MLB's Steroid Debate in the Hall of Fame

Running head: STEROID DEBATE IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL’S HALL OF FAME 1
The Steroid Debate in Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame
John C. Armstrong
Fairleigh Dickinson University

STEROID DEBATE IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL’S HALL OF FAME 2
Abstract
This paper investigates the history of Performance Enhancing Drug (PED) use in Major League
Baseball (MLB) and the lasting affect it had on future generations of fans, players, and medicine.
Now, players accused and guilty of steroid use are on the ballot for the Hall of Fame. Their
eligibility for the Hall of Fame has caused many to question the ethics of recognizing the best
cheaters. Some journalists want steroid users to be elected and many others do not want any of
them in the Hall of Fame at all. These arguments are examined through articles and testimonials
from professionals in their given fields of expertise. Evidence from varying disciplines helps to
give multiple perspectives on the ethical impact of this issue in today’s society. The paper
debates the moral dilemma of electing a cheater to the Hall of Fame as well as the moral
dilemma of holding out players who deserve to be elected. Finally, an alternative solution is
proposed to the current Hall of Fame in order to allow for compromise between both points of
view.

STEROID ACCEPTANCE IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL’S HALL OF FAME 3
The Steroid Debate in Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame
Many people agree with the notion that cheaters should not be allowed in the Hall of
Fame, next to the greatest players in the world, but this is not a list of reasons why steroid users
and cheaters are not good for professional sports. Players that are worthy of being in the Hall of
Fame should get elected, given that the Hall of Fame creates a new system for electing players.
The idea that failing one drug test could keep some of the best players from being deservingly
recognized for their accomplishments is ignorant. Players accused of using steroids should still
be elected to the Hall of Fame just as non-steroid users are, as long as there is some reform
within the Hall of Fame and its election process.
Every year, the Hall of Fame election committee, made up the Baseball Writers
Association of America, vote on the eligible players for the Hall of Fame. For a player to be
eligible to be elected, they must meet certain criteria:
A. A baseball player must have been active as a player in the Major Leagues at some time
during a period beginning fifteen (15) years before and ending five (5) years prior to
election.
B. Player must have played in each of ten (10) Major League championship seasons,
some part of which must have been within the period described in 3(A).
C. Player shall have ceased to be an active player in the Major Leagues at least five (5)
calendar years preceding the election but may be otherwise connected with baseball.
D. In case of the death of an active player or a player who has been retired for less than
five (5) full years, a candidate who is otherwise eligible shall be eligible in the next
regular election held at least six (6) months after the date of death or after the end of the
five (5) year period, whichever occurs first.

E. Any player on Baseball's ineligible list shall not be an eligible candidate. (BBWAA
2015).
The voting rules and guidelines do not state anything about players who cheated, only about
players who are “ineligible.” They do not give a definition of ineligible, but it seems the only
ineligible player is Pete Rose, who was banned from baseball and the Hall of Fame for betting on
games during his playing games.
Recently, there has been debate over whether steroid users should be on the ballot each
year. According to the official MLB eligibility requirements, every player, steroids or not, who
has not been banned from baseball, played 10 plus years in the MLB, and has retired between 15
and 5 years prior to that year are eligible. For the first time in the sport, steroid use skyrocketed
in the 1990’s, resulting in an offensive power surge never seen before. These players looked
freakishly inhuman and put up statistics no one had done before or since. These extreme and
excessive statistics made people suspicious of their accomplishments.
Since the first player accused of steroid use appeared on the ballot, there have been ethical
and moral questions swirling over the voters’ heads of whether or not to elect players who
essentially were caught cheating. “The voters have a tough job. I wouldn't want to be a Hall of
Fame voter today. The writers have become the conscience of baseball, forced to rule on players
whose achievements have been tainted by their acknowledged or suspected use of performance-
enhancing drugs during the steroid era,” (Sullivan, 2015). The voters are under pressure to take
any sort of stance on the subject so that they can provide some direction for the Hall. The ethical
debate of voting in a cheater is something no voter can accomplish by themself, as a 75% vote is
necessary to get elected. Many of the notable steroid users have gotten as high as 50% in recent
years.

As each year passes, the best players from the 1990’s still sit on the ballot. Being the
society we are, people blame the steroids for the numbers. People see them as cheaters who
would not have been as good as they were without the steroids. Although not every player on the
ballot took steroids, how could voters know who really took steroids and who didn’t? They will
never know people’s true motives for taking the illegal substances either. “There's no perfect
way to fix the Hall of Fame voting. But there has to be a better way of opening the door to those
who are truly deserving,” (Usher, 2014). This will be a heated debate until the directors of the
Hall of Fame and the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) writers come up with
a compromising solution that recognizes those players’ abilities and accomplishments without
tarnishing the reputation of the Hall of Fame and Major League Baseball.
To an outsider this may not seem like a big issue, but to people who understand and love
baseball, it is something that needs to get resolved. Baseball is the first sport to encounter this
issue, and other sports like football and basketball may not be far behind. The sports industry
must decide what to do with the best cheaters in sports. For this, many turn to the Hall of Fame
voters to be leaders during this confusing time. They ultimately have the final say over who gets
in and who doesn’t. To vote these steroid using, Hall of Fame quality players in, reform is
needed in the election process as well as the minds of the voters.
Jake, who is as principled a writer as you'll find in the profession, says he has come "very
close" to giving up his vote because of the lack of direction from the leadership on how to
handle players from the steroid era. "No one looked any more forward to the honor of
voting for the Baseball Hall," he said, "and few people have had more of a compunction
to turn my ballot in and not vote anymore because of the anguish that it's caused. I'm
talking about the anguish for these great athletes." Jake has pleaded with the baseball

