Juiced!

There has been a lot of controversy about steroids in baseball. If, in fact, use of steroids enhances performance amongst athletes, are records today the result of steroids? The use of steroids increases muscle mass, reduces body fat, and it enhances endurance. It is used by athletes to have an edge on any given competition. In baseball, it’s believed that by using steroids, a player can hit baseballs harder.

According to statistics, Barry Bonds averaged 35 homeruns per season. The year where Mark McGuire broke the single season homerun record, Barry only hit 37 homeruns. Three years after, he doubled his performance and broke Mark’s record, ending with 73 homeruns that year. Can this sudden jump in homeruns be explained? Performances as such have brought to the table a controversy for players like McGuire and Bonds, and many others.

Though not proven that steroids have had an impact on the spikes in statistics, one can only imagine that it has to play a huge role in it. It is only obvious for MLB to introduce mandatory testing throughout the season; although testing is done at the Minor League level, players face no punishment if they test positive, which makes professional players who have grown accustomed to Minor League standards more prone towards drug usage. However, can testing really detect all steroids? Players can take steroids in the off season, only to test clean during the regular season. It is a dilemma that will raise too many questions. MLB also needs to think about the health of their players. Players on steroids are more likely to be on the disabled list, because of the side-effects steroid use brings.