My Stance on Steroids
And what to do with about the Hall of Fame
After the Pete Rose news earlier this week, I might as well get this one out of the way, too. While no pardons are on the horizon for steroid users, Cubs ownership just welcomed back Sammy Sosa after he “apologized”, even though the Ricketts family didn’t buy the team until 2009, five years after Sammy’s last game in Cubbie blue. The cloud of the Steroid Era is something that’s going to linger for a long time, until the youngest of my generation gets too old to remember it. I was 12 during the ‘98 Home Run Chase.
I’ve seen a softening in how steroid users (both confirmed and suspected) have been treated over the past few years. The further in the past it gets, the rosier the lens. I’m still a hardliner, especially on Hall of Fame inductions. I’m not all the way on the “my true home run kings are Hank Aaron’s 755 and Roger Maris’ 61” side of the scale… though Aaron Judge would be the new single-season king. Twenty years after it all came to a head with congressional hearings and a new PED policy, the first time I ever took a different approach was when I talked to Dan Good a couple months ago, who authored a very detailed and well-researched biography on Ken Caminiti:
Interview #53: A Civil Steroid Era Discussion
It made me think more about the deeply personal decisions many players had to make. And the character traits that led some to take it further than others, just as any addict might. But I still think PEDs have no place in the game. I think the peak Steroid Era is still tainted, though I accept that they are in the record books. And I also think we should think more about who got hurt the most during that era (hint: not owners, users or sportswriters). So, first of all:
People Forget How Obscene the Numbers Got
Alex Rodriguez hit 57 home runs in 2002. In fact, during his 3 seasons as a Texas Ranger, he averaged 52 home runs, 132 RBI and slugged .615. He also played shortstop, the most demanding infield position after catcher (physically and mentally), 481 games and completed 4,155 innings at a time when baserunners still had permission to slide into second base in a way that would draw a red card in the World Cup. He appeared in every game but one. He was only in the lineup as a DH twice. This August, if you live in Texas, go outside at 4pm and jog in place for about 10 minutes, get back to me about how miserable you feel. Now do all that for 3 long summers, and that includes warmups, batting practice, day games…
A-Rod’s 57 home runs in 2002 (and 51 in 2001, plus 47 more in 2003) are by far the most by a shortstop in a single season. Since 2000, Fernando Tatis Jr. is the only other player to put up more than 40, with 42 dingers in 2021… and that was also followed by an 80-game PED suspension in 2022. Filtering for clean seasons only, Francisco Lindor had 38 homers in 2018, which is 19 shy of A-Rod’s best season.
I will only say this once: Alex Rodriguez was an incredibly talented baseball player. He had a sweet swing that produced sizzling line drives. Even at a towering 6’3”, he flowed effortlessly at shortstop moving to his left or right with a cannon arm. He signed TWO(!) $250million dollar contracts. He played in over 20 seasons, won three MVPs, the 2009 World Series and hit 696 home runs. He was also taking banned substances before and after the testing agreement.
Alex Rodriguez without steroids would have been a perennial all-star, probably knocking on the door of the Hall of Fame with all-time career numbers at shortstop, up there with Cal Ripken and Ernie Banks. But he would never have hit 50 home runs in a full season at shortstop. He would never have signed those record-setting contracts. His prime is regularly brought up as one of the greatest ever, and often without the caveat of his PED usage, yet it’s just one example of how far these guys were pushing the limits.
One of the arguments for accepting the records of Bonds, A-Rod, McGwire, Clemens, is that “everyone was doing it” and they were just the best in the game before they started using. Well, of course we focus on that more heavily in 2025. They’re the only ones who still have a chapter left to write in their baseball stories. Google the names on the Mitchell Report. You’ll see lots of players that people born before 1990 will recognize, but no one who will be remembered as an all-time great. There’s names like Todd Hundley, Rondell White and Benito Santiago. Those guys had boosts in production that track with the positive tests, but they never came close to being a contender for Cooperstown. So there’s no reason to relitigate their case, it’s been closed for a while now.
