According to ESPN, there’s an enormous performance-enhancing drug scandal set to explode. Roughly 20 players have been connected with a clinic called Biogenesis of America. Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Nelson Cruz, Gio Gonzales, Melky Cabrera, and Jhonny Peralta are some of the athletes that allegedly received PEDs from the clinic. Biogenesis founder Tony Bosch is reportedly assisting MLB in its investigation. According to the site, “Major League Baseball will seek to suspend about 20 players connected to the Miami-area clinic at the heart of an ongoing performance-enhancing drug scandal.”
As a lifelong baseball fan, I’m bummed by the news. While I know that a few of you feel that PEDs should be allowed in sports, there are many that don’t. Millions of fans feel that steroids, HGH, greenies, etc. ruin the purity of the game. No matter your stance, the scandal will be a black eye for baseball and cast a shadow over what has been accomplished in the sport for the last 20 years.
The one silver lining I see is the possibility Alex Rodriguez getting severely punished. I’ve never been a fan of A-Rod and wouldn’t mind seeing him slapped with a 100-game suspension. In a perfect world, he would also be found guilty of killing baby seals for leisure and burning down acres of rainforest for kicks; those crimes would justify the cancellation of his ridiculous contract.
On a random but related note, if I ever get rich, one of the first things I would do is commission a painting of myself as a centaur smashing a baseball bat into the head of an Alex Rodriguez centaur.
What do you think, sports fans? Do you think the Biogenesis scandal will be a huge deal? Or will it just be a blip on the radar? Will MLB get away with 100-game suspensions? Or is the players’ union too strong? Shout it out in the comments section (please)!
It’ll be a big deal in the short term if Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun are definitely implicated – both former MVPs and fairly big names – especially since Braun got away from a 50-game suspension based on a technicality.
In the long run, it’ll be somewhat of a blip tho – I think sports fans have come to accept that most professional athletes are on something. Perhaps the one long-term aspect is that it seems like more and more of these sports clinics are getting exposed sooner rather than later.
Most fans won’t care.
My stance is that PEDs should be allowed since they play 162 games per year. You need it for recovery. Steroids and HGH do not make you hit better, throw accurately, catch better, or have more awareness. Non issue.
Its a big deal but to me ive always had my suspicions. Im pretty upset that no one in the Cubs organization thought of putting players on PEDs to win a world series.
… they stopped at Sammy Sosa for some reason.
-M
I don’t know a ton on this subject, but from what I’ve understood in the past the amount of these substances that players are already allowed to have in their system in order to pass drug/PED tests is about four times a normal dose. Of course PED’s are being used in professional sports, in this instance baseball, and I’m not looking forward to this fiasco occurring in the NBA, but it seems that the league has to care about it in order for the rules to be enforced if this is really going to end.
As it stands I’m not convinced that anyone, the fans or the league, would really want or care if PED usage to end. From everything that I’ve heard on the subject the testing is so lax, and the testing times are very opportune for the players using PEDs, that the whole thing seems like a joke anymore.
Wow, I have a lot to say.
First, I couldn’t disagree more with most of you. I agree that steroids do not help you hit the ball. However, every player in the major leagues are already experts at hitting the ball. What steroids actually do is to turn singles into doubles and doubles into homers, they give players who would generally hit 20 homers a year the power to rewrite the record books. Look at young Sammy Sosa, young Palmeiro, young Bonds. These guys were all GREAT hitters, even before the cheating. With the help of the the drugs, they became legendary, while along the way taking a giant shit over all time greats like Mays, Ruth and Aaron. They turn mediocre guys like Melky Cabrera, Brady Anderson and Ken Caminiti into all-stars, and MVP’s.
Steroids destroy the integrity of the record books and the sport itself, create an uneven playing field, and dishonor the great men who played the game, some of whom were literal war heroes. They know what the hell they are doing, if you knowingly cheat, you get a lifetime ban, period.
Ray,
You should be ecstatic over the A-Rod implication. If he is suspended, the Yankees can void his contract. They can dump his ass, and reward their next free agent catch, presumably another 35 year old, with a 200 million dollar contract. My money is on Matt Holliday.
From what I’ve read, A-Rod getting suspended would only take his 2013 salary off the payroll for the 50 or 100 games he’s punished for. It would take a lot more to get his entire contract voided (which would be completely awesome) and the players’ union would fight like hell for him.
Brady Anderson is one of my favorite examples of PEDs elevating a player. Loved that name drop!
Im an orioles fan, and his 50 homers back in 1996 is still most in franchise history.
If they yankees can prove that the PEDs lead to his hip deteriorating they can actually recover money they have paid him.
I look for them simply to sit him down and tell him they are going to restructure over 10 years for less than half of what is left on the contract.
In the ’80s, George Steinbrenner would have hired one of the Sopranos to take a bat to his hip. Those were the days….
That’s quite the assumption that the old players did not cheat. It says something when guys on PEDs still can’t break some old records when you can argue that scrutiny is much higher than what it used to be.
PED is so subjective though. Would you consider creatine a PED? Protein shakes? I stand by my earlier comment that it isn’t an issue. Granted with baseball, the most statistical sport there is, I do understand people being upset over PEDs but it doesn’t break the game.
During what is known as the steroid era you can’t absolutely say who did and didn’t take them. I’ll go a step further…with guaranteed contracts it is nice that the players are actually concerned with performance after signing for all that money.
I would consider any form of synthetic testosterone a PED. I am actually fine with HGH, but only to help recover from an injury which has ended your season, if that makes sense.
The steroid era happened, no one can go back and change that. Actually, it was something teams encouraged their players to do. Those drugs were actually not even illegal back in the 90’s. I suppose I just have a nostalgic infatuation with greats, many of whom who have recently died. I don’t think it’s fair for guys like Killebrew, Mays, Maris, and the like to have their records smashed by these cheating assholes.
I understand. I loved baseball when I was a kid. Still do but the current game does seem a bit off kilter.
Bring back tobacco.
I would totally buy that centaur painting. Also, I’m kind of bummed that no one from the Marlins is taking PEDs. Lord knows they desperately need it… and talent… and a new owner.
My view is the whole “level-playing field” thing. They either all have to do it or nobody does it at all. Although, like Thundercracker said, it’s disrespectful to the history of the game and the accomplishments that great past players had before the drugs.
If the MLB is going to go all in with the drugs, then there has to be a new, modern-era hall of fame (not in Cooperstown). If they are going to ban PEDs (and/or not look the other way when players obviously use them), then every PED should be listed either as a banned substance or recovery drug so everybody knows what is O.K. to use (maybe for DL recovery purposes) and what is not O.K. (horse steroids).
Or, as a scientific experiment, allow the two worst teams in both leagues to start taking PEDs after the All-Star break to see if it makes a difference. This way, we can settle the argument of if PEDs really do make a difference once and for all with years of data to back it up.
-M
IF those great players of old were squeaky clean which i doubt considering their reputations.
Cobb and Ruth come to mind.
I really miss the days of when chewing tobacco was the biggest taboo in MLB.
Ruth played drunk. That’s a handicap. That’s something I wouldn’t mind… players taking performance suppressing drugs.
Everybody on the Marlins takes PSDs. It’s the only logical explanation.
-M
I’m looking forward to your thoughts on the NBA finals too! The Heat/Pacers series was a lot of fun. Hopefully Heat/Spurs is just as good. Unfortunately, it looks like I’m going to miss game one. I have to go a videogame art gallery thingie as a VIP guest. A good friend of mine is throwing it and art gallery openings only happen once. *sigh*
My ride to the gallery canceled, so that means I get to watch the game. Yay for not having a car!
Take some PEDs and you can hike there no problem.