The big news in the baseball world today comes from the publication of a book which claims that San Francisco Giants legend Barry Bonds has been using performance enhancing drugs since 1998.
According to an upcoming book written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, Bonds used a vast array of performance-enhancing drugs _ including steroids and human growth hormone _ for at least five seasons beginning in 1998.
An excerpt from “Game of Shadows,” which lays out extensive details of the slugger’s alleged doping program, appears in the March 13 issue of Sports Illustrated.
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According to the book, Bonds was using two undetectable designer steroids, informally known as the cream and the clear, plus insulin, human growth hormone and other performance enhancers by 2001, when he hit 73 home runs for the Giants to break Mark McGwire’s single-season record of 70 set in 1998.
Of course, it is probably important to note that, for the most part, Bonds was apparently not violating Major League Baseball’s rules while taking these drugs:
Baseball did not ban performance-enhancing drugs until after the 2002 season, though there has long been suspicion that players took steroids to gain an edge
In other words, its entirely possible that Bonds did nothing wrong. The question, then, is whether these allegations, if true, somehow taint Bonds’ records and hurt the integrity of baseball.
As someone who considers himself a baseball purist, I guess that my initial reaction would be yes. Its wrong that Barry Bonds tried to enhance his performance artifically……..but then there are those nagging second thoughts.
Outside of drugs or horomones, there are many ways that today’s baseball players seek to enhance their performance in ways that were unavailable to players even 20 years ago. Sports Nutrition and Sports Medicine have both advanced significantly during this time period. Its also probably a pretty fair assessment that today’s baseball players lead better lives, generally, than baseball players did 70 years ago. In fact, you might say that the fact that Babe Ruth did what he did in the 1920s and 30s while continuing the hard drinking and unhealthy eating lifestyle he was famous for makes his accomplishments even more extraordinary.
So then, the question remains. Outside of what the contract between the players and MLB may say, is it per se wrong for a baseball player, or any sports player, to use performance enhance drugs ?
Quite honestly, I have a hard time saying that the answer is yes.
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