Steroids and Baseball

There is no denying that steroids are the hot topic in baseball. You have the Senate investigative committee subpoenaeing players, you have Jose Canseco's book and you have the twin bill of Barry Bonds chasing Hank Aaron's home run record while simultaneously trying to deflect fallout from the BALCO investigation.

Now comes stories of Mark McGwire using steroids. Stories of McGwire using steroids are nothing new but today it seems the stories have moved beyond rumor and speculation to verifiable facts (according to the NY Daily News).

The stories are also conveniently meshing together. The guy at the center of "Operation Equine" which is supposedly providing the proof that McGwire used steroids also claims to have been Jose Canseco's steroids "guru":

"On a scale of one to 10, he [Canseco] was a four. When I left, he was an eight," [Curtis] Wenzlaff says. He adds that they haven't spoken in years. "That would square with what Wenzlaff told us," [FBI agent Greg] Stejskal told the News last month. "He was sort of Canseco's guru."

The problem is the mesh is a tangled web of denials, faulty memories and misdirection overlaying the facts.

Jose Canseco doesn't recall Wenzlaff even though Wenzlaff had his telephone numbers and pager number in his address book at the time of Wentzlaff's arrest (not to mention the FBI having a taped conversation between the two discussing steroids procurement). Of course this may have to do with the fact that in his book Jose portrays himself as a self-educated guru on steroids who was an 11 not an 8 on the scale of steroid use expertise. If Wenzlaff was his "guru" then that image falls apart.

Mark McGwire has no comment - on anything.

Barry Bonds wants to misdirect questions on steroids to the fact that according to him people want to bring Bonds down because he's black (note to Barry - people don't like you because you are a jackass). Barry would have you believe that if he did use steroids it was by accident and the fact that Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield wanted to use Bonds' "training techniques" and are now also in the web of steroids users is purely coincidental.

If you look at the situation dispassionately you would find that everyone agrees that Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti and Jason Giambi all used steroids, all won Most Valuable Player awards and all were rewarded with multimillion dollar contracts. Giambi will be getting $84 million from the Yankees over the next few years. Barry Bonds will make $18 million this year alone. Is it any wonder that players would take the risks involved to take steroids? The rewards seem to far outweigh the risks.

What are the risks? Besides having a scarlet letter "S" in the public mind are there any long term health risks for the players? That is a question that is still open to debate. Most of the "bad" stuff associated with steroid use such as depression, suicide and cancer have been mostly anecdotal to this point. There is no scientific study that answers the question conclusively.

In 2003 Outside Magazine featured an article about a "regular" guy who took steroids under a doctor's supervision for months and the changes the guy underwent were remarkable. The guy became stronger with more stamina, more sex drive and he even was able to stop wearing contacts. At the end of the article I wanted to start taking steroids.

Is it any wonder that players are willing to make a Faustian deal and use steroids (Faustian - after Gerry Faust who sold his soul to coach at Notre Dame).

Is steroids that much different from any of the other medical advances in sports? A player can have Tommy John surgery but they can't take steroids which may have allowed a muscle growth and recovery time that may have prevented the need for the surgery in the first place? Players can have laser surgery on their eyes to improve their vision (and a big part of baseball is seeing the ball) but they can't take a substance like steroids where one of the known side benefits is improved vision?

This brings me to the Senate committee and the subpoenas. I have read many times about the different players being subpoenaed but not once about any medical experts being subpoenaed. What will Curt Schilling be able to bring to the table besides a known friendship with Senator John McCain and a known rooting interest for George W. Bush? Will he testify on the differences between pitching to a juiced player vs. a non-juiced player? Does anyone expect a player to implicate himself? To name names? Are you now or have you ever been a member of the steroids using crowd? Are you a steroids fellow traveler?

This is all just theater and it is high time to put the theater away and bring out the science.

EDIT: The Sports Prof also tackled the subject today