"fathers" to establish guidelines for dealing with PED users, either admitted or suspected.
He has vowed to resign as a voter if the hall ever admits Bonds or Clemens without
official recognition that they cheated along the way. "Without that, it's left us with this
horrible vacuum," he said. "People say, 'Who died and left you moral gatekeeper?' Some
people throw up their hands and say let them all in. Others throw up their hands and say
keep them all out." It's not easy drawing the line. [Jeff] Bagwell finished his career with
449 homers, 1,529 RBIs and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .948, 21st all-time. Those
are Hall of Fame numbers, but there were suspicions when he got unnaturally bigger
during his career, a sign of possible steroid use. (Sullivan, 2015)
Many players, like Bagwell, who have Hall of Fame numbers keep getting snubbed on
the suspicion of steroid use. Despite playing in the era with the most steroid use in baseball ever,
they should not get penalized for playing well, even if they did take steroids at some time. Just
two years ago, three pitchers, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, and John Smoltz, who pitched the
majority of their careers in the steroid era, were elected to the Hall of Fame. Pitchers had equal
success during the same time period, but they were not accused of taking PEDs nearly as often as
position players. Not until many players got physically larger and put up bigger power statistics
did people think something was fishy. Considering MLB’s stance on steroid users, just the
suspicion of steroid use could cost many players their childhood dream: reaching the Hall of
Fame.
One interesting case is Manny Ramirez, a New York born outfielder, who played for the
Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, and the Tampa
Bay Rays. He played 19 seasons, the majority with Cleveland and Boston. Manny Ramirez put
up incredible numbers over his career, but all of it could be put to shame. In 2009, Ramirez

failed a drug test for a female fertility drug, human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which is
fairly common in the steroid world. The drug supposedly helps to increase testosterone to the
normal levels, most often used by steroid users at the end of a steroid cycle when testosterone is
low. Ramirez responded to these allegations by saying that he had been to the doctor for personal
health issues and the doctor prescribed him something they thought was okay and legal for him
to take. At 36, the aging veteran had never failed a drug test prior to this one. Many fans,
journalists, and sports reporters consequently ruined the reputation of one of the best postseason
hitters to ever live over one failed drug test by bashing him as a person, player, and role model.
This hurt many young baseball fans, considering he was their baseball role model. It is
normal to be mad at Ramirez for failing a drug test or taking something he shouldn’t have.
However, many people began illegitimatizing Ramirez and his career. Even if a player never
fails a drug test, once their name is thrown into the steroid suspicion category, their whole career
is questioned. It is a vicious accusation that can linger for years and follows them around every
public place they go. It is very difficult to change the minds of reporters, fans, and journalists
once the story is out because in sports, unlike the rest of the country, you are guilty until proven
innocent.
In no other circumstance is a person assumed guilty without knowing the full story.
People only read headlines nowadays, especially for sports updates, so when it reads, MANNY
RAMIREZ FAILS DRUG TEST, people jump to conclusions and their perception of the player
totally changes. Instead of seeing a fantastic player, people point and call them cheaters. Maybe
many of them are trying to cheat the system and gain an edge, but not all of them. It is unfair to
bully those who are not because they “look” like they take steroids.

His whole career, Manny was never the biggest player and never grew muscles over
night. He never led anyone to believe that ever took steroids. So, when the sports world heard
about the failed test, not many supported Manny. At the tender age of 36, and staring at the tail
end of his baseball career, Manny seemed to have had a dip in testosterone that resulted in a loss
of ability. To regain that ability and testosterone, he went to his doctor for a solution. Just so
happens that what he should take is prohibited in the MLB. Ramirez served a 50-game
suspension and lost $7 million dollars in the process.
When a player fails a drug test, all of their statistics get tarnished and diminished, even
though they are not removed from history. One coach, Joe Torre, who coached against Ramirez
for the majority of his coaching career, had offered his opinion on Ramirez. "It doesn't change
my view of his accomplishments as a player," Torre said. "What I learned is how hard he works.
He spends a lot of time practicing his trade," (Hernandez, 2009). Ramirez isn’t the first to fail a
drug test and definitely wasn’t the last. In 2006, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig selected George
Mitchell, a former United States Senator and prosecutor, to investigate the use of performance-
enhancing drugs in the MLB. The report outlined 89 players linked to PEDs and its impact on
their performance. It outlines a recommended penalty for each player and how MLB should
proceed with this information, (Mitchell).
Many prominent, power hitting players have been put under scrutiny for off the field
actions since the publication of the Mitchell Report. “Since 1998, when Mark McGwire broke
Roger Maris's single-season home-run record, dozens of superstars have either admitted to
steroid use (like Mr. McGwire) or been accused of it (like lifetime home-run king Barry Bonds).
Baseball's venerable records, especially those involving home runs, are now frustratingly
incommensurable between eras,” (Caldwell, 2015). Because of ex-commissioner Selig’s lax and

