to honor the greatest that have ever played the game. It is based on what a player does on the field. People agree that the...
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...The steroid era created a great deal of change in baseball. Jayson Stark’s article “Bud Selig: 'Maybe I should have said more' about steroids” discusses Bud Selig’s feelings currently about the steroid era. Former Commissioner Selig said the result of the steroid era was that Major League Baseball ended up with the best drug testing in sports (Stark 1). The drug policy that is in place in Major League Baseball now didn’t get put in place overnight. There was no reason for steroid era players to be afraid of getting caught with steroids because the consequences would be minor at worst. Now there is a great deal of consequence if you are caught using performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. The game is believed to be as “clean” as...
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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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...Steroids in the game of Baseball | The Physical and Statistical Effects | Anonymous | Many players have been accused of the use of steroids. Some have denied it, but has been proven guilty. Some have admitted by will that they have used Performance-Enhancement Drugs/Steroids at some point during their career. EXTERNAL PHYSICAL EFFECTS There are several signs known of to identify steroid use. For example, in men he might notice baldness and growth in the chest (around the breast) area. In women she might notice increase facial hair, reduction around the breast area, and their voice may deepen. In both men and women they may notice Jaundice, aching joints, mood swings, and nervousness. There also can be major effects for men and women from steroid usage; for example, high blood pressure, liver damage, increases of bad cholesterol, males risk shrinking of the testicles and infertility. Females’ menstrual changes these are some of the noticeable signs of steroids use. There has not been any conclusive proof that the use of steroids alone would make a drastic change in the body size or weight. Although steroids are said to enhance the muscle mass, which could give a false belief of increased body strength. To acquire the muscle mass and body strength desired one would need to have a workout plan in place. If the ligaments and tendons are not strong enough to support the muscle mass one could end up with torn ligaments and tendons. Steroids alone...
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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: an Athlete's Choice Most athletes are paid outrageous salaries to play sports they have come to perfect, giving their fans what they expect. Most fans want to see athletes with explosive speed, excessive strength, extreme attitudes, and perform beyond the normal athletic ability. Athletes have come to increase these attributes with assistance of performance enhancing drugs, which is acceptable and encouraged by most fans. This day in age many professional athletes have evolved into “super human beings” taking sports into a new era; as history and statistics shows this could be due to the use of performance enhancing drugs. However, steroids have been known to cure certain illnesses but it can also cause many repercussions if used inappropriately. The History Steroids have been around for sometime time now, these days steroids have been widely known for its usage in professional sports. History shows that steroids were used as a medical treatment to assist in abnormal growth deficiencies. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy [ONDCP] (2008), steroids were developed in the late 1930’s primarily to treat hypogonadism, a condition in which the testes do not produce sufficient testosterone for normal growth, development, and sexual functioning. Thereafter, scientist discovered steroids enhanced the growth of skeletal muscle in laboratory test animals giving an appeal for humans to intake. By this discovery lead to an outbreak of athletic interest and...
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...PED use in Athletics Performance enhancing drugs have been used by athletes for decades. In ancient Greece, some of the earliest Olympians used substances in an attempt to gain a competitive advantage. The drugs that they would use would either be plant seeds or extracts of mushrooms. Later in Rome, gladiators were known to have turned to drugs. The gladiators would dope for many different reasons, from dulling pain to creating a bloodier spectacle for viewers. In professional baseball, players like Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi were called in front of Congress to discuss steroid use in baseball for two weeks. Congress insisted that steroids were ruining the sport and needed to be banned when, in reality, reported revenues were vastly increased during the steroid era. Congress also preached about a level playing field, but the New York Yankees have a payroll three times that of average teams so how fair can the league really be without a salary cap. This research paper is not on the fairness of baseball though; it is about why a person would choose to do PEDs and how it affects society. Looking at some of the influences presented; it is shown that winning is a major force, a motive and drive; going deeper into winning we conclude that money is one of the major rewards for winning. These are seen as endorsements, contracts, and advertisement opportunities that are very profitable and also sponsor individual players and teams in sports. These revenues influence and encourage individuals...
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...Eriel Cuevas Mr. Mertsock English 12 21 October 2013 Steroids and Athletes Barry Bonds steps up to the plate awaiting a pitch he could hit from Mike Bacsik on a beautiful tuesday night. With a full count Barry finally gets the pitch he and everyone else was waiting for, he blasts the ball to the deepest part of AT&T Park. Was it his natural talent or was it the steroids he had been taking? Why are most of the top athletes in the world risking their health just to get those big contracts that everyone in professional sports want? The first introduction to performance enhancing drugs was in the 1930’s, by a group of German scientists, where they created a form of testosterone. Now people use the drugs to help them become bigger, faster, and stronger. This then would lead to them either getting caught or getting the big contracts that Alex Rodriguez has, which neither A-Rod or any or the other athletes deserve to get. The use of steroids is putting a influence on the rest of the athletes and especially young athletes in high school. This is why the use of steroids has forever changed the face of professional sports, making it a world fueled by drug contacts instead of natural skill and talent. The introduction of steroids to the world was in the 1930’s, by a group of German scientists, trying to create a synthetic form of testosterone for men that weren’t able to produce enough hormones for growth, development, and the men who could not function correctly...
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