Steroid use taints image of great American sport

As an avid baseball fan, I find it hard to talk about steroid use in Major League Baseball. In 2007, former United States Senator George Mitchell released the Mitchell Report, naming 89 MLB players who used performance-enhancing drugs. Record-breaking players such as Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Eric Gagne appeared on the list. Mark McGwire recently admitted to using steroids on and off for nearly a decade.

In the Jan. 22 edition of The Bona Venture, news editor Mike Vitron wrote, "McGwire truly should be a Hall of Famer, if not for the 583 home runs, then for the fact that he and Sammy Sosa may have single-handedly saved the game of baseball."

In 16 MLB seasons, McGwire hit 583 home runs and broke Roger Maris' single-season home run record (61) by pulverizing 70 balls out of the park in 1998. He had a .263 career batting average, typical for a Hall-of-Fame power hitter.

And what about Barry Bonds, baseball's ultimate power hitter? He holds a .298 career batting average and all-time-best 762 career home runs. Bonds broke McGwire's single-season home run record just three years later in 2001 by hitting 73 out of the ballpark.

With those staggering numbers, Bonds and McGwire deserve to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, right? Wrong.

Of course more people tuned in to watch them on TV smacking home runs and trotting the bases. Is that saving the game of baseball itself or inflating the ratings? When Michael Phelps is swimming for record-breaking Olympic gold medals, I turn it on to watch, even though I have no interest in swimming. Sosa and Bonds made a mockery of the game and almost turned it into a home run derby. The only thing that came of the steroid era was: Who will be the next one to break the home run record? When is somebody going to hit 80 home runs? Or how about 90? Is 100 possible?

Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's record by one home run in 1961. Ruth's record held strong for 34 years, and Maris' in turn held for 37. Many people did not want to see Maris break Ruth's record, while many thought could never be broken, according to an article on historicalbaseball.com. But don't worry, here comes Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco and others with steroids.

Sports fans must realize baseball players and other professional athletes are doing their jobs. In any workplace, hard work is rewarded and honesty is expected. McGwire and other steroid users broke that trust, cheated themselves, the fans, their teammates and their sports.

Can you imagine how many home runs Babe Ruth would have hit had he used steroids? Or how many fewer McGwire and Bonds would have if they had not taken them?

While other honest professional players were working hard day in and day out, players like McGwire, Bonds and Sosa had an unfair advantage using steroids.

Do steroids really help players perform better? Well one thing is sure; Bonds and McGwire both had great swings. However, anyone knows steroids make players physically stronger, and in almost any sport, strength is a huge asset.

Then there is the claim players such as Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettite and Mark McGwire use, saying they took steroids to help recover from injuries. Steroids quicken the process of recovery for injured players unnaturally. It is unfair to those players who battled back from injuries the right way.

Players like Bonds, McGwire and Sosa completely overshadowed the accomplishments of Maris, Ruth and all other MLB players who played the game fairly. Suddenly, Maris and Ruth's accomplishments seem miniscule compared to what McGwire and Bonds did. But at this point, who really knows if Bonds' and McGwire's records are actually valid?

I hope those who cast votes for future Hall of Famers keep the cheaters out. If they don't, we'll be teaching our children a bad lesson: Cheating may still get you into the Hall of Fame.

e-mail: mayersm@sbu.edu