Currently, if a player fails a drug test for steroids use they are suspended for 50 games, 100 games, and a lifetime ban for first, second, and third offenses, respectively. Players who are given the lifetime ban are able to apply for reinstatement after two years. If Wells’ estimation is correct around 350 to 450 major leaguers are using steroids. However, since most of the users go undetected or are not caught through failing a drug test, only a list of twenty-two players have been suspended throughout the league’s entire history. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Andy Petite, Miguel Tejada, Alex Rodriguez. These are some of baseball’s biggest stars over the last several years, all are steroid users, and none are on that list. With over a hundred more players accused of using steroids over the last decade and very few suspensions, the league needs to realize that their current steroid policy is not effective.
Not only does the amount of cheating embarrass the league, it also makes it extremely unfair for players who are not using banned substances. Unfair because it is allowing cheaters to have an edge on the hard working athletes who train and practice to improve their game and unfair that these rule-obeying athletes have to deal with baseball’s new stereotype that the majority of players are taking steroids. After Alex Rodriguez, the latest and perhaps greatest player to admit to using steroids, players like David Ortiz have spoken out about their opinions of the league’s rules. Ortiz suggests that every player should be tested three or four times a year, first offenders receiving a season’s ban and a lifetime ban on the second offense. I completely agree with this idea, as it will really help crack down on the cheaters and help clean the game up. There are hundreds of players breaking the rules and only a few of them are being punished. This leads into the final and most important supporting idea that the rules need to be harsher. With so many players accused of taking banned substances and so little of them punished, it shows that the league feels that cheating is acceptable. President George W. Bush captured it best with his quote “The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball is dangerous. It sends the wrong message that there are shortcuts to accomplishment and that performance is more important than character.” The problem is that this dangerous message is not just being sent to the adult sports fans, it’s being sent to all of the fans. There are millions of children who idolize their favorite baseball players and dream of growing up to play major league baseball. For every all-star player involved in steroid controversy, there’s hundreds of thousands of child fans who may see steroids as a way to make their dreams come true.
Although the MLB has taken big steps in recent years toward cleaning up the game, the rules still need to be harsher. If the owners really want the league to be completely free of steroids then they must change the rules further and finalize the process of removing steroids from baseball. Without harsher rules the league will continue to see these same problems that have embarrassed the sport for a decade, continue to have an unfair league for players following the rules, and most importantly, continue to send the dangerous message that playing well is more important than playing fair.
