Fairness and Purity: Why American Baseball Players Should Know Better
Fairness and Purity:
Why American Baseball Players Should Know Better
Max P. Farhi
Keuka College
February 2013
Fairness and Purity:
Why American Baseball Players Should Know Better
Reading the recent articles “We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals” by William Moller, and “Cheating and CHEATING” by Joe Posnanski, I found occasion to consider the use of steroids in baseball for the first time. In these essays, Moller and Posnanski tapped into the running commentary about performance-enhancing substances and their relative acceptability in the baseball arena (no pun intended). “We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals” proclaimed that “the entire steroid outcry is pure hypocrisy” (Moller, 2009, p.548), while Posnanski dared “baseball in Willie Mays’s time, like baseball in every time, was rife with cheating and racism and alcoholism and small-mindedness” (Posnanski, 2010, p.556). Both pieces seemed in agreement that substance use in baseball is par for the course, and I find it hard to believe otherwise, except in blatant denial of the facts. But this line of thinking extends out into a more global conversation about when it is acceptable to use drugs, and when it isn’t. Rather than arguing the morality of drug use or the ethics of enhancement, I feel the greater issue at hand is that athletes – and specifically baseball players – should take responsibility for the impact their drug use has on the American public. “Cheating and CHEATING” began with a quote by New York Times journalist and author Pete Hamill, which read: “Above all, the story of Willie Mays reminds us of a time when the only performance-enhancing drug was joy” (Posnanski, 2010, p.553). In the following first paragraph, however, Posnanski pitched the reader their first bit of cynicism, immediately refuting Hamill’s claim with “it’s ridiculous. . . ‘I didn’t know that joy was another word for amphetamines.’” (Posnanski, 2010, p.553). Right out of the gate,
Why American Baseball Players Should Know Better
Max P. Farhi
Keuka College
February 2013
Fairness and Purity:
Why American Baseball Players Should Know Better
Reading the recent articles “We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals” by William Moller, and “Cheating and CHEATING” by Joe Posnanski, I found occasion to consider the use of steroids in baseball for the first time. In these essays, Moller and Posnanski tapped into the running commentary about performance-enhancing substances and their relative acceptability in the baseball arena (no pun intended). “We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals” proclaimed that “the entire steroid outcry is pure hypocrisy” (Moller, 2009, p.548), while Posnanski dared “baseball in Willie Mays’s time, like baseball in every time, was rife with cheating and racism and alcoholism and small-mindedness” (Posnanski, 2010, p.556). Both pieces seemed in agreement that substance use in baseball is par for the course, and I find it hard to believe otherwise, except in blatant denial of the facts. But this line of thinking extends out into a more global conversation about when it is acceptable to use drugs, and when it isn’t. Rather than arguing the morality of drug use or the ethics of enhancement, I feel the greater issue at hand is that athletes – and specifically baseball players – should take responsibility for the impact their drug use has on the American public. “Cheating and CHEATING” began with a quote by New York Times journalist and author Pete Hamill, which read: “Above all, the story of Willie Mays reminds us of a time when the only performance-enhancing drug was joy” (Posnanski, 2010, p.553). In the following first paragraph, however, Posnanski pitched the reader their first bit of cynicism, immediately refuting Hamill’s claim with “it’s ridiculous. . . ‘I didn’t know that joy was another word for amphetamines.’” (Posnanski, 2010, p.553). Right out of the gate,
References: Moller, William. "We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals." They Say/I Say Second Edition. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 545-551. Print. Posnanski, Joe. "Cheating and CHEATING." They Say/I Say Second Edition. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 553-559. Print. Reed, L. (1967). Heroin [Recorded by The Velvet Underground]. On The Velvet Underground & Nico [Vinyl]. New York City: MGM Records. (1966).