Major League Baseball needs to take a stronger approach in their fight against steroid use.
2013 was nothing but a disgrace. The Biogenesis scandal, which found that 14 Major League Baseball players took performance enhancing drugs due to the aid of Miami Health Clinic owner Tony Bosch, rocked the baseball world. The credibility that Major League Baseball worked hard to regain since the beginnings of the steroid era was erased in an instant.
Who is to blame for such negligence and arrogance? In large part, we must blame the players and the owners. The players should take a majority of the blame for their clear defiance of the rules. Based on the actions we've seen, some Baseball players truly believe they're above the law. No one is above the law. It shouldn't matter how famous or rich a person become. Wealth is nothing if you had to cheat and destroy to obtain it.
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Look at Brewers' outfielder Ryan Braun. He failed a drug test in 2011 and lied about it. Braun destroyed the reputation of Dino Laurenzi Jr, the man who administered Braun's drug test in 2011, by falsely accusing him of being antisemitic. We know he apologized to Laurenzi Jr, but that really means nothing. Had Braun not gotten caught by the Biogenesis, do you really think there would be an apology? Odds are Braun would've stuck to his story and Laurenzi Jr would've still been unfairly branded as the man who committed “steroid sabotage.” In the end, Braun's apology means nothing other than a method to cover his tracks.
“There will always be guys trying to buck the system with the latest drug or masking agent to beat a drug test,” said former professional Baseball player Mike Dempsey. “The suspensions last year for Braun, etc. sent a good deterrent so expect it to decrease a bit more but always expect a few outliers who will try to buck the system.”
People like Braun, Alex Rodriguez, Nelson Cruz among others are despicable. Steroid users have no place in baseball. Baseball is a game that mimic the values of America with honor, hard work, making your dreams come true the right way. Having arrogant, cowardly men cheat the system is not how baseball works. Only a coward would cheat their way to success. Why? Because these cowards are so afraid that they can't make it on their own skills. They have to cheat to succeed. Where is the honor and hard work in that?
Now, I'm not so naive to believe that everyone strives to live based on the principles of hard work and fair play. However it might be easier to quell steroid use if owners weren't so willing to overpay for their services. I believe everyone should have the right to earn as much money as they can. That's why we are in a capitalist society. I will change that stance a little. Only athletes who play clean should be deserving of such wealth.
Steroids users, on the other hand, should be capped. Any player, minor league or major league, convicted of steroid use should be barred from earning more than the Major League minimum. Owners need to wise up and realize that steroid users play for money. If you cut them off, then steroids will be gone for good.
The greed of corruption of those who cheat the system knows no bounds. Hopefully owners, along with the Major League Baseball Player Association, will wise up during the next collective bargaining negotiations, set to take place in 2016. Rewarding players who take steroids is just an incentive for keeping the drug use culture going. To exterminate the problem, you must exterminate the source.
Former Major League outfielder and current filmmaker, Billy Sample, believes there will be changes in baseball's drug testing going forward.
“One thing that has come out of the A-Rod, Miami investigation is that even with some of the best testing methods in the world, the players can still be one step ahead of the testing,” said Sample. “To take a performance enhancing drug before the game that would be out of the system by the end of the game is nearly breathtakingly scary to me. I don't think it's a stretch to say that in the next Basic Agreement, the penalty for a positive steroid test will be greater.”
The source of steroid use is the reward of money. Take away the drug users' money and you'll take away the drugs along with it. It's as simple as that.
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