unreliable drug screening processes, many records have become untouchable and have an
asterisk above them, indicating it’s a tainted record because it was accomplished by someone
who failed a drug test. In sports, having tainted records and uncertainty as to who is the
legitimate record holder is frustrating and embarrassing for fans and the game.
Steroids are still a part of American professional baseball and are still being flushed out
one player at a time. The penalties have gone up drastically in the past few years. Now, new for
the first time, a player could be banned from baseball for failing three drug tests. Mets pitcher
Jenrry Mejia and Cleveland Indians outfielder Marlon Byrd were banned last season for a third
and final failed drug test. 2 failed tests results in a full 162 game season ban from the time of the
positive test. Alex Rodriguez was suspended for his 2nd positive test after admitting to using
steroids from 2001-2003. And if you fail just 1 test, you will be suspended 80 games. Before,
first offense suspensions were 50 games, which could get lowered to 25 if there were faults in the
legitimacy of the test results. Second time offense was 100 games instead of 162. Costa (2014)
notes, “Players suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs will now be ineligible for the
postseason, even if their suspensions have been fully served by that point. They will also be
ineligible for an automatic share of the players' pool of postseason revenue. Every player whose
suspension is upheld will be subject to six additional unannounced urine collections and three
additional unannounced blood collections every year for the remainder of their career.”
Increasing the severity of the punishment for first time offenders demonstrates that the MLB is
committed to removing steroids from the game. So now, when a player fails a drug test, they
have to prove they are clean for the rest of their careers.
Baseball enthusiasts assume that the best players of that era all took steroids, which they
claim is why they stood out among the rest, but that cannot be proven through random drug tests.

Determining the effects of steroid use on individual players and their performance today is nearly
impossible.
Because there has never been a single study that measures the long-term side effects, it's
impossible to know where that boundary is. Are some people injecting way too much? If
they cut back, would the dangers diminish? Adding to the unknown is the fact that most
of the well-publicized horror stories don't involve pure steroids, but black-market vials
produced in Tijuana and sold online. Police have seized countless knock-off concoctions
that were brewed in bathtubs and laced with everything from car wax to urine. "A lot of
people ask me, 'Can you take small amounts of anabolic steroids and still be okay?' "
Michael Bahrke, a steroids researcher at Penn State University, says. "I think in a lot of
cases you can. But when you start to abuse it and mix it with other substances, then the
answer is different. (Friscolanti 2008)
For athletes, they are warned from an early age the effects steroids have on your body in the long
run. They hear horror stories and tragedies of people with extreme side effects to scare them
away from it. What they don’t hear is all the other supplements, injections, and drugs that have
much worse side effects.
This gray area between right and wrong, ethical and unethical, and legal and illegal gets
irritating at times.
It's certainly confusing, that line between what we say is okay, and what we say isn't
okay," says Bahrke. Stay away from 'roids, the rules state, but go ahead and load up on
creatine. Can't bend your elbow? Take a shot of this and you'll be throwing by tomorrow.
And don't forget to knock back a couple of Red Bulls before you take the field. It'll give
you wings! "Where exactly do you draw the line?" Bahrke asks. "It's murky territory." So

murky, in fact, that some in the medical community are starting to speak the unthinkable-
that perhaps steroids aren't so bad after all. The risks are wildly overblown, they say, and
a "Reefer Madness" mentality, driven by moral panic and misguided righteousness, has
hijacked any reasonable debate. "Medically speaking, the rules are incoherent and
hypocritical," says Dr. Norman Fost, a pediatrician and director of medical ethics at the
University of Wisconsin. "We tolerate many other things that enhance performance, and
we allow athletes to do things that are much more risky than taking steroids. (Friscolanti
2008)
The rules are designed to look out for and protect the health of professional athletes.
There are so many other procedures, medications, and alternatives to steroids that work equally
effective and are legal for them to use, but contain just as many possible side effects. No matter
how many times you tell players something is illegal to take, they are ultimately responsible for
what they put in or on their body behind closed doors. They are the ones who will suffer the
consequences if they are caught or develop any side affects. So, when they choose to use
steroids, they assume the risks. But, if the league’s ban on steroids is to protect the health of
players, there are other, more dangerous substances that need to be investigated. Friscolanti
(2008) argues that,
Rather than talking about real issues-like alcohol and chewing tobacco, things that really
do cause harm-we pretend like we care about the health and safety of athletes by focusing
on these two or three drugs that really cause very little harm." That might be stretching it
a bit. But consider the most common side effects: severe acne, baldness, shrinking
testicles, and breast development in men. Appealing? No. But not lethal, either. And in
most cases, reversible.

