Steroids in Baseball

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Posted: May 21, 2018 | Updated: 1 month ago

Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Jeremy Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Barry Bonds.

What do these players have in common? They all have an * next to their name because of steroids or other banned substances. One player we can add to the that list as of 5/15/2018 is Robinson Cano. One day after breaking his hand, Cano; was suspended by Major League Baseball for furosemide. Furosemide is a diuretic. Now; why would Major League Baseball suspend Robinson Cano for a diuretic?

The reason I believe is that it is possible that Robinson Cano was taking steroids and he took the Furosemide to flush his system of any other banned substances, but I’m not here to point fingers.

As far as should MLB players chance of going into Cooperstown after being suspended for banned substances. I believe that if a player is suspended for a banned substance their chance of making Cooperstown should not go down.


The first list that comes up when I hear PED’s is the 2003 PED’s list. 103 MLB players tested positive, but prior to David Ortiz’s last regular season game, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred came out and said that there were 10-15 false positives, and that the list was supposed to be a confidential list. Another issue with the list is that players on that list, tested positive for anything, including pain killers.

Now, my issue with the Robinson Cano suspension, Robinson Cano was suspended for testing positive for furosemide, which is a diuretic.

The question is why would MLB suspend a player for a diuretic?

The answer: It’s on the banned substance list. But why? The reason that Furosemide is on the banned substance list is because it is a diuretic. By definition a diuretic is “(chiefly of drugs) causing increased passing of urine”. That’s right. The MLB suspended a player for increasing his passing of urine, or to put it in better terms, the MLB suspended a player off of assumption that the player in question (Robinson Cano) is taking the diuretic to “Flush” his system of any other drugs.

Now, do I believe that Robinson Cano was taking other drugs such as PED’s and took the furosemide to flush his system and cover up the steroids, that’s the MLB’s approach to the situation, but in my personal opinion, I cannot say 100% that I believe that Cano is 100% clean.

Now onto why performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) should become legal. Reading that statement may send some into a tailspin, but before you blow your head off your shoulders, read and then react. If steroids became legal, the playing field would become even. (For those who want it to be). Steroids do not make you a better athlete right away, you have to work with it.

Steroids in MLB

One example is the Giambi brothers, Jason and Jeremy. Jason played 20 years, while Jeremy only played for 6. To make is fair, here are the stats for the years they played together, which was 1998-2003, Jason played for the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees, and Jeremy played for the Kansas City Royals, the Oakland Athletics, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Boston Red Sox. Throughout those six years, Jason batted .308, had 1,005 hits, 223 home runs with 719 RBI’s. Jeremy batted .263, had 372 hits, hit 52 home runs with 209 RBI’s.

The similarities, they both admitted to using steroids. The difference? Jason has had hall of fame recognition, Jeremy has not.

To wrap up the entire story, did the Robinson Cano suspension have a good reason? Yes, but on the other hand, PEDs should be legal throughout sports because let’s be honest, Yes, most people love good diving plays, but what is more fun than watching a batter hit a ball 500 feet into McCovey Cove in San Francisco like Barry Bonds did, or watching two powerhouse hitters go at it for the home run record like Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle did in 1961.

Who knew that the home run record started in 1876 with a man named George Hill who played for the Philadelphia Athletics and he blasted five home runs. Do you think that he ever expected Barry Bonds to blast 74 home runs 125 years later? Probably not.

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