The Steroid Era in Major League Baseball lasted from the 1990’s to 2004. It was a time where players from all around the league took performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) to improve themselves. It came to an end in October, 2003. According to “Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Baseball” by California State University Professor Paul D. Staudohar, when the San Francisco Chronicle posted that the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) had been giving out illegal performance enhancing drugs to athletes across the world (Staudohar, 5). Famous professional baseball players that have confessed or been caught taking PEDs include: Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, and Sammy Sosa. Everybody knows that steroids are a form of cheating, and some say
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Reporters, authors, and journalists from around the country have been trying to figure out the answer to that question. Doctors and reporters believe that cheating with steroids should be something encouraged in the MLB. For example, Dr. Robert Simon, PhD, a professor at Hamilton College, stated in Fair Play: The Ethics of Sports via Procon.org that if people in general can do whatever it takes to succeed in what they are trying to do, “shouldn 't athletes have the same freedom as anyone else?” (Simon). Dr. Simon also goes on to say that if athletes are willing to take the health risk to better themselves from the use of steroids, they should be able to do it of their own free will. Dr. Robert Simon is not the only one who believes that athletes should be allowed to do whatever they like in order to become better. Tom Dombeck of USA Today also thinks that cheating should be embraced in Major League Baseball and other sports. According to his article, Time for Baseball to embrace A-Rod, cheaters, Dombeck believed that baseball players should not be punished for cheating, as cheating is a part of baseball. He listed …show more content…
Some have a problem with the “unfair” advantage it gives to the players that take it versus the players that do not. Dr. Richard Pound, BCL, who is the former President of the World Anti-Doping Agency, had something to say on this matter in a debate called “We Should Accept Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Competitive Sports” that was moderated by NBC’s Bob Costas. To summarize what Dr. Pound was saying, he stated that the purpose of steroids to give an advantage, not to “level the playing field” (Pound). Also, if players “taking 10 grams or 10 cc 's or whatever it is, they 'll take 20 or 30 or 40, and a vicious circle simply gets bigger,” (Pound). Dr. Pound’s theory towards steroids that if the league were to continue to allow or ignore steroid usage, the amount of players using and the amount they use will surely increase exponentially which will cause severe health risks to the players themselves, and ruin the integrity of the game. This a major concern, not only for the ethics of baseball, but can also result in major health
Reporters, authors, and journalists from around the country have been trying to figure out the answer to that question. Doctors and reporters believe that cheating with steroids should be something encouraged in the MLB. For example, Dr. Robert Simon, PhD, a professor at Hamilton College, stated in Fair Play: The Ethics of Sports via Procon.org that if people in general can do whatever it takes to succeed in what they are trying to do, “shouldn 't athletes have the same freedom as anyone else?” (Simon). Dr. Simon also goes on to say that if athletes are willing to take the health risk to better themselves from the use of steroids, they should be able to do it of their own free will. Dr. Robert Simon is not the only one who believes that athletes should be allowed to do whatever they like in order to become better. Tom Dombeck of USA Today also thinks that cheating should be embraced in Major League Baseball and other sports. According to his article, Time for Baseball to embrace A-Rod, cheaters, Dombeck believed that baseball players should not be punished for cheating, as cheating is a part of baseball. He listed …show more content…
Some have a problem with the “unfair” advantage it gives to the players that take it versus the players that do not. Dr. Richard Pound, BCL, who is the former President of the World Anti-Doping Agency, had something to say on this matter in a debate called “We Should Accept Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Competitive Sports” that was moderated by NBC’s Bob Costas. To summarize what Dr. Pound was saying, he stated that the purpose of steroids to give an advantage, not to “level the playing field” (Pound). Also, if players “taking 10 grams or 10 cc 's or whatever it is, they 'll take 20 or 30 or 40, and a vicious circle simply gets bigger,” (Pound). Dr. Pound’s theory towards steroids that if the league were to continue to allow or ignore steroid usage, the amount of players using and the amount they use will surely increase exponentially which will cause severe health risks to the players themselves, and ruin the integrity of the game. This a major concern, not only for the ethics of baseball, but can also result in major health