With the potential of death from other substances, players don’t see PED side effects as
harmful as before. With other drugs on the open market causing harmful long-term side affects,
players would rather trade a few hormonal changes for better performance. The steroids will help
them stay on the field and boost performance, while minimalizing the harm to their bodies as
compared to repeated use of injury medications. At the end of the day athletes will take what
works and what helps them the most, regardless of side effects or legality
Players have died at the hands of alcohol, recreational drugs, and chewing tobacco. Most
notably Jose Fernandez, a young phenom pitcher for the Miami Marlins was killed after his boat
crashed and sunk with two of his friends after all of them had been consuming alcohol and
cocaine. Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn died in 2014 from cardiac arrest after being diagnosed with
throat cancer. Gwynn attributed the cancer to the dipping tobacco he had used his entire career,
even though the medical community still cannot definitively link the two. These two great
players lost their life because of tobacco, alcohol, and cocaine, three substances not regulated by
MLB at all.
If MLB is banning steroids, it’s not to protect players; it is to protect the integrity of the
game, which is still the primary goal of the MLB. Having a level, fair playing field for million
dollar athletes is the foundation for good competition. The best players these days make enough
money to buy the supplements not banned or detected in the drug tests and find people to handle
everything for them, like the players involved in the biogenesis scandal in Miami, Florida.
Biogenesis was an anti-aging clinic in Miami found guilty of supplying and administering
steroids and performance enhancing drugs to MLB players in 2013, most notably Alex
Rodriguez. Anthony Bosch, the owner and key witness to MLB’s case against Rodriguez came
out to admit his wrongdoing after he was caught and arrested. Busfield (2014) writes, “The

owner of Biogenesis, the now-closed Florida anti-aging clinic, said in an interview with CBS TV
show "60 Minutes" that the 38-year-old sportsman [Rodriguez] paid him $12,000 per month for
an assortment of banned drugs including testosterone and human growth hormone.” Rodriguez
and many others paid this clinic to help them maximize the effects of PEDs on their bodies and
performance. However, the entire time of him taking those drugs, Rodriguez never failed a drug
test. Should a player like him, who took extreme lengths to break the homerun record and bring
it to a level no one has seen before without failing a drug test, but was suspended, be voted in
while a player who fails one drug test because of a non-performance enhancing drug be left out?
With so many drugs on the market, it is almost impossible to determine the side effects as
well as their affect on individual performance. Players like Rodriguez, an aging veteran at the
end of his career, have turned to steroids and PED’s for the perceived boost in performance and
health. But, how do players, fans, coaches, and voters tell if the steroids actually made them
better? Was it the steroids or the dozens of cortisone shots? Or maybe it was the red bulls or
electric therapy that made them hit that homerun in the first inning.
Some of the most common remedies for athletic injuries have equally serious side effects.
Those Vioxx pills that Clemens loved so much were yanked off the shelf amid fears they
caused heart attacks and strokes. In France and Denmark, Red Bull energy drink is now
banned after an 18-year-old student downed four and promptly died. And then there's
cortisone, the anti-inflammatory wonder shot that has prolonged many careers. It is
known to trigger euphoria, depression, and irregular heartbeats, all while whittling away
at your joints. There are athletes who have serious permanent disability from injecting
cortisone and playing with pain. God gave us pain for a reason. It's a signal to stop doing
what you're doing. Which begs the question: if taking steroids to hit more home runs

violates the spirit of the game, doesn't cortisone? "For some reason, putting a shot into a
joint to allow you to play seems acceptable," says Lawrence Spriet, a nutritional sciences
professor at the University of Guelph…Being an athlete in the 21st century involves so
much more than God-given talent. And as long as there is medicine in the training room
and millions of dollars in the contracts, the final score will always depend, at least a little,
on how far the next Roger Clemens is willing to stretch his conscience. And, of course,
whether his strength and conditioning coach can keep a secret. (Friscolanti, 2008)
If players who take steroids to improve performance and play longer are labeled cheaters,
then players who use medical supplements and prescribed doses of certain injections and pills are
cheaters too. As long as new medicine technology and money are a part of baseball, then there
will be cheaters. Friscolanti makes the case that those legal medications may be worse for you
than steroids, citing that no studies have been done on overuse of steroids and that the steroids
that cause serious harm are undocumented black market versions. Players will continue to try to
test the limits and push the boundaries of right and wrong as well as ethical and unethical just to
be on the field and/or to be the best, until substantial tests are done on the negative effects of
them. Many of the players who lived and died on cortisone injections and other supplements to
play through pain ended up with more harmful side effects once they finished playing. So, who is
really cheating?
Well, one study undertaken was done to determine just that. This report aimed to quantify
the effect steroids had on baseball performance in hitters during the steroid era. “In total, 89
current and former players were identified as alleged PED users. The report drew heavily on the
testimony and paper trail of trainers who purportedly were involved as intermediaries between
PED distributors and players. The evidence included detailed information about specific seasons

and types of PED abuse allegedly undertaken by the accused players,” (Schmotzer, 2009). The
report looked at overall offensive performance and strength in hitters using tested measurements
as well as scientific and mathematical data.
The effect of steroids on IsoP [Isolated Power: slugging percentage - batting average] is
substantially more than 5%. Given the results of all the models, the effect is probably
comfortably around 10%. This suggests that while there appears to be a significant effect
on overall offensive performance due to steroids (likely in excess of 5%), there is an even
larger and clearer effect on the power aspect of offensive performance…. The estimated
effect of steroids ranges from about a 4% to about an 18% increase in offensive
performance. (Schmotzer, 2009)
However, Schmotzer (2009) says it cannot be said for certain that a baseball player would
see an improvement in performance by using steroids. A hitter could hit the ball with more
intensity, but a hitter must actually hit the ball for there to be any affect at all. Steroids might
make you stronger, but increased muscle mass may consequently hurt your ability to make
contact consistently. Based on the criteria and data sets, it is still hard to say how much steroids
helped individual players, and the best result that the report can give, is that there is a small, but
noticeable improvement in ability and performance. However, this is just the average and there
may be cases where it is less or more. It is impossible to say what a certain type and dosage of
steroids will do to the performance of the player. (Schmotzer, 2009).
For every star player found guilty of using a banned substance, there are many talented
borderline players taking steroids just to break into the big leagues. Major League Baseball
should not classify generational steroid using players who are still eligible for the Hall of Fame
like Rodriguez, McGwire, and Bonds to players like Jenry Mejia and Marlon Byrd, who were

banned and kicked out of professional baseball. With the new regulations, getting banned from
baseball due to new drug tests is significantly more serious than any of the consequences players
from the 1990’s faced. It is necessary to keep drug abusers out of the game and enforce the strict
policies against steroids.
In the pharmaceutical world, drugs are taken for all different reasons. Not every player
takes supplements to get massively huge and hit tons of homeruns, but on the other hand not
every player needs banned substances to get healthy. When today’s players are competing with
the next best young player, proving you can defy age and stay on the field, no matter the remedy,
is an objective for players north of age 33. With most players taking legal injections and getting
procedures done, it takes a lot more than just talent to stay in the big leagues. The medicine
available to current players is top notch and does wonders for their bodies, arguably more than
PEDs do for them. Finding remedies to ailments and injuries legally nowadays is much more
sensible than taking the risk of taking PEDs.
Veteran players are the most knowledgeable and hard working players in the game. It
takes discipline and a solid work routine to stay in the big leagues. It is hard to label all post-
prime baseball players as steroid junkies and dismiss all the players who trained clean, worked
out hard, and practiced persistently. All people have different levels of testosterone; it just so
happens some people were blessed with the ability to recruit more of it than others. Just because
someone works out a lot and is physically big should not drive people to assume that any illegal
substances were used. We need to start giving more credit to the MLB and its players for not
wanting steroids in the game anymore. The influx of young impact players has prompted MLB to
educate these young stars about repercussions and consequences of taking illegal substances.
Compared to past players, who wanted a straight path to the top any way possible, players today

just flat out don’t want to be labeled a user because in today’s society, being a fraud is much
more damaging than not being good enough.
More than ever, players are willing and eager to prove themselves and clear their name
from any steroid talk. When there are any accusations, the media takes hold of sparse
information from one source and turns it into a circus. This can be potentially damaging for the
future of the player, especially if they are truly innocent. Keeping news about player’s drug tests
and involvement in steroids private has been an issue for MLB and being more protective of this
information would help calm the steroid craze. The sooner the players can clear up the facts and
move on without the accusations swirling around their heads, the better they and the game of
baseball feel.
Players have gone to all necessary lengths to clear their name, including as far as suing
the accuser. In 2013, Jack Clark, a former big leaguer, accused Albert Pujols of getting injections
from his ex-trainer Chris Mihlfeld. Pujols threatened to take legal action against him, while
Mihlfield came out and said Clark’s accusations are not true and he hasn’t talked to Clark in the
last ten years. Pujols clearly does not take false accusations lightly.
I am going to send a message…that you cannot act in a reckless manner, like they have,
and get away with it. If I have to be the athlete to carry the torch and pave the way for
other innocent players to see that you can do something about it, I am proud to be that
person. I have five young children and I take being a role model very seriously. The last
thing I want is for the fans, and especially the kids out there, to question my reputation
and character. (Gonzalez, 2013)
Too many times whistleblowers try to tip off the media to get a false story started about a
clean player. Today, any outrageous or suspicious stories that are leaked about steroids tend to

catch wind and become a public relations nightmare. If Clark’s statements had been true, Pujols’
career would have been tarnished for the rest of his life. When whistleblowers are wrong, most
walk away without any consequences. They look for any excuse to throw someone else under the
bus for notoriety, whether or not it has any substance at all.
Anyone can tarnish a player’s reputation if they choose to. Falsely accusing legitimate,
talented players of cheating blinds fans, journalists, reporters, and players from the truth. Fans
are uninformed and confused about what drugs and substances MLB bans as well as how the
drug tests are run and administered. A lot of misconception could be cleared up if only fans were
told exactly what is banned, why it’s banned, and how the player utilizes it for an advantage.
For a MLB drug screening, the results are based off testosterone and epitestosterone, a
natural steroid similar to testosterone made by our bodies, but doesn’t help develop any muscle.
Results are based on a ratio, where 4-1 testosterone to epitestosterone would raise red flags. If a
player tried to cheat the test, they would aim to lower their testosterone levels in order be below
that ratio and not get flagged, (Laaser, 2013). Although this seems like a simple and effective
way of skirting the system, MLB executives and scientists ensure that their tests are not a breeze
to cheat.
Tests can't pick up doping if drugs have left a player's system by the time they are tested.
"Every testing program in the world is dependent on timing," said [Commissioner]
Manfred. On average, baseball tests players randomly three times during the season,
though those with prior failed tests are tested more often. The Joint Drug Agreement
between baseball and the players union says the league could conduct up to 200 tests in
the last off-season, with that number increasing in following years… For now, baseball
subjects only one-sixth of its players to off-season testing. (Laaser, 2013)

