Baseball Players Lying About Steroids

This topic really burns my biscuits.

I hate ballplayers who have taken steroids post-2001 and then lied about doing it.

Before 2002, Major League Baseball (MLB) had no official policy on drug use. For any player during and after 2002 who utilized steroids or other performance enhancing drugs (PED)--and was caught--should have their major league records voided by MLB.

I think it's unfair to penalize the entire team when only one (or more) teammates may have been enhancing their reputation.

I'm not coming from some moral high ground here. When I began working out in the early 90s, I used Androstenedione - a steroid. Steroids do not increase muscle mass. Steroids work to reduce the blockers in your body so that more testosterone can flow through it. High levels of testosterone are already in everyone's body, but there are blockers in place.

When working out, the muscles tear. The idea being that with more testosterone (and creatine) is that muscles will heal faster so that you can work out more often which enables one to get bigger in less less time than one would without steroids. You don't get bigger without the workout.

Personally, I didn't like the way the Androstenedione made me feel, so after maybe six months I ditched the quick fix. Psychosomatic or not, I worked out more often and got noticeably bigger. So... you still have to put in the work. I went from a 36-inch chest to 48-inch in three years. I maintained my weight at 180lbs, so you know I added a lot of muscle--and I was 30-33 years old--about the same age that a lot of baseball players started.

Baseball is a time honoured sport in the U.S. and Canada. We've been playing it in various forms for nigh on 170 years. It can be slow and meticulous, but it's full of statistics that ball fans love to memorize and throw around to impress other ball fans - kind of what I'm about to do.

It's why when it recently came to pass that Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Jose Conseco, Andy Petite, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Raphael Palmero have all been outed as steroid abusers, I was shocked. Sort of. More on that later.

Bonds is the MLB leader in home runs (763), surpassing the great Hank Aaron (755) who put up with death threats on a daily basis as he neared the fabled Babe Ruth's then-career home run record (714). If indeed guilty, MLB needs to take away the home runs he put up from 2002 thru 2007 (when he last played)--leaving Bonds with 648. That still leaves him with the season leading total of 73 homers in 2001 as his record. Why? Because he did it in 2001 before the drug policy was enacted in MLB in 2002.

Even if he was juicing, there was no rule prohibiting it. It doesn't matter if he found a "cheat"... Babe Ruth drank beer and ate hot dogs during games... did it give him energy to bat? Maybe. There was no MLB rule prohibiting it... so Bond's record of 73 HRs in a season should stand. His new career total of 648 would still put him in elite company in fourth place, behind Aaron, Ruth and Willie Mays (660). He did win seven National League MVP awards, so he'd lose three of those won in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Unless convicted of a federal crime, Bonds is still baseball hall of fame worthy.

Rocket Roger Clemens who won seven Cy Young awards for pitching excellence ended his career with 354 wins in 24 seasons. While it has been stated that he began using steroids after signing with my beloved Toronto Blue Jays in 1997, note again that it wasn't illegal at that time in MLB. Clemens was 10-13 in Boston in 1996 and considered washed up before going 21-7 in '97 and 20-6 in 1998. My issue isn't with those records. rather, we should subtract his 2002-2007 (when he last pitched) numbers... which would give him a career record of 280 wins and 145 losses. He'd only have to lose one of his Cy Young awards won in 2004 while a member of the Houston Astros. Sounds fair - but he may have lied to the U.S. Congress and if guilty should do jail time. That would void his inclusion into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Jose Cansceco  - at least he never lied about taking steroids. He may have been a jerk and baseball's first ever 40-40 man (home runs and steals--power and speed), but we was not a hypocrite.

Sammy Sosa, Andy Petite, Raphael Palmero--they never broke any major records (okay, maybe Sosa for most years with 60 home runs or more at three years--but all were done pre-2002). Just void all accomplishments from 2002 on.

Alex Rodriguez. He's a Yankee and I hate the Yankees (it's envy). But I really hoped he was going to be the one clean one (along with Ken Griffey Jr.) to break or at least challenge cleanly for the career home run record. Nope. Now, he claims he only used it after coming over from the Texas Rangers to the New York Yankees in 2004... and only for a year... but until his disclosure in 2010, how can we be sure? That means taking his current career total of 604 home runs and adjusting it to pre-2002 levels, but adding in the 2010 total. That would give him 366 home runs. Pretty good numbers, but no matter what the truth is, he hid his PED drug use and broke the rules.

Like Barry Bonds, Canseco and Clemens, Rodriguez was considered a superstar long before the MLB drug policy. Whether they used any performance enhancing drugs (PHDs) prior to 2002 is not up for discussion here. They did not cheat and should not be considered cheaters for any accomplishment before 2002. They merely played within the rules as they were laid out.

Which brings me to one Mark McGwire (pictured above in his Topps rookie card). While he took the 5th Amendment while testifying in front of Congress, it was obvious to all that Mark had taken PEDs. Where the heck do you think I got the idea to take Androstenedione from? I recall reading a sports article in a local Toronto newspaper about a bottle of pills a reporter noticed in McGwire's locker. While the manufacturers of Androstenedione say it's a sexual enhancer, its real purpose could not be denied. Mark was always a big kid and strong. It's a shame he didn't come clean about his PED use. After all, he retired from playing baseball in 2001--the year BEFORE the MLB drug policy was put in place.

To me, McGwire had nothing to hide. He broke no rules (unless it was illegal to take said health supplement--which it was not, at that time). McGwire's career home run total of 582, and HIS single-season record of 70 achieved in 1998 should stand. Sorry Barry, I loved you as a Pittsburgh Pirate, but...  you're out.

If you broke the rules and cheated, your records should be voided for that period. I understand you were looking for a fast fix to take you over the top. But once caught, be a man and step up to the plate and tell the truth. 

I hate baseball players who lie about taking steroids and other performance enhancing drugs.