Steroids were not illegal in MLB until last year. Steroids have been illegal without proper prescription in the US for a long time. Should breaking a federal law negate on-field performance? No.*
Does steroid use break an ethical law? Yes. Should baseball players’ on-field performances be held accountable to all ethical law? No.**
Does steroid use break an ethical law that affects baseball as an institution? Yes.
Should MLB create rules that outlaw unethical behaviors that affect baseball as an institution? Yes.***
Should MLB punish players for violating ethical laws before rules prohibiting those actions were in place? No.****
Should fans punish players instead of MLB? Yes.
Is there absolute proof that Bonds and other big-name players used performance enhancing drugs? No.*****
Is there enough proof that I’m willing to except that Bonds did. Yes.
Might he have not? Yes.
Could there still be absolute proof one way or the other? Yes.
Should we seek absolute proof? Yes.
These are the questions and answers that led to my take on the steroid issue. The fans deserve to know the truth and I admire Bud Selig for initiating the investigation. If the results prove a player didn’t use performance enhancing drugs, we’ve saved the player’s reputation and the game’s that much more respectable. If the results prove a player did use PEDs, we as fans have all the permission in the world to villify those players. But I don’t want MLB to punish them, except for giving them the cold shoulder. Don’t touch the record-books. Don’t alter the statistics. We, as fans, carry the most power — we can decide not to give a damn that Bonds hit more homeruns that Babe Ruth. It’s not the number that creates a record, it’s the fans that accept the premise of the record. But we need the truth to validate our points of view. Let’s hope the truth is uncovered.
* - Polygamy
** - Jackass
*** - Crack
**** - Ex post facto, anyone?
***** - Except Palmeiro
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Sky is a baseball fan and racket sport afficianado living in upstate NY. His favorite color is orange and is just about ready to give up on his life-long dream to become the next Magnus ver Magnuson (World's Strongest Man). His favorite baseball teams are the Yankees and Red Sox, proving that there's hope in the Middle East.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
“Should MLB punish players for violating ethical laws before rules prohibiting those actions were in place? No.****”
Didn’t Fay Vincent state that steroids were included in MLB’s existing drug policy? Yes******
******http://www.businessofbaseball.com/docs.htm#1991Memo