Since the drug tests are spread out throughout the year, many players skate through
undetected without ever receiving a positive drug tests. There are probably plenty of players who
took steroids at some point in their career that never failed a drug test. With the lack of adequate
and enough drug tests in the early stages of the 1990’s, there may even be Hall of Famers who
have taken steroids without any repercussions. The truth is, players are aware of the testing
schedules and plan their steroids intake accordingly. Anthony Bosch, owner of the Biogenesis
clinic, said, “I was very good at what I did. I had a track record. I have been doing this for many
years…If you had the knowledge that I had, the experience that I had, and you know the truth
about the testing and the flaws, it was almost a cake walk actually,” (Busfield, 2014). Light users
can get passed maybe a few tests, but for the remainder of their career, it is difficult for repeated
users to pass every test without someone like Bosch. With the strict testing and policies MLB
employs regarding steroids, players who fail a test nowadays are either foolish or there are
outstanding circumstances.
It is no secret that professional athletes need round the clock care for nagging injuries and
ailing body parts. Athletes need help when it comes o medicine, so they need to turn to
professional trainers and doctors for advice and insight. The goal is for these trainers and doctors
to recommend, administer, and supply athletes with the proper care and medicine. It is not
outrageous to assume that some professional athletes do not know what the doctors prescribe
them or they try experimenting with non-prescribed medicine when no one is present. We want
to hold athletes accountable for what they consume, but if medical personnel are deceiving them,
who is the one responsible? Not every trainer is intentionally deceiving their clients, but they
should work for the best interest of their clients. Withholding medical information an athlete
wouldn’t know previously might as well be the same as lying to them about the pill they just

took.
To prevent outside medical professionals like Anthony Bosch from getting involved with
players’ medical treatments, the Major League Baseball Team Physicians Association
(MLBTPA) regulates and approves only properly educated and board certified physicians to
work for each team. This organization is in charge of overseeing the physicians’ credentials as it
relates to the medical community. Their mission is:
…To maintain the earned trust of the athletes and teams of Major and Minor League
Baseball, as well as the public, by providing the highest quality medical care and services
aimed at securing and enhancing their safety, health and well-being. We support this
mission through continuing medical education and research relevant to the sport of
baseball, analytical surveillance of injuries, critical review of our shared clinical
experience, and development of injury prevention recommendations and policies. It is
through such an evidence-based approach that we are able to provide the best practices
and guidelines and incorporate the most advanced and effective technologies. (MLB,
2016)
To assist these trainers and physicians, the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers
Society (PBATS) helps to educate, inform, and promote healthy medical practices for Minor and
Major League Baseball players. These two organizations are influential in protecting the
integrity of professional baseball’s medical community as well as preserving the health and
performance of highly skilled athletes. Despite these organizations, some players will take their
health into their own hands with new, experimental drugs.
The effort to monitor and police the drugs available for trainers to dispense out is not as
efficient or easy as it seems. Jim Bunning, a Hall of Fame pitcher, notes that, “Major League

Baseball has taken serious steps in an effort to rid the game of these performance-enhancing
drugs and punish those players who are caught cheating, but it is an ongoing battle to stay ahead
of the drug makers. As methods are developed to test for various types of drugs, new drugs pop
up that are not as easily detected,” (Bunning 2009). New drugs that may curb the side effects of
banned substances are hitting the shelves, streets, and pharmacies across the world faster than
they are being assessed and tested. These alternatives cannot be detected by MLB’s drug tests, so
regulating them and keeping them out of the hands of athletes is an ongoing challenge. With so
many drugs, pills, and medicines that go undetected, there may be drugs that are currently being
used that have even more positive performance enhancements than steroids. The fact is that
steroids/PEDs are such a small portion of all the drugs that can enhance individual performance,
that only policing some and not the rest is hypocritical of Major League Baseball and its’
approved medical staff.
Along with all the innovative and undetectable new drugs being created in unsuspecting
supplement warehouses, there are serious black market drugs that some athletes do get their
hands on. In the Biogenesis scandal involving Alex Rodriguez and several other prominent
Major League Baseball players, there were black market versions of drugs manufactured by a
man by the name of Paulo Berejuk. Reuters (2014) states that Berejuk, a chemist, detailed in his
guilty plea that he created and distributed black market testosterone human growth hormone
(HGH) to confidential sources that in turn would work with federal prosecutors in the Miami
area to stay under the radar until they were exposed. Berejuk faces up to 10 years in federal
prison for conspiring to distribute a controlled substance. If these clinics can run under the
protection of local and state prosecutors, there must be others out there doing the same.
Although many athletes claim to never use steroids, there are plenty who are. And for

