Use of Steroids in Baseball
What are the side effects of its usage in the Major Leagues?
Feb 22, 2007 Philip James Liaboe
WHY BASEBALL TURNED TO STEROIDS
Ten to fifteen years ago if a ball players hit 20 homeruns in a season, he was considered a power hitter. Now it’s not uncommon for even the smallest players to hit thirty to forty homeruns in a season, in fact it’s almost become a requirement. It seemed to happen overnight. One year a few players were hitting twenty homeruns, the next year it seemed almost everyone was.
In the last fifteen to twenty years, Baseball has enjoyed a surplus of power hitters, the highest attendance since the 1994 strike, the largest contracts ever offered, and the media giving more attention to individual players than ever before. And now the truth has come out; steroids have been apart of it all. Nobody has been pleased to find out steroids have been used by many players since the early 90’s.
However, it’s not just the players to blame, but almost everyone involved in baseball. Specifically; owners and agents, fans, and the media.
Owners, General Managers, and Agents
During the 1990’s, owners began putting more pressure on general managers to field competitive teams believing (reasonably so) that they would produce more revenue through ticket and merchandise sales. General Managers felt the pressure and started buying players as opposed to raising them through their minor league systems. As the demand for better players grew, agents took advantage of it by setting the prices for their players higher and higher.
A common example is when agents hold out as teams offer higher and higher amounts to sign players. Record contracts are given out more and more frequently as the demand for players goes up and up.
In order to maintain their contracts and careers, players have to live up the expectations the money offered them demands. If players don’t perform to expectations, teams can terminate or opt out of a player’s contract, usually without having to pay the majority of it.
The Media
Statistics have always been apart of sports. It’s how owners, coaches, fans, and agents determine the value of players. Statistics are invaluable to Baseball, and the media has recognized it. Within the last two decades the media has spent more time analyzing, comparing, and dissecting individual statistics than analyzing overall team performance. With the emphasis on the individual came the rise of the individual player, who inevitably thinks he is above the game.
Many players have relished the individual attention, and know that individual statistics are what earns them that attention. Steroids were a quick and easy way to gain the statistics needed. The media has even gone so far as to put players in the same spot light as Hollywood Celebrities. Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s relationship on the Los Angeles Lakers was treated like a celebrity feud and was even a topic on Celebrity Gossip shows on VH1. More recently is the attention Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez have been given for their apparent “soured” relationship. And while steroids aren’t the focus of the attention given to these “feuds,” it shows the media has a big interest in high profile players with big statistics.
It’s true that every team has their stars and every franchise has their “face” to fans, but when the media started dedicating time and print to individual players, individual players started to use steroids to gain that attention, and keep it.
The Fans
The media isn’t all to blame though, because as the media has put emphasis on the individual, they are only encouraged by the fans who spend their time paying attention to it. It used to be that fans had a favorite team they would follow, cheer, and boo and nothing would deter them. Over time though, fans have also began following certain players in addition to their favorite team. A while ago fans had their favorite team they would follow first, then a few players.
Over time a shift has occurred and fans have begun following individual players first, and teams second. Whether it’s because of the media attention to the individual or not, the fact remains that fans are following players more than teams these days.
The best example is how ticket sales go up wherever the New York Yankees play.
Steroid use the inevitable result
As owners, agents, general managers, the media, and fans have begun placing more emphasis on individual players, the inevitable result is that players begun playing for themselves. More and more players are just playing for big paychecks, breaking records, and leaving a legacy, than trying to win a World Series for their home town.
When everyone started demanding better individual performances, it only took a few players trying to make it in Major League Baseball to bring steroids to the game. Jose Canseco is widely held responsible for introducing steroids to Baseball, and he began taking steroids so he could put up the numbers to earn him long and big contracts. Once Canseco began using and pulling ahead, everyone else followed so they could stay competitive.
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