When a highway has hundreds of drivers going over the speed limit, who gets caught more often? It’s the ones who are going 40 or 50mph too fast, not the guys going 10 or 15mph over. The slower cars pull off at their exit and get home with no further repercussions. The speediest Ferrari ends up in traffic court with a $300 fine. That’s just how it is. Rondell White and Barry Bonds both cheated. Rondell White hit a career high 28 home runs in 151 games in 1997. He finished tied for 33rd that year. Barry Bonds hit 28 home runs in May and June 2001, or 58 games total (he hit 73 home runs that season).
They’re unfair
My biggest problem with steroids, especially when middle infielders began looking like middle linebackers, was that they were federally illegal for a reason: they aren’t good for your long term health. Heavy steroid usage brings increased risks of heart problems, ligament damage, kidney failure, tumors, and lots of back acne. If there weren’t serious consequences to it, then it would be legal and everyone would enjoy the fun of 20-inch biceps, 500-foot home runs and all the chicks that dig the long ball.
Unfortunately, the eye-popping results encouraged unsafe usage which resulted in tragic endings. Look at the long list of WWE wrestlers who were pumped so full of steroids in the 80’s and 90’s you could see the stanozolol coursing through Macho Man’s veins. Razor Ramon, the Ultimate Warrior, Eddie Guerrero… the list goes on of middle-aged former wrestlers dropping dead from heart attacks and other steroid side effects (it should be noted the alcohol and substance abuse that also is prevalent in pro wrestling).
But they also work. Think about the time period considered to be the height of the steroid era, about 1988 to 2005, to the “testing era” 20 years since. Players were able to perform at a higher level day in and day out, returned from injury quicker and the best of the era put up statistical displays that are still hard to believe. They also can take you from a career minor leaguer to a much more lucrative career as a bench bat in the big leagues if you show some more pop, or a middle relief role with that extra zip on your fastball.
So if one player is more talented, has a better track record, and is higher on the organization’s depth chart than another player, working hard and doing it clean, and then that other prospect a couple rungs lower than him suddenly passes him up thanks to a couple routine fly balls now having enough oomph to get over the fence and make that slugging percentage stand out a little more, where’s the incentive to keep doing it clean? Now if you want to get your spot back, you’ve got to also start doing business with the shady guy in the hoodie near the squat rack of the gym to see if you can put on a few pounds of muscle. You are now risking serious complications with your long term health just to keep up with your peers, not just to hit 70 home runs.
I have a somewhat related story. Have I done steroids? Obviously not. Anyone who’s seen the bathroom mirror selfies on my dating profiles can confirm 😎. I have been the captain of a beer league hockey team for like 12 years now. We’re a “C”-level squad. As our rink defines it, this is for “recreational level teams with a mix of moderate skill to low intermediate ability – “ringers” are highly discouraged at this level.” For a long time, that’s how things went. Teams were evenly-matched and you’d get to play a good clean hockey game every week. Sometimes a team would bring on a player that was way too good, start carving through teams and scoring 3 or 4 goals a game. Back then, they’d get caught and moved up a division, not allowed to be a “ringer”.
Three years ago, the old commissioner left. Instead of filling the open position, the rink, in true Corporate America fashion, made the commissioner at their other location do double duty. Well, you can guess how that went. With half the eyeballs now on twice the teams, it landed on the teams and captains to self-police their ringers. Spoiler: it turned into an arms race. The first team that started winning games 8-2, 9-3, 10-0, spurred every other team to get a guy who could skate from one end to the other with ease. Us “moderate to low intermediate” skaters made these guys look like Connor McDavid. When everyone had their ringer, then teams brought another one on to keep their edge. Soon it became like the height of the Cold War where every team has too many nukes and not enough roster spots for them. I have always refused to get a ringer. I think it’s a lazy way to get a win, and much less fun for everyone else to just let one guy do all the work and celebrate like you did something. What’s been the result? Our combined record the past 3 calendar years is 28-82-2, the worst in the league.
Now I’ve got to consider our own ringer just to bank a couple wins and boost morale a bit before guys start jumping ship (who wants to play weeknights at 11pm just to get beat by 6 goals every game?) How did it get this way?
