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The Innocence of Baseball Lost in the Steroid Era. America?s most beloved
and successful professional sport until it alienated ...
Submitted by dprior on November 5, 2006
Category: American History
Words: 2358 | Pages: 10
Views: 122
Popularity Rank: 64,687
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America’s most beloved and successful professional sport until it alienated many fans during the players’ strike of 1994. However, nearly all of those fans returned to the game, and countless new fans discovered a love for the game as the unforgettable Home Run Chase of 1998 captured the hearts of millions of Americans. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hit home run after home run that season, and as they closed in on Roger Maris’ single season home run record of 61, few people were suspicious of the means by which they gained the strength to hit balls over 400 feet with ease. But many people within the Major Leagues knew that the statistics of McGwire and Sosa were tainted, as were the numbers of many other successful players. A potentially staggering percentage of the players of this generation were relying on steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs that were not available to the heroes of earlier years, such as Roger Maris, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. This clearly unfair advantage modern day players used to easily surpass the standards set by players from previous generations who had earned their success without the benefits of performance enhancers. Although nutritionists and baseball writers emerged as “experts” on the issue of steroids, and Congressional hearings in 2005 began to focus public attention on the issue, fans did not grasp the impact steroids had on the game until a player who had used them and experienced their positive and negative effects wrote candidly on the issue and enlightened the country. In his 2005 memoir, Juiced, baseball slugger Jose Canseco recounted his use of steroids and the widespread use of performance enhancers in Major League Baseball. In doing so, he sparked a national obsession with finding the truth behind the tainted records and accomplishments of the guilty players and punishing those who had cheated.
Jose Canseco had achieved fame as a member of the Oakland Athletics in the late...
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