Baseball’s Steroid Era

I must admit that I am a diehard baseball fan. It has been my favorite sport since I was a little kid playing Tee-ball. But before any of you non-baseball fans click away in disinterest, I think that what is happening in baseball today has larger cultural implications. I would like to take this space to discuss those implications.

Over the past century, some of the greatest cultural icons have come from the diamond. Babe Ruth has an almost godlike position in popular culture, with his herculean abilities and the historic moment when he “called his shot.” Lou Gehrig was such a hero, which is final speech on Yankee field solidified even more strongly, that the disease he was diagnosed with was named after him. Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier wasn’t just a monumental baseball moment, but a monumental American one.

Baseball has a special place in America. Even though the numbers say that the NFL and the NBA have more fans, baseball has an almost sacred status in the hearts and minds of its fans. An NBA player is caught using steroids and he’s suspended for ten games, about twelve percent of the season, and no one bats an eye. Even though players are caught using steroids in the NFL, it gets almost no publicity and incites no public outcry. Baseball, though, is different. That is possibly because baseball has so many sacred numbers that we have seen dropping like flies: Roger Maris’s single season home run record of 61, Hank Aaron’s career home run mark of 755. We hate to see those records fall to people who are “juiced.”

Yet, some people are saying that these people should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. What good is a Hall of Fame if it doesn’t house the player with the most hits ever, or the most home runs? they ask. But I have a question for them: What does that say about us if we honor cheaters?

This is not a cut and dry situation. We will never know the names of all the players who ever used steroids. During the steroid era, which I hope is over, it is probable that even the lowest players on the roster were using, just so they could stay in the league. But the only way we can get cheating to stop is by showing that we will not tolerate it. If someone is caught cheating, yet we honor them for the records they set while cheating, what message are we sending young players? We are obviously not saying that cheaters never prosper. In my opinion, this steroid era, and how we handle it, is indicative of the moral health of our society.

Gordon B. Hinckley, former President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wrote this in his book Standing For Something: “Without honesty, our lives disintegrate into ugliness, chaos, and a lack of any kind of security and confidence. Imagine a society in which it would be unwise or unsafe to trust anyone--from elected officials to financial advisers to insurance adjusters to your child’s babysitter or kindergarten teacher. Imagine having surgery performed by someone who had cheated in medical school or found a way to short-circuit the requirements of medical residency. Imagine the terror of a society that condones or at least turns a collective blind eye to dishonesty. The prospects are horrifying!” (p. 16)

Some may argue that the honesty of a baseball player means little. I would argue that baseball players have such an iconic position in our society that dishonesty in them won’t end between the foul lines. Those who grow up idolizing cheaters will emulate cheaters. We have already seen scandals in which students are cheating on college exams. Many even have the audacity to say that what they did wasn’t wrong. A culture of cheating doesn’t just fall upon you overnight. It creeps up on you a little at a time. One person finds that he can get away with it, so he tells his friends, who spread it to others, like the disease it is. Pretty soon, you’re living in the world President Hinckley described and wondering how you got there.

Our culture needs to send a message not only to cheating baseball players, but to the young people who look up to them. That is the only way to ensure that young people will not idolize cheaters, but those deserving of emulation.