Steroids
...from Major League Baseball (MLB) letting players take whatever they want to enhance the excitement of the games. Today's baseball fans expect the games they are watching to be real, and not rigged, but if the MLB players are taking performance-enhancing drugs, it takes some of the "realism" away. Baseball should still be able to be enjoyed by fans as when greats like Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio played, without steroids.
Mandatory drug testing should be a part of Major League Baseball, and all other professional sports of today. President George W. Bush has called on professional athletes, owners, and coaches to stop all players from taking steroids because it makes them bad role models. Commissioner of MLB, Bud Selig, agrees with Bush on ridding baseball of all performance-enhancing drugs. Selig soon hopes to reach the goal of "zero-tolerance". Last year random and anonymous tests were done to only some of the MLB's players. Between 5% and 7% of the tests came back positive for steroid use (Antonen, "Selig"). However, that is not enough. All players should be tested with harsh punishments if tested positive.
In a poll done by USA Today, 79% of Major League Baseball players said that they want drug testing to be done. Surprisingly, only 17% of players stood behind their union by saying they didn't want drug testing done. Until mandatory drug testing is put into play in MLB, fans will keep speculating over which players are and which aren't using steroids (Antonen, "USA Today Poll").
Major League Baseball also needs to think about the health of their players. Players on steroids are a lot more likely to be put on the disabled list than players not taking steroids. A USA Today database study showed that trips to the disabled list among major leaguers increased by 32% from 1992 to 2001. Steroids are known to...
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