Wednesday, January 10, 2007
On McGwire
This is what I think -- from 1980ish to 2005ish, a lot of people in baseball did steroids. I've read stories that it was no secret that the Steelers of the 70s were so tough and so strong because there was rampant steroid use on that team. Athletes of all sports realized pretty quickly that: 1) steroids work (see the Chargers Shawn Merriman, who is an absolute disgrace) and 2) testing was [is] nonexistent or inadequate. I'm sure at first baseball players didn't see how steroids would help them all that much in their sport, but in time the benefits of greater strength combined with shorter recovery times became clear.
For at least ten years, baseball was willfully ignorant of what was going on. That's a fact, and the blame for that has to fall on Bud Selig. I guess we all kind of suspected that players took steroids, but were happy not knowing for sure who those players were because people still like to think of baseball as different than the other sports -- purer, more rooted in traditional values, whatever.
Basically, there are three pieces of evidence against McGwire: 1) the bottle of andro, 2) the obvious increase in size with the neck-acne etc., and 3) his testimony in Congress. Now I personally think that he did steroids, but I also think that you need more than just speculation and supposition before you condemn a person publicy or denegrate his achievements.
I'm willing to look past #3 right off the bat. First, lots of people get pretty nervous when subpoened by Congress. Second, studies have shown that while people generally think that they can tell when somebody is lying, they really cannot. People are no better than 50/50 in judging if someone is telling the truth, so I wouldn't put too much stock in whether he "looked like" he was lying. Exhibit A -- Palmeiro. After his shananigans, he was being touted as a pillar of integrity. I suppose it helped that his physique didn't scream roids ...
... which leads to the conclusion that we have no idea, based on body type alone, whether a person did steroids. Cal Ripken, 6' 4", not a body-builder by any stretch, hit for power by 1980s standards, slightly above average power for the 90s. BUT, he played in 2,632 games straight. We know that steroids decreases recovery time from injuries -- which is why so many pitchers used it as well as hitters. (Gagne? Prior? They're both muscular guys who blew out their arms. Who knows?)
I'm not saying that Ripkin did steroids, and I don't think he did them, but the point is that we can't say definitively that he did not. Why is his record sancrosanct while McGwire's are not?
I just don't think that it's fair to trash an otherwise good guy based on so little.
I wouldn't put it past any player to do steroids. Clemens, Ichiro, David Ortiz, Pedro, Jeter ... nobody. In a hypercompetitive environment where your livelihood (not to mention your ego) is based on how well you perform, it's just human nature. A marginal major leaguer could use steroids just to stay in the game, a good player could use it to be great, or an aging veteran could use it to hang on just a little longer.
I'd imagine that nothing could turn an honest man crooked faster than seeing a few too many balls being caught at the warning track. It's not hard to imagine such a person thinking what 10-15 more pounds of muscle could do for him. Or, for a pitcher, adding 4-5 mph on your fastball might seem to be well worth the risk. Just ask Randy Johnson what a 96-98 mph fastball can do for you that a 90-92 cannot.
The whole situation is tragic really because there is no good solution. If you keep McGwire out, I think that Sosa and Bonds have to be out too. I understand that Bonds could have retired in 2000 and made the Hall, but the fact is that he continued to play. Similarly, Pete Rose could have walked away after his playing days and he'd be in too. Players must be judged by the entirety of their careers in baseball, and I think that if you are caught on steroids, you should never be in the Hall of Fame no matter what. To me it's just as bad as throwing games or gambling on games, maybe worse because you're giving yourself an unfair advantage day after day after day.
No sport reveres the recordbook like baseball, and I think that's why steroids hurt so badly ... inflated numbers not only dishonor the game, but the players who cheat (by whatever means) disrespect history for their own personal gain.
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