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Bloss
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Feb 25 2008, 11:35 AM
Post #1
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WE THE PEOPLE
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Abstract:
Several players and baseball executives have privately suggested that steroid use may be behind the recent upsurge in home-run hitting in baseball, but as yet, no concrete evidence of steroid use has emerged. Some insiders want baseball's authorities to investigate the matter. Full Text :COPYRIGHT 1995 Sporting News Publishing Co.
Shhh, it's baseball's deep, dark, sinister secret. It's taboo to even bring up the subject. Baseball executives hate talking about it. Players don't want to squeal on one another. Trainers look the other way. Yet, ifs out there, and it's becoming an epidemic in baseball. We're talking about steroids, the chic drug of the '90s. "We all know there's steroid use, and it's definitely become more prevalent," Padres General Manager Randy Smith says. "The ballplayers all know the dangers of it. We preach it every year. "But because there's so much money to be made these days, guys are willing to pay the price now and will pay the piper later. I can understand it's a difficult choice for some players. They know it can take five years off their lives, but then they say, 'OK, so I die when I'm 75 instead of 80. "I just hope the young players don't look up to some of these guys, see the power numbers they're putting up because they're on steroids, and say, "That guy did it, maybe I should, too.' "That's the scary part." Just how prevalent is steroid use these days? "I think 10 to 20 percent," Smith says. "No one has any hard-core proof, but there's a lot of guys you suspect." Says one American League general manager: "I wouldn't be surprised if it's closer to 30 percent, although most people will say it's about 5 to 10 percent, We had one team in our league a few years ago that the entire lineup may have been on it. "Come on, you just don't put on 50 pounds of muscle overnight, and hit balls out of stadiums. I'm seeing guys now who were washed up five years ago, and now they've got bat speed they've never had before. It's insane. "You can usually pick them out, because eventually, they start to get back problems." There, of course, is no method of testing for steroid use in baseball. No player has ever been suspended for steroid use, much less tested by the commissioner's office. Even if a player is caught using steroids, baseball has no recourse. "I'd love to see testing myself," says White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas, 6 feet 5. 268 pounds, who put on 35 pounds during the winter. "If it can be done in every other sport, why not ours? At least it would get rid of the suspicions. "I went in to see my doctor this winter, and he even asked me, `Hey. are you on steroids?' It's a question people are going to ask, especially the big power hitters, unless something is done about it." Says Padre All-Star right fielder Tony Gwynn: "It's like the big secret we're not supposed to talk about, but believe me, we wonder just like the rest of the people. I'm standing out there in the outfield when a guy comes up, and I'm thinking, `Hey, I wonder if this guy is on steroids.' "I think we all have our suspicions who's on the stuff, but unless someone comes out and admits to it, who'll ever know for sure?" Acting commissioner Bud Selig says the topic was last addressed by owners in a private meeting about a year or 18 months ago. The conclusion was no one had any evidence steroid use should be a concern. "If baseball has a problem," Selig says, "I must say candidly that we were not aware of it. It certainly hasn't been talked about much. But should we concern ourselves as an industry? I don't know, maybe it's time to bring it up again." Says Expos General Manager Kevin Malone: "I'd like to see some measures taken. The game of baseball is supposed to be about purity and fairness, but if individuals are going around and getting an unfair advantage because of steroid use, we should do something about it. "You hear the rumors of usage is way up, and it would be nice to know if those are accurate." The Major League Players Association, which prohibits random drug testing for any non-drug offender at the major league level, says steroid testing would violate individual rights. Unless there's an outpouring of support by the players, there won't be steroid tests in this millennium. We've got guys out there willing to risk their lives just for a piece of glory," Dodgers closer Todd Worrell says. "But the problem is baseball's inability to set a policy and stand by the policy. If they set a policy, and stood up to it, it'd be different. "But right now, there's no policy and nobody out there to enforce it. And until we do, we'll continue to have (steroid) problems, finger-pointing and controversy."
Not a lot has changed in the past 13 years.
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Bloss
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Feb 25 2008, 11:42 AM
Post #2
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Iluvkm15
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Feb 25 2008, 02:11 PM
Post #3
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