The Double Standard: The Paradox of Drugs in Baseball versus Other Sports…

Over the past 4 or 5 years, we have heard of the endless debate of steroid use in baseball. Due to the trials and tribulations of Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa and the impending Hall of Fame vote on Mark McGwire, baseball is stuck in neutral over the drug paradox.

This past season, a handful of minor leaguers and major leaguers, most notably, Guillermo Mota have violated baseball’s drug user policy. Thanks to the Congressional Hearings in 2005, the Pandora’s box of drug use in baseball and other sports were wide open.

However, why does the media seem to focus a lot of scorn and dismay at the hierarchy of baseball, rather than at football or the NHL, which would seem to rely a lot more on power and sheer physical movement, than baseball which seems to be a lot more anaerobic and less active (dependant on position)?

Well, in my opinion, I think that the steroid debate in baseball is so enflamed unlike in the NFL, because of the sport’s obsession with numbers, its history and romanticism.

The numbers .406, 56, 756 and 73 are symbols of iconography in sports folklore. Baseball fans know them better as Ted Williams’s batting average in ’41, Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak, Hank Aaron’s home run record and Barry Bonds home run record. Basketball, football and hockey are far more dependant to the action and plays; in baseball, the numbers and statistics are just as important as the action. In fact, knowing what your player is batting, etc. compliments the action and often serves as a predictor of a player’s performance.

Unlike other sports, baseball’s history is marketed as much as it’s present. I’d venture to say basketball, hockey and football (to a much lesser degree) market their sports’ nostalgia in order keep people in tune with the game. Simply, because of the hallowed records in baseball are so revered, a lot of fans are repulsed by the fact an alleged cheater could threaten a record, whether they are or are not guilty.

Furthermore, many including the media, World Doping Agency & fans find the current testing a complete joke. As baseball seemingly allowed players to cheat and use drugs before 2002, football already had a testing program in place since 1989, although like baseball it does not test for HGH or human growth hormone.

In the case of the public, perception is reality. Football seemed to put the brakes of steroid use, baseball allowed it to go on and on.

Many don’t see basketball as a power sport, and hockey is not on the radar. The only two sports that get scrutinized as much as baseball are track and field and cycling.

To be honest, does anyone care about track and field along with cycling except during the Olympics and the Tour de France?
Does anyone get on Lance Armstrong for winning 7 straight Tour de Frances, although there having been allegations of him in the media doping?

Do the media still rail on Shawn Merriman for his drug use? It seems to be that he’s back in action with a clean slate?

Again, I believe baseball is target of the media, not because of the reality of drugs in sport, but because due to a history of inactivity & the perception that baseball did nothing to stop a train running off the tracks, and now hallowed records are in danger of being broken.

Athletes in the world of all sports use steroids because they work. Steroids helps to build muscle strength, recover from workouts quicker and other benefits; however, the dangers of drug abuse cannot be understated and they range from baldness, infertility, to heart problems and cancer.

If you got offered X millions for your abilities and could secure your life, your family’s financial future, and possibly for generations, would you or would you not indulge in drug use? This is the ethical question that many struggle with.

In the end, does it matter? Fans still the see games, salaries are escalating in all sports and athletes are still icons. Do fans even care?