At Home Plate - Steroids Ruin Human Aspect of Baseball

At Home Plate

Written by Bjoern Hartig (Contact & Archive) on September 02, 2009

Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz are the biggest names that have been associated with steroids this season. Because I do not live in the States, I was not able to closely follow the media coverage, but I dare say that while A-Rod's exposure provoked a lot of criticism, Manny and Big Papi seem to mostly get off rather lightly.

Was Barry Bonds easier to relate to early in his career?

Photo by jimmyack2005, used under creative commons license.

It is obvious that how a player is perceived before the suspicion of steroid use largely determines how he gets treated afterwards -- unless of course he does something in the process that costs him a lot of sympathy, e.g. like accusing a teammate or making a very weak appearance in front of congress. This behavior by the media and fans is of course highly hypocritical, but this does not mean that for the sake of fairness we should call for a general pardon and be done with the whole affair. Sweeping the steroids era under the carpet is not an option.

I always had a very strong emotional reaction to athletes taking performance enhancing drugs and I am regularly outraged when writers (who I often greatly respect and admire) justify taking PED with the "strong urge to win" and the "willingness to do everything it takes to win" of players like Bonds or A-Rod. I was never willing to accept such an excuse, not for a second.

But I never asked myself exactly what it was that made doping so intolerable to me. After pondering the question for a while, I think it has something to do with my view on how we treat our bodies in general. I am, for example, strictly against unnecessary plastic surgery. There are a plenty valid reasons to undergo such an operation, but getting two additional cup-sizes usually is not one of them. I find it sad that so many people today apparently draw such a large degree of self esteem from their appearance only that they feel such an invasive procedure is necessary. I am not religious and I do not think that the human body is sacred or taboo; it is just my opinion that learning to accept yourself as who you are is an important lesson in life. But I digress.

What does that have to do with sports? Before I try to answer that, I would like to ask you a hypothetical question: If one day there are robots who could play baseball -- and play better than humans are able to -- and they would form a league with 30 teams, play 162 games against each year and hold playoffs, would you go and watch it? Would you root for a robot team, admire their star players and revel in their accomplishments? I probably would not and I guess most of you would not either. Maybe at first, when it is new, but once the novelty has peeled off, interest would dwindle quickly. Why is that?

A big part of the enjoyment of sports is in how we relate to our favorite players. Sure, most of us are fans of teams first and today players often change teams quicker than Paris Hilton changes her boyfriend, but in the end, it is about the guys donning the uniforms -- even if they are just hired mercenaries -- because we need their faces to empathize with. The most universal and popular sports in the world are what you may call "human sports" like football (or soccer, for those on the other side of the pond), rugby, American football, basketball, baseball, tennis, golf, athletics, swimming and so on, i.e. sports in which the human element dominates over technical or non-human aspects (motor sports, horse riding, sailing come to mind as "non-human" sports -- though you probably can argue about the importance of the human element, I'm not an expert here). I go out on a limb and say that this is because we can better relate to those athletes. They are "close" to us.

Speaking scientifically, mirror neurons fire in our brain when we see another person perform a task, just like if we performed it ourselves. That's why watching your team win in person (at the stadium or on TV) is at least ten times more fun than reading about the win in the paper for following a live ticker on the web.

After this long-worded exposition, I'll try to get back to the steroids issue. When athletes take regular supplements, we usually do not mind much. Vitamins, proteins and so on are considered ok, because they are considered natural. Popping vitamins is a shortcut to eating fruits, but that is no problem. The line is blurrier when it comes to medical infusions to allow players to take the field with minor injuries or nagging pains, but it is definitely crossed by injecting steroids or human growth hormones. These are substances the body is supposed to produce on its own and within its own limitations, injecting them is "unnatural."

Accomplishments of athletes on steroids are tainted. They are not the result of the human body alone. Credit needs to go to the player and his pharmacist as well. In the long run, this will reduce the empathy towards the players and destroy parts of the enjoyment of watching sports. For example, a few years back, I regularly followed the Tour de France and was quite excited about it, but today -- under the impression that almost every rider is drugged -- I hardly check the results. I am not saying that this will necessarily happen to baseball, but effects may be slow and long-term. Today, fans in the stands seem not to care too much about steroids, but those who do care probably do not go to the park, do they? If the perceptions persists that most players do steroids and human growth hormones, it may alienate the fans over time. Cleaning up baseball should be high on Bud Selig's agenda if he wants to protect (or restore) baseball's image long term.