players making millions and millions of dollars for a 7 month season, many think that is
unacceptable. They make boatloads of money for playing a sport and should be responsible for
everything they eat, drink, ingest, take, and inject into their bodies. Taking drugs can affect their
salaries and life drastically. The increase in performance can result in a higher paycheck and
more lavish lifestyle, and a positive drug test could take it all away. Many fans and journalists
reason it is unfair for players to cheat to boost their income and performance especially when
they know the repercussions. So when players plead their innocence despite the tests, people do
not take pity on them. Guilty players get handed a suspension and are back on the field in a
matter of months. Teams call up another player to take their spot temporarily, just like if they
were to get injured; no big deal to the players and team. The suspension hurts a team, but there is
always someone to replace them.
Experts argue that players know what they were getting into when they chose to take the
PED’s. But what if it really wasn’t their fault they tested positive? The supplement warehouses
that produce legal, over the counter supplements athletes take on a regular basis also
manufacture supplements banned by professional sport organizations under one roof. Oftentimes,
supplements can get cross-contaminated by just being in close proximity to one another or
human error. According to the United States National Library of Medicine (2008), “An
international study performed in 2001 and 2002 on 634 nutritional supplements that were
purchased in 13 different countries showed that about 15% of the nonhormonal nutritional
supplements were contaminated with anabolic-androgenic steroids (mainly prohormones).” The
contaminants in these supplements can go undetected for years by untrained eyes. There were no
precautionary labels on these supplements because it is impossible to know if a certain batch or
container was contaminated without testing each pill individually. If we did that there would be

no supplements to take. Since this study, there have been nutritional supplements that were
tainted with classic anabolic steroids. Unknowingly, many people, not just athletes, have been
inadvertently taking dosages of known anabolic steroids. In recent years, supplements as
common as Vitamin C and multivitamins have been confiscated for cross contamination. The
report also indicates that there is a high risk of unintended doping and thus, poses a serious
health risk. If non-athletes can get anabolic steroids in their system by taking their daily
vitamins, athletes could be doing the same without even knowing.
Imagine never taking any dirty drug or supplement in your life and you have finally
reached the big leagues. Then you take your first drug test and you come up positive. Now
everyone you know will doubt you and your skills for the rest of your career because of
something that accidentally got laced with your generic vitamins. Now, because of something
you had no knowledge of, you will be labeled a cheater.
Although there is a chance that a player could test positive in this situation, there have not
been any reported cases because after the unknowingly laced supplement is taken, there is no
way to test which supplements were laced and which ones weren’t. In these circumstances, the
medical community does not know a supplement is laced until there have been tests run on each
batch, which is highly inefficient and very costly. Skeptics will argue that there couldn’t be
enough anabolic steroids in the normal supplements to create a positive drug test, but on the
other hand, entire bottles could be laced and if people regularly take the laced supplements
without knowing, the steroids can build up in your body.
However, many see cheating as cheating, no exceptions, including voters. The barrier of
right and wrong has gotten clouded with the increase in reliance on medicine. Athletes, just like
anyone else, are responsible for the foods and fluids that enter their bodies and shouldn’t be

allowed to get away with cheating. But, there are plenty of healthy, legal substances and
supplements that can also boost adrenaline, strength, and awareness, like caffeine, that won’t
show up on drug tests. Still, no one has been able to pinpoint when someone took something,
why they took it, how much they took, and what type of effect it had on them. What justifies a
cheater if an athlete takes a banned substance but has no effect on their performance? Did they
cheat or just attempt to cheat?
Just because rich athletes have access to top doctors, trainers, and physicians does not
mean that they can or do take advantage of them. MLB has strict guidelines in place to prevent
unworthy and unapproved medical personnel from treating players and dispensing banned
substances. However, for the few who do push the limits on right of wrong, where they stand in
the eyes of MLB and the Hall of Fame are two different places.
People like Jim Bunning disagree with steroid users in the Hall of Fame, saying that it
sets a bad example for future players as well as current Hall of Famers. It would taint the
reputation of the Hall of Fame and baseball if we placed cheaters in the same category as players
who never knew what steroids are. People cheated in his day, but never to the extreme that
steroids have allowed for.
If players who cheat to gain entrance into baseball's most elite club are given a free pass,
it sends a terrible message to our nation's young athletes that it is OK to cheat. I don't
think that's right. When I was a kid, I was taught that if you really wanted something in
life you had to work hard to get it. There are no shortcuts in life. (Bunning, 2009)
Many players are looking for these shortcuts to the big leagues to make more money,
faster. Bunning has a valid argument about keeping steroid abusers out of the Hall next to
players who didn’t know what they are, but those two generations are incomparable, as each had

their own ugliness and downfalls.
Each generation had their own scandals and aberrations and it would be unfair if we
generalize each generation for a set of players’ actions. For what it’s worth, each generation had
to play against cheaters, whether it was a tricky pitch, an illegal substance, or fixing games. Each
generation’s clean players had to play against those cheaters. It is one thing to keep known
cheaters out, but when deserving clean players are being kept out because they are assumed to be
a cheater is the real issue. There must be some way to compromise.
One way to potentially resolve this issue is make changes to the Hall of Fame itself. Now,
each player’s plaque hangs on the main gallery wall, adjacent to others. To recognize the players
who played in each generation without tainting the Hall of Fame’s reputation, players would be
categorized based on the era they played in with a description of the era, to identify what
occurred and the major scandals of each era, as well as a description acknowledging any
steroid/PED usage. The first era of MLB was known as the Golden Era, which included players
like Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Honus Wagner, and the introductory players of the first 40 years of
the league. The next era was known as the Silver Era, which included players from around the
1950’s-1980’s, like Ozzie Smith, Carl Yastrzemski, and George Brett. Finally, this era, from the
1990’s until now, is the Steroid Era. For each generation to be appreciated for its own successes
and failures, there should be a classification system that organizes Hall of Famers into one of
those three categories, along with the Negro league Hall of Famers that were elected post-death.
With the proposed new setup of the Hall of Fame, people can make their own judgments
over the ethics of the players that played. The players categorized in the Steroid Era all had to
play in an era riddled with steroids. Clean players played against others who had an unfair edge
over them, which makes clean players’ statistics in this era much more impressive. People can

