Good Stuff

Share this post

Baseball's steroids era is back

www.dangoodstuff.com

Baseball's steroids era is back

In some ways, it never really ended.

Dan Good
Feb 9, 2022
2
Share this post

Baseball's steroids era is back

www.dangoodstuff.com
R. Gino Santa Maria / Shutterfree, Llc | Dreamstime.com

The Associated Press published a significant story this week.

Drug testing in Major League Baseball has stopped, a casualty of the sport’s lockout that started Dec. 2.

Testing for steroids was halted for the first time in nearly 20 years due to the expiration of the sport’s drug agreement between management and the players’ association, two people familiar with the sport’s Joint Drug Program told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because no public announcement was made.

When they negotiated the 2017-21 drug agreement, the sides included a provision that states “the termination date and time of the program shall be 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1, 2021.” That matched the expiration of the five-year labor contract.

“It should be a major concern to all those who value fair play,” Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said Monday.

Twitter avatar for @AP_Sports
AP Sports @AP_Sports
APNewsBreak: Major League Baseball has stopped testing players for steroids for the first time in nearly 20 years due to the expiration of the sport’s drug agreement. by @ronaldblum
apne.wsExclusive: MLB, players stop drug testing during lockoutNEW YORK (AP) — Drug testing in Major League Baseball has stopped, a casualty of the sport’s lockout that started Dec.
8:38 PM ∙ Feb 7, 2022
4,509Likes1,173Retweets

Well.

Baseball's owners, in putting money and authority over all, have once again opened the opportunity for steroids to further infiltrate the game.

The steroids era is back, at least for the time being.

Twitter avatar for @MrMet_CPA
⚾️CPA⚾️ @MrMet_CPA
Robinson Cano trying to figure out if this is a trap: https://t.co/aaTPm1fLiU
John Cena Looks Both Ways GIF
Twitter avatar for @AP_Sports
AP Sports @AP_Sports
APNewsBreak: Major League Baseball has stopped testing players for steroids for the first time in nearly 20 years due to the expiration of the sport’s drug agreement. by @ronaldblum https://t.co/PymUrCnKdO
9:11 PM ∙ Feb 7, 2022
2,952Likes249Retweets


Not that the testing system of the past two decades -- a byproduct of Ken Caminiti's steroids admission to Sports Illustrated in 2002 -- was all that fruitful. Only 70-odd suspensions for PEDs have been doled out to MLB players since 2005, when positive tests were first announced publicly. Some players have tested positive multiple times.

Click here to pre-order a copy of my upcoming book “Playing Through the Pain: Ken Caminiti and the Steroids Confession That Changed Baseball Forever.”

In any given year, three or five MLB players might be suspended for PEDs.

That, according to AP, while 47,973 tests were conducted from 2017 to 2021. During that five-year stretch, 17 MLB players failed drug tests -- a fraction of a percent. Are we really supposed to believe that a system that's caught almost no one is all that effective?

Even so, an ineffective system is still better than no system.

It will be interesting to see how baseball is impacted by this lapse in testing. Will we see another 60-homer season? Players coming to spring training with 25 added pounds of muscle? A 30-something player performing like he's 10 years younger?

The ramifications are bound to increase the longer the lockout lasts. And any breakout players are going to face the same old speculation: is he using?

No matter what individual players wind up doing, the lockout and lapsed testing program are ultimately the owners' fault. They've chosen money and authority over all -- over the on-field product, a level playing field, and the best interests of the grand old game.

Share this post

Baseball's steroids era is back

www.dangoodstuff.com
Comments
TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Dan Good
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing