Steroid Era Essay

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Drug use is a problem in every sport, but no sport compares to baseball. In a game where home-runs bring in the money, players usually do whatever it takes to get an edge. This includes taking performance-enhancing drugs that cause many health issues and permanently damage the body. The Steroid Era saved Major League Baseball because of increased attendance to games and income due to home-runs.
On August 12th, 1994, the Major League baseball players association went on strike. The strike lasted 232 days and cancelled over 900 games. Including the postseason and World Series (Staudohar). When Major League Baseball and the players association finally worked out a deal, fans didn’t jump to show support. Fans were very upset with the strike and showed it by not attending games. In national league stadiums, average attendance by year took a steep decline of about 800,000 people (Schlossberg). The declining attendance
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When the star players are playing, the games are more exciting and ultimately more people are in the stands. Mark McGwire confessed using human-growth hormones to recover from injuries (CBSnews). Steroids were also used to prolong major league careers and extend players prime. In Barry Bonds’ case, his home-runs started coming when he was older, allowing him more productive seasons. Ultimately, steroids helped players heal quicker and extend their careers.
There were many negatives to the steroid era however. The records that were broken during were done so unjustly and should not be counted in the record books. Players who have been linked to steroids are almost certain to lose their hall-of-fame spot and media releases destroyed reputations with their reports. Many former players have acquired long-lasting health issues because of steroids. However, some may argue that the millions of dollars made were well worth the health effects and tarnished

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