Steroids destroying baseball? How could that possibly be when it was in fact steroids that saved America's pastime not so long ago. Who could possibly forget that majestic season in which Mark Mcgwire and Sammy Sosa both were battling for the most coveted record in all of sports, most home runs in a single season. I like a lot of people was moving away from baseball after the strike. I was feeling torn about why these men who were getting paid astronomical amounts of money to play a game were whining like a bunch of babies. Then Mcgwire and Sosa, as they did for so many fair weather fans, drew me into baseball like never before. I found my self checking espn every day to see where the race for 61 was at. Living in New England I would catch a Sox game here and there, but now I was watching nationally televised Cardinal and Cubs games to see if I could actually see one of the home runs. I still remember seeing the game and the home run Mcgwire hit to break the record. I remember fondly him putting up his hands almost willing and coaxing the ball over the fence then rounding the bases only to find his son (then a batboy for the cardinals) waiting for him at home plate. Mcgwire picking him up engrossed in the joy of having accomplished something we thought no one might ever do.

Now some might look at that season as a fraud, like they cheated us and themselves by using illegal substances to propel them to be able to reach those feats. Well I say, WHO CARES! They are athletes paid to perform at their best if it takes the substance to help achieve their best let them take it. Athletes put their bodies through complete hell and we have no right to judge them whatsoever. Until you go threw a 2 aday's at an NFL training camp, or 3 hour offseason daily workouts, restricted diets, hours of weight training, hitting etc. etc., until you do that then you have no right to judge these athletes. I remember playing high school football and waking up the next day feeling like I was beaten repeatedly with a metal baseball bat.

Steroids help in muscle recovery, protein synthesis, allow you to sustain your workouts for longer periods of time. They don't let you see the baseball better, react to pitches better or give you more knowledge of the game. You or I could do all the steroids in the world and doesn't mean we could take the field and hit a home run off a major league pitcher. Lets face it in sports people want to see towering home runs, big hard hits, and powerful slam dunks, nobody likes to see a bunt by a pitcher.

We the public created sports in to the monster it is today. With all the money these players are making its no wonder they would do whatever it takes to be the best and stay there as long as they can. Let's face it the 40 plus athletes are still around doing what they are doing because of the advances in weight training, supplementation, and yes steroids. If it extends their careers another 5 years that means millions and millions of dollars for them and their families. Can you blame them?

In conclusion steroids is not and never will destroy baseball. Steroids catapulted baseball back into new heights with the excitement of home run races and even the scandals. Somebody once said bad press is better than no press, and baseball is getting plenty of press everywhere. No matter how hard baseball tries to get rid of the steroid era their will always be something new out there for athletes to try to make them the best they can be. Just let baseball handle that and we the fans can just keep watching. Either way it is entertainment and that in the end is what sports is all about.

Learn more about this author, Bill Murray.
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