It’s considered the lowest point in Major League Baseball history.
No, not the recent signing of Alex Rodriguez to an already loaded New York Yankees team, but the recent accusations that three prominent all-stars — Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi — have been given steroids and human growth hormones.
The names recently came up in the BALCO case as the defunct San Francisco area nutritional supplements lab supplied these athletes with steroids.
You have got to be kidding me. No, seriously you are kidding me. Right? There is no way any of those three players can be on steroids. I never saw it coming.
Bonds went from weighing a buck-95 four years ago to becoming a regular on the World’s Strongest Man Competitions on ESPN, while belting an all-time, season-high 73 home runs in 2001. Giambi went from an overweight first baseman in Oakland to a ripped overweight first baseman in New York.
Their recent ability to double their muscle mass in the past few years has players around the league shaking their heads.
Last week, Colorado Rockies pitcher Denny Neagle questioned the apparent growth in the bodies of some of the accused.
“I don’t know or remember what Jason Giambi looked like back in his early days, but I know he wasn’t as big as he is now,” Neagle told the Denver Post. “The jury is always going to be out on Barry.”
With MLB’s stringent testing policy, how could any player sneak through the cracks?
Easy, MLB has a very lenient policy when it comes to steroid abuse — practically do nothing.
The NFL and NBA suspend players from games if they use performance-enhancing drugs, but not America’s Pastime.
Why suspend someone for taking a drug that will make his biceps and home run stats balloon to unprecedented levels? I mean who does not enjoy seeing a 5-foot-11 shortstop take a Curt Shilling pitch 532 feet over the Green Monster in Fenway?
The answer is no one. That is why the league has yet to make a big fuss over the reported abuse. Even though fans and media members are now beginning to seriously question some of the sports more prominent athletes, MLB will do nothing to get in the way of putting fannies in the seats.
Although the three players accused have constantly denied steroid use, the questions about their involvement continue to pour in.
And in the meantime the integrity and pride of the game will be in question until steroids or the players who take them are gone.