Barry_Bonds_Steroids

Sam Golterman Eng 102 Jeanne Boyer 2/25/08 Proposal Essay Steroids Steroid use in professional baseball by players like Barry Bonds is a major issue that has become prevalent in the last decade and has been detrimental to the game. Barry Bonds’ case in particular has been under investigation for years, with the focus on the case at its peak due to his recent passing of Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record. Bonds has been a powerful influence in Major League Baseball (MLB) for his entire career, always at or near the top of the league in stats. Despite this, the records Bonds broke are all in question now after allegedly using steroids to increase his strength and athletic ability. With Bonds stats being as good as they have been since the steroid allegations against him, the MLB has been paying close attention to his steroid usage. Ever since the debut of Bonds steroid use the MLB has been investigating cases like Bonds’ closely to ensure that they have not been using any performance-enhancing drugs. Now, as a result of the steroid controversy any record broken is affiliated with steroids. It’s not right for fans and officials to have to worry about players using steroids. Steroids bring the game down and should never have been introduced to baseball. Barry Bonds records do not deserve to go down in history and he should not be inducted into the Hall Of Fame. When I was in elementary school I was interested in baseball. My favorite players were Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle. I felt the remarkable skills that these players possessed were incredible. That is why when I heard about the steroid scandal involving Bonds it angered me. Baseball legends like Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle did not use steroids, so why should players who were using steroids while chasing the records potentially break their records' It raises major questions in my mind concerning certain records that have been broken since the steroid debut. So is Bonds guilty of using steroids' And if he is, should he be penalized' Yes, Bonds is guilty, he tested positive for amphetamines so obviously this and the drastic muscle increase should be enough to prove that Bonds was using steroids. Bonds records should not replace the previous ones because he had an unfair advantage over other players. Steroids were not checked by the MLB until 2002. In 1999, Bonds showed up to his spring training camp looking significantly bigger and stronger than the previous season. As a result, teammates and fans started to wonder what Barry Bonds did during the off-season. This odd change in Bonds’ physique, caused suspicions to arise regarding his steroid use. Bonds claimed the change in his physical appearance was due to proper dieting, legal supplements, and heavy lifting. The increase in size seemed to be to drastic to have happened all in one season, raising major questions as to what Bonds was really doing during the off-season. Performance-enhancing drugs had been banned, Bonds was not breaking any of the MLB’s rules and no case could be filed. This was the beginning to a long, dark side of Barry Bonds, which resulted in him losing respect from people who viewed Bonds as a “cheater.” The Barry Bonds steroid scandal embarked in 2003, when Greg Anderson, Bond’s trainer was charged with supplying his athletes with various steroids to improve their performance on the field. Anderson and Bonds knew each other since middle school when Bonds was the star player and Anderson struggled for playing time. Anderson gave up his baseball career and began to work out a lot this is when he began dealing steroids. Anderson was linked to several professional athletes such as Gary Sheffield, and Jason Giambi who both allegedly received steroids from him to improve their athletic performance. This was when the attention really began to focus on Bonds’ steroid use due to the direct link between Anderson and Bonds. Bonds has broken several of the MLB’s all time records since the start of his alleged steroid use, which is controversial because the steroids could have led to the strength behind his swing. Bonds recently broke the all-time home run record, as well as breaking Mark Mcgwire’s 70 home runs in a single season record, hitting 73. Bonds also holds the record for the most walks in a career with 2553, as well as holding the record for most intentional walks with 686. Other records include: most walks in a single season, the most MVP awards, oldest player to win the batting title at the age of 38, and four consecutive years of being named the MVP. These are some of the greatest records of all-time and to think Bonds got them from cheating just frustrates anyone who has respect for the game of baseball. Since then a novel, Game of Shadows, written by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams has been released detailing Bonds life and his addiction to performance-enhancing drugs. The novel sheds light on Bonds’ private life and goes in to detail about how involved he got into steroids and what effects that took on him physically and emotionally. The novel was devastating to Bonds’ reputation taking him further away from getting inducted to the Hall Of Fame. Guys like Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth got their home run records legitimately without the aid of illegal supplements. This book created a broader understanding of the steroid business and how deeply involved it was with baseball. A solution to this steroid epidemic is a necessity. A solution to the problem would be to have random steroids tests in the MLB multiple times a week. This would keep the players in the dark, which in turn would help in catching steroid users because the athletes could not anticipate the tests creating a perfect way to fire the players who used steroids, and prevent it from happening in the future. This solution would play a major part in controlling the all-time records and preventing them from being broken by steroid use. This increase in drug tests would be costly. The solution to this problem is the MLB agreeing to purchase massive amounts of drug tests, creating a cheaper price and allowing teams to save money for their other expenses. This is a feasible solution to the problem and should be implemented in the MLB as soon as possible. With the participation of the MLB and the owners of the teams this solution will put an end to the steroid issue. If the athlete chooses to continue the steroid use, they will be caught. I conclude that Bonds used steroids to aid his size and strength in order to make him a better player. All of the evidence proves that he was guilty of using steroids. There is no way to erase his accomplishments, which is an indignity to the game. The steroid episode is going to cause the MLB to accuse players of using steroids when they are just having a good game or season. Rick Ankiel, a St. Louis Cardinals baseball player was recently accused of receiving a twelve-month supply of an illegal steroid. This is just an example of a player who got accused of using steroids because of his recent performance on the field. Thanks to players like Bonds accusations like Ankiel’s will occur regularly. I will always look past Bonds records because I can’t take them seriously. Bonds was not a champion; he was a cheater.