The same thing happened with steroids. Yes, it was against the spirit of the game, and illegal to possess in the United States without a doctor’s note, but without anyone cracking down on violations, it became easier to go a little harder each cycle. Every season that passed with no suspicions, suspensions or investigations brought players further and further along in their bodybuilding routines as an increasing number of players hopped on the needle train. After a few seasons, there were players who only knew life in baseball with steroids in the locker room. They knew better, but they didn’t know any better. They thought that’s how is done. Once again reminds of Jack Bauer’s words:
Fringe players felt pressure to use to earn a Major League contract. Great players felt pressure to use to stay an elite talent, even if the added strength and endurance made their numbers comically absurd. It’s obvious Major League Baseball and the union fucked up big time. Self-policing and the honor system never work when money is involved.
As much shit as bureaucracy gets these days, there’s a reason it’s needed. Beer leagues need commissioners to keep leagues fair before lower skilled players who can’t keep up with former college athletes quit and decide to take up pickleball.
The IRS is needed to enforce tax laws and audit taxpayers so that everyone pays their fair share. When tax frauds and loopholes go unchecked, governments (local, state and federal) have to make up those lost funds somewhere… which means more sales taxes, property taxes and whatever else we can tax. So the law-abiding taxpayer gets double taxed as we try to make up the funds that the cheats and creative accountants hide. Yet we live in a world where the IRS is somehow the bad guy, and the fraudulent billionaire tax returns are seen as the heroes.
And pro sports need strong league and union enforcement on PEDs to ensure everyone is earning their shot at the fame and riches and prestige that comes with being a Miami Marlin equally and on merit.
I still forgive those who used
While it’s easy to blame the individuals who used for cheating the game, I can still understand it. I don’t know when Mark McGwire began using, but you can see this collage I made of every Topps card of him from 1987 to 2002 and take a guess.
Now, if you’re looking in the 1992-1995 area and noticing some body composition changes, that’s where I look, too. And then we can see what was going on in his career at that point:
He played only 74 games in those two seasons as he battled foot injuries. He was going to be 31 in 1995 and couldn’t stay on the field. Lots of promising careers get derailed by injury at that age. But whatever McGwire did worked and he went on a historic run starting in 1996. From 1996 to 1999, when he was between 32 and 36 years old, he hit 245 home runs. If those four seasons were all he could use for his career, that number would rank 261st all-time, among a bunch of players who need well over 10 seasons do reach the same number.
I understand why he did it. I don’t think he did it with the intent of staining the game. The ‘98 home run chase “saved” baseball to a large chunk of fans. I know I was glued to SportsCenter highlights all season to see where he, Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr. were on their race for the record. The PEDs McGwire used brought his career a second act in an era full of incredible runs by veteran players. Unfortunately there were no guardrails in place to keep him from overdoing it and now we look back and see a guy many consider a cheater when it all started with looking for any way to get back on the field.
It’s a much better system today. Do players still use and get caught? Yes. Is there still a financial benefit to using and risking a suspension for the lucrative contract that might wait on the other side? Also yes. Luckily, the punishments are harsher. And the players themselves are tougher on each other. Then, doing PEDs to perform and stay on the field could be excused as just being a good teammate. Now, the half-season to season-long suspensions and stigma that comes with a ban mean doing PEDs makes you selfish and putting yourself over the team. That alone probably stops a lot of it, plus who really wants to be made fun of the rest of their lives for taking a female fertility drug?
So that’s my current official stance on steroids, both now and in the 90’s. I believe we’ve reached a fine balance. Most of those players are subject to Era Committee votes now and fellow players now get to to be the ultimate judge on allowing those who cheated in or not. Although I still think the Hall and BBWAA missed a golden opportunity during the cancelled 2020 induction year to just put all the biggest problem names in with no ceremony. Just sweep Bonds, A-Rod, Clemens, Sosa, McGwire and Palmeiro in while no one’s allowed to come protest or celebrate. For now, they still have their stories told with exhibits and artifacts in Cooperstown. That’s good enough for me.
And if they do get in? I’ll just say:
And move on.