Home
About
Athletes
Effects
Congressional Hearing
Soulution
Works Cited


Athletes
 

Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s, steroids became more prevalent and popular than ever, especially in Major League Baseball. With more and more players coming forward, it is apparent that fans were in the shadows on steroids. Due to the overwhelming muscle growth and performance boost, professional athletes see that it is a necessary step to reach their peak performance by increasing size and speed. Many different kinds of athletes have taken the drug whether it is athletes involved in strength sports, weight training or even endurance sports such as track and swimming. In many cases it is just a person interested in building or defining muscle. The fact is that the steroids that many athletes must take cannot improve the agility or skill that they are born with. It can strengthen muscles or build a player’s mass but it cannot make the eyes react faster or quicken the player’s hands. Players often times are in a slump and see it as the last resort. Even pitchers are intertwined in the controversy. They use steroids like HGH to relieve stress in the arm. It is also used to help injured players in rehab to gain the strength back quicker. In many cases, these are true stories but in some cases, players often use injuries as excuses to use a certain drug (Nida). Over the so-called steroid era, fans and “clean players” have become worried with the inflation of records that could possibly ruin baseball. Barry Bonds is a name that sparks debate. He holds Major League Baseball’s record for the most homeruns hit in one season, 73, and now Bonds is heading for the all-time homerun number of 755. With 703 already in the books, people are becoming wary of seeing Bonds pass Hank Aaron. Fans are not the only people undecided; baseball’s commissioner Bud Selig openly has not decided on the issue of having the league celebrate the matter. Some people are ashamed that the league is not forthcoming on whether they will celebrate, because after all, Bonds has never failed a drug test. Recently, Hall of Fame voters had a tough time voting for Mark McGwire because of the steroid allegations that he faces. Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn were easily voted in but Mark McGwire fell short of the seventy-five percent he needed with only twenty-three and a half percent of the votes. Mark McGwire ended his career with 583 homeruns, a mark that would lead most people to vote him as a Hall-of-Famer but with his testament in the congressional hearing most voters could not bypass the fact that he may have used (Curry).