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Comments (27)

That's a very dangerous one. A natural sportsperson are respected everywhere not someone who uses steroids.

Quote:

Speaking scientifically, mirror neurons fire in our brain when we see another person perform a task, just like if we performed it ourselves. That's why watching your team win in person (at the stadium or on TV) is at least ten times more fun than reading about the win in the paper for following a live ticker on the web.

One has to be careful

It is sad that sportsmen use steroids nowadays. It is not healthy, it is dangerous and it really doesn’t make them look better. As a sportsman, the most important thing is the body, that’s why they should care about it so much. Steroids wouldn’t be their worst habit, a lot of them use other drugs. It is well known that drugs high-flying sports careers.

Sportsmen do everything to win because it is all about competition. It is not their fault that they come to such desperate measures, it’s the psychological pressure. They should be supported and well informed. We should help them, not judge them. In fact, it is their choice.

The problem is not that we take steroids or not.The problem is that we don't know when to stop.I'm agreeing of athletes using steroids if they need that,but abusing them it's what started this discussion in the first place.You take pills for stress because you need them.Steroids are used to help our body and immune system.But do we settle for that?No,we abuse on it so that they become known for the bad side effects.Want an other argument?Read the comment above.Sports became a desperate,unhealthy competition and a psychological stress inducing activity.Too bad.

I have no idea what these men are thinking! Don't they know how unhealthy steroids are? I think that a good sportsman should be appreciated for what he can do with his natural skills. Steroids don't even make you look better. If you ask me, using steroids should be illegal!

I agree with what I read in this article. I had a friend who used steroids and it took me a lot to convince him it's not healthy and that he can't do it forever. Well, I guess some men don't share my opinion. It takes time to realise how important your health is. Some do that too late.

I have to respond to a comment posted here.Yes,it's their choice,but that doesn't mean that it's a good one.If a friend of yours would say to you that he is taking drugs,you'll just accept it and do nothing?Drug addiction,no matter its type,must be treated and friend and family support is very important in the process.

To answer to a comment:it is already illegal to use steroids without a valid prescription or to distribute them. Steroids are Schedule III substances under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule III drugs, which have a legitimate medical function, may lead to moderate to low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.

steroids ruin a young athlete´s life, or perhaps "The Aaron Henry Story" on HBO, where a young athlete suffers lifelong problems from his steroid abuse.

Abusing is the problem.Not all you hear is true.For example when you hear cannabis,you hear marijuana,you hear bad news.Did you know that cannabis hemp seeds contain all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary to maintain healthy human life? No other single plant source provides complete protein in such an easily digestible form, nor has the oils essential to life in as perfect a ratio for human health and vitality.Did you know that the cannabis seeds contains all 10 amino acids and omega 3,6 and 9 and have medicinal and nutritional benefits?

Steroids definitely made baseball so bad. I hope they are able to come back from this. Only time will tell.

It's a natural human desire to better ourselves at anything we are doing. But when it comes to sports, we tend to blame those who are willing to bend the rules. Abuse is the real problem here because it can become damaging to an athlete's health. But if this was done in a controlled manner, the sport could become a lot more spectacular and everyone would have only to win off it.

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Sometimes taking certain substances in order to increase your physical performance may lead to disastrous consequences. Steroids have unsuspected effects that can influence the internal processes of the organism and eventually harm your natural hormonal balance. Which is why I assume steroids should be taken only by medical advice.

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The reason why we admire star players so much is that we have the impression that they are superior human beings, or people who have trained to such an extent that deserves our respect. However, once guilty with steroid use, we quickly lose our respect of the player we once thought deserved the respect.

Everyone deserves a second chance.Yes,steroids are bad and yes,taking them is a poor personal choice,but the big fuss we make on this subject is becoming unbearable. After all we are only humans and unfortunately our psychological need of being appreciated sometimes overrules the rationality. Yes,they deserve to be sanctioned but I do think they deserve some privacy and understanding. Maybe this is why steroid addiction, like any other drug addiction, is sometimes insuperable.I think some counseling and rehabilitation would be a better solution than stigmatizing.

I have been curious about this topic and decided to do some research. Your article has some useful information. Do you have any more on this subject?

I don't watch all baseball match, but this match seems to be good to know. Thanks.

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The layer on the batting team can stop at any of the bases and later advance via a teammate's hit or other means. The teams switch between batting and fielding whenever the fielding team records three outs. One turn at bat for each team constitutes an inning and nine innings make up a professional game. The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins. Thanks.

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