knock the steroid users’ numbers all they want, but they played in the MLB and getting those
stats, especially record breaking stats, are difficult. The MLB allowed the steroid use to continue
for the majority of the 1990’s, and many of those found guilty were still allowed to play. People
want the Hall of Fame to uphold the moral law and keep out cheaters, but the fact is that these
players weren’t seen as cheaters when they played. They were juicing, most of them to the
extreme, and MLB turned a blind eye to it. If the cheaters were allowed to play, then why can’t
they be recognized?
The Hall must recognize all the records that were broken by anyone, steroids or not. In
the last two decades, MLB has seen numerous records, including the season and career homerun
record, be set by a steroid user. Whether or not fans like it, steroid use was a part of baseball
history and not recognizing the greatest homerun hitter of all time is hypocritical. Baseball
cannot shun the players that MLB allowed to play, despite their use of steroids, once they retire.
These players have been welcomed back into baseball as coaches and broadcasters, so why does
the Hall of Fame still reject them?
They say time heals everything, and for those accused of cheating and using steroids, it is
especially true. MLB teams and sports broadcasting venues have hired players like Bonds,
McGwire, Ramirez, and Rodriguez as instructors, coaches, and broadcasters to play instrumental
roles in teaching and presenting the game to current players. Caldwell (2015) mentions that,
Just like Pete Rose is on the verge of being forgiven and reinstated into the baseball
community, it is time for steroid users to be forgiven and be able to be in the hall of fame.
Although many records are tainted, it should not take away from their accomplishments.
Many have admitted to cheating, but fans and writers still have not forgiven them for
their actions. (Caldwell, 2015)

The players that had been at the forefront of the nastiest sports doping scandal in
American professional baseball have now been welcomed back despite their sins to the game. If
these specific players can be forgiven for their past shortcomings and be role models for the next
generation and preach the ethics of staying clean and training right, why can’t these players be
elected to the Hall of Fame?
The Hall of Fame just doesn’t have the appeal anymore to fans, writers, and players.
Some of the best players to ever play the game are just flat out not welcome. Sullivan (2015)
states, “Assuming that Alex Rodriguez doesn't get in, five of the top 12 home run hitters of all
time could one day be denied entry to the hall: Bonds, A-Rod, Sosa, McGwire and Rafael
Palmeiro.” The Hall of Fame is designed to recognize players for their excellent achievements on
the field, but how long can Hall of Fame voters keep record holders out of the most prestigious
club in professional baseball? The reverse is also a concern for voters; there are many players
who should be in the Hall of Fame from the steroid era that never took steroids that are not yet in
because of the suspicion of them taking drugs. If voters keep out players who knowingly took
steroids as well as the players who didn’t take steroids but were under suspicion, undeserving
players will begin to get elected in favor of their clean record.
As long as voters are making decisions based on their own ethical compass on players’
careers based on what they think is right, no decision is going to be made. As of now, there is no
definitive way to say for certain how a particular drug or substance will effect an athlete’s body,
as well as how much is too much. There are legal medical remedies that have more danger than
steroids that are much more readily available and more common than PEDs. There are
procedures, guidelines, and security measures put in place by MLB and its partners to ensure
their players get the best medical attention possible. Steroids have become such a commonality

that it is no longer a surprise when players make the news over failing a drug test. It doesn’t hurt
people’s opinions of their performance, draft stock, or personality. It is only a matter of time
before someone who used steroids and PEDs gets elected. Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds have
gotten up to 50% of the voters to vote for them in the most recent election.
In today’s society, the word steroid still has a negative connotation. This stigma that has
flown over the game of pro baseball for decades developed from a group of players who took
steroid usage to an extreme level. They pushed their limits to maximum capacity in order to be
the best. In the 1990’s, the players at the forefront of the steroid scandal were star players on
their respective teams. Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Roger
Clemens, Barry Bonds, and many others were not only just good players, they were All-Star
players year in and year out. Many of these players had the talent before hand to be good players,
maybe even All-Stars, but their abuse of steroids allowed them to be stronger, bigger, faster, and
more athletic than their competition. However, the steroids themselves didn’t do that for them.
They did that by going to the gym, working out, and training to be better.
With the new potential adjustment to the Hall of Fame, people can make their own
judgments on individual players and their guiltiness in the steroid department. It is not the job of
the Hall of Fame or the voters to discriminate against players who they THINK took steroids.
The Hall of Fame is an exclusive club that not many get to join. To hold players out without
specific proof that a certain illegal substance actually had a measurable value increase to their
performance is more unethical than electing a player that set records and took steroids their
entire career.

References
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