One position that I have long espoused that I often find to be contrary to the feelings of much of the sports media world is my view on steroids. They do not bother me all that much, and I think that the grand reveal of all steroid users has done more to harm the sport than fix anything. I wish that we could leave well enough alone, and just focus on implementing even more rigorous testing standards in the future. The fact that McGwire and Bonds were on steroids during their historic seasons does nothing to diminish the excitement that I had at the time, nor does it do anything to alter my memory of those events. Bill Simmons echoes this position in his latest column:
With everyone fretting about the steroids era and how it frayed the carefully woven fabric of baseball history, ask yourself this: Does any of it matter? Bonds remains the best leftfielder I’ve ever seen in person. I’ll never forget watching Roger Clemens in his prime. I never turned the channel when Manny was batting for the Red Sox — never, ever, ever, not once. A-Rod fetched the highest price in each of my fantasy auctions this decade. I probably paid four grand to Fenway scalpers from 1999 to 2001 to watch Pedro pitch even though I was broke. Some of them cheated for an edge they didn’t need; others stayed clean. I will remember them all.
Maybe we overthink this stuff. The truth is, either you’re great or you’re not.
Exactly. These players achieved greatness, and I do not care how they got there, as it does not retroactively change anything about my sports experience. I know that I am in the minority here, which is why I wrote this post in the first place. I want to hear the other side, understand why some people are so outraged. Where do you stand on this issue?
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
13 Responses to Simmons Smart on Steroids
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
I try to forget about the people who didn’t get to keep their jobs because their teammates or someone else was on the juice.
Its a competitive game, if two folks of equal talent compete, and one has a chemical edge, well, tell the one who didn’t juice to go find a new line of work. (and if he has a son, tell him the same thing if he dares try out for high school sports).
Personally, I am at the point, where I really do marvel now at some of these older records and appreciate them in a way I never could before.
I mean, what if, just what if, the 714 or 755 HR records……simply can not be broken by natural means, what if it, is impossible?
That 61 Home run record for a season, I don’t think it can be broken without a chemical added edge.
I never thought so before, but I do now.
But do you feel it is necessary to continue exposing the users?
I think it really matters because although baseball is a business, ultimately its grown men playing a game, the same game played by millions of impressionable kids. I don’t so much blame the current stars that “got caught” for a method of cheating introduced by those that came before. It doesn’t excuse their choices and actions but ultimately ARod was probably 12-13 yrs old when the Bash Bros were in their prime. Many of today’s stars are repeating the mistakes of the past and continuing to set a bad example for the next generation. If it didn’t stop here I can imagine a day where 40-50% of all major leaguers were cheating in some way which would have a trickle down effect to all levels of baseball from JV. Considering how many players are drafted every year year there’s a lot of potential for young guys out there to pump their bodies full of steroids and Hof dreams only to find out it didn’t help or they really weren’t good enough.
I can understand that point in regard to exposing the general problem. But that has happened already. Wouldn’t really strict future testing rules serve the same purposes that you want?
I guess to me competition is about trying to find a way to win through talent, hard work and smarts. It’s finding a way to better yourself and your team by maximizing your inherent abilities through effort. In doing so, history provides points of comparison with which to measure one player to the next, one team to another. PEDs shift that balance. It’s no longer about what a player finds inside himself. Sure, he has to have talent already, but does he still need to work as hard? Sure, he may continue to work hard, but can you measure his output on the same scale when his achievements have been enhanced through non-natural means? I find it easier to root for natural talent, strength of will and hard work than for achievements gained through a bottle or syringe. Yes, Bonds was great, but not the mythic figure he became. Ditto, Mac and Palmeiro, and possibly A-Rod. What will the drugs of the future provide those athletes? Will they still need to work as hard? Will they still need as much talent? Why have to question the integrity of what we are cheering for, when that integrity can be maintained simply by the players demonstrating some integrity of their own.
Fair point. However, let us remember that plenty of the mythic figures used outside sources such as greenies to stimulate performance. I think at some point, we need to leave the past in the past and try to avoid similar situations for the future. Honestly, maybe Im alone, but my memories about 1998 have not been diminished.
I see PED’s that give you muscle mass, strength and that aid in recovery as a different ball game than greenies. I’m not sure how big the difference is between greenies and pounding Red Bulls or strong coffee or both. I do know that we can look at Bonds and Sosa and see slighter guys turned into Hercules.
We can’t leave this past until the players respect the game enough to leave it. It’s them, not us, that has the power to put it all behind us. And, they are not. No blood tests. And, per a Will Carroll post in BP, still using low doses of steroids that won’t be detected and still taking other PED’s for which there are no tests. Still looking for ways to beat the system and make less relevant our ties to the history of the game.
I can’t get over the past, because it’s not the past, yet. When it is, I’ll excitedly move on.
Carroll’s post was speculation, although I do understand the point that you are making. However, I think we are making similar points- I want to look at the future, and you do to, you are just saying that it is part of the past. So let me modify the question: if future enforcement is impossible, bc the drugs stay ahead of the test, would it make it better to legalize it in the sport, by creating some sort of system where a league doctor can prescribe it, so that everyone was on an even playing field.
Fair question. If future enforcement was impossible, I’m not sure what choice the public would have. Actually, I think the choice might be to let baseball go the way of men’s field hockey. I think the core of what makes baseball what it is – timeless – would be hollowed out. Without its history, legacy, aura, it’s connection to the past, without it’s simplicity and message of hard work, can it really compete against football and the other sports? If it’s to be drugs, then, I think the American public would be more interested in how they apply to the NFL and ultimate fighting or whatever brute sport comes next. There is no real joy in hitting a ball, not an opponent, over a fence, when the public knows a cheater did so. Cheater, mano y mano, against cheater, I believe holds the American imagination more solidly than watching hulking robots hit a cowhide into the night, time after time after time.
Baseball is not just about competing against your opponent, it’s also about competing against the past.
Very well said. I wonder how many other agree with that sentiment.
There are two things that really stand out to me about this whole thing.
These guys didn’t take PEDs and then go out chasing skirts and boozing it up. For the most part, they spent many hours working out in the gym doing hard, boring work to become what they wanted to be. In an era that sees guys like Alan Iverson (“me go to practice? PRACTICE?!) treated like conquering heroes, ripping people unceasingly for doing what they could to get an edge (and ‘cheating’ to get an edge is as old as the game) seems a bit out of proportion.
The other thing that bothers me, is why does the NFL get a pass? Every case that finally comes to light (almost always because of something other than the NFL’s testing policy), the news is on page 18 and runs for one day and is then forgotten.
I guess the message to ‘the kids’ (won’t someone do something about the kids?!) is that if you’re a football, basketball, or hockey player-PEDs are acceptable behavior. A baseball player, not so much.
You basically just stated exactly the reasons for why I feel the way I do.
Rent the documentary/movie Bigger Stronger Faster. It provides an interesting look at steroids.