Cincinnati Reds pitcher and former All-Star Edison Volquez has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. I have one thing to say. Who cares?
Steroids in baseball is one of the most overblown issues in the history of sports. The fans certainly don’t care. Let’s look at some of the players who have been caught. Giants’ fans rooted for Barry Bonds as he took his place as the all-time home runs leader. Yankees fans see Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte not as steroid or human growth hormone users, but guys who just helped them win their 27th World Series title last year. Fans in Los Angeles still wear dreadlocks to games even after Manny Ramirez was suspended a year ago. The truth is fans like to root for their star players no matter what they’ve done.
In 2001, the San Francisco Giants brought an average of about 38,000 people out to games which they played. the highest attendance in baseball, according to ESPN.com. In 2009, the Dodgers were the biggest draw with close to 40,000 fans per games they played. The number of fans attending games has risen even after Congress’s Mitchell Report, which implicated a large number of players for steroid use.
Steroids and HGH have played a part in the increase in home runs since the 1950s and 60s. The problem is we have no idea how big of a part that is. Home runs have increased for many reasons. Steroids are just a small piece of the pie.
One of the reasons that home runs have increased is because ballparks are much smaller than they used to be. The Phillies played in Shibe Park from 1938 to 1970, where it was 515 feet to center field. Today the Phillies play in Citizens Bank Park where it’s only 401 feet to center. Obviously, more home runs are going to be hit because it takes a shorter distance for them to go out. It’s like that all over baseball. Parks used to be so big that it was nearly impossible to hit balls out.
Another factor is expansion. Baseball consisted of 16 teams from 1901 to 1960 with eight teams in both league. Before the 1961 season two American League teams were added. The next year the National League added two. For the 1969 season, two teams were put in both leagues. Two more teams were added to the AL in 1977. The NL added two teams in ‘93, and finally, one team joined each league in 1998.
All of a sudden there are 30 teams instead of 16. Because of this, overall talent in baseball has gone down over the years because the league needs more players. Think about it, if there are fewer teams that means there are less roster spots, meaning only the most talented players make the teams. There is no way Jason Marquis would be in the majors in the ‘60s. Inferior pitching leads to more home runs.
These are just two of the many reasons why home runs have increased over the years. Steroids have definitely played a role, but not in a way that can be measured.
In 2009, Sabermetrics god, Bill James wrote an article about steroids and the Hall of Fame. In the article, James makes the argument that 50 years from now we will see players like A-Rod and Bonds not as cheaters, but as pioneers.
In the case of Barry Bonds steroids allowed him to stay at a high level of performance long after he was supposed to. In essence, steroids make people younger and slow the aging process. Everyone wants to stay young for as long as possible, right?
The reason people have a problem with steroids is that they’re harmful to players’ health and if professional baseball players take harmful substances, so will younger athletes who want to become professional baseball players. But what if 50 years from now there are steroids or forms of steroids without the health problems? What if steroids are a regular part of people’s lifestyles in order for them to live longer? According to James, if that happens, people will look back at players today who took steroids and say “so what?”
There is a lot about baseball that can be criticized. The argument can be made that it’s wrong for three or four teams control most of the money in the sport. That may be true. Non-baseball fans complain that the sport is boring. Steroids, however, may not be as big of an issue as sports radio hosts would have you believe.
You can reach this writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
