Performance-Enhancing Drugs: Baseball Could Come Clean

Published: Saturday, July 27, 2013 at 12:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, July 26, 2013 at 11:00 p.m.

It was probably baseball fans who were first shocked and dismayed by the revelations that many of their hitting and pitching heroes were posting gaudy statistics with the aid of performance-enhancing drugs.

Baseball writers took up the cause this year. Faced with a list of Hall of Fame candidates that included several former players tainted by drug use, the writers failed to elect anyone for only the second time in 42 years. Those results were cheered by several members of the Hall.

Now, it is current players who are freely expressing their disgust with colleagues who used steroids and other substances to gain an unfair advantage on the field ? along with the honors and big contracts generated by their cheating ways.

All in all, the growing lack of tolerance for doping and for athletes who profit from it is a refreshing development ? for baseball and all sports. It may be just what's needed to clean up ? and level ? the playing fields.

The new focus of resentment is the Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun, a former National League most valuable player, who ? after years of vehement denials ? agreed this week to a 65-game suspension imposed by Major League Baseball over evidence that he used drugs.

Fellow players were quick to condemn Braun.

"I thought this whole thing has been despicable on his part," Detroit pitcher Max Scherzer, an All-Star, told The Associated Press.

"When he did get caught, he never came clean. ... that's why the whole Braun situation, there is so much player outrage toward him."

Matt Kemp, a Los Angeles Dodger outfielder who finished second to Braun in the 2011 MVP voting, said: "We had conversations, and I considered him a friend. I don't think anybody likes to be lied to, and I feel like a lot of people have felt betrayed."

DEALS AND GUILT

Joe Girardi, New York Yankees manager and a former major-league catcher, said of Braun's decision: "You don't accept a deal unless you're guilty."

"It's another black eye for our game," said Girardi. "I know this game is very resilient, and there's been a lot of scandals over the years, but you get tired of it."

Girardi might be gearing up to handle his own team's latest scandal: Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees third baseman and three-time American League MVP, is reported to be among more than a dozen players targeted for suspension resulting from an investigation of a Florida anti-aging clinic.

If and when the additional penalties are announced, the recipients won't get any sympathy from Los Angeles Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson. "They're lying to the fans," Wilson told The AP. "They're lying to their teammates. They're lying to their GMs, their owners, and they're going to get caught."

In the past, lying wasn't necessary. For years, baseball players and other athletes were reluctant to identify or publicly criticize either teammates or competitors suspected of using illegal substances.

SUSPICIONS

Professional athletes ? even more than managers, coaches and others closely involved with teams and sports ? have to be suspicious when a colleague suddenly develops huge muscles, along with new ability to hit monster home runs, throw faster fastballs or bounce back from serious injury. Any of those can result from using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.

Curt Schilling, a former pitcher and now an ESPN commentator, addressed that players' code of silence in January after the baseball writers' Hall of Fame shutout.

"I think as a player, a group, this is one of the first times that we've been publicly called out," Schilling said. "I think it's fitting. ... If there was ever a ballot and a year to make a statement about what we didn't do as players ? which is, we didn't actively push to get the game clean ? this is it."

Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt agreed: "Curt Schilling made a good point; everyone was guilty. Either you used PEDs, or you did nothing to stop their use."

Apparently, that may no longer be the case. Players, along with fans, sportswriters and others, appear ready to help clean up the game. That's good for baseball, and for all sports.

Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20130727/edit01/130729443

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