Ms. Politte
February 27, 2014
Risk vs. Reward: Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs
The steroids era in not only Major League Baseball, but in all professional sports really began in the early 1990s. In MLB, the commissioner, Byron Johnson, turned a blind eye to the players who were using PED’s because he wanted to draw fans back to the stands to see more homeruns. This worked for a while and then the use became illegal. Then MLB started testing their players in the early 2000s because they found that PED’s were harmful to the players and it was taking away from the sport. Today, most of the professional players who use PED’s do so for quick gain of fortune and fame. This is one of the many reasons why professional baseball …show more content…
The risk that comes with PED’s is not important to these players; they just care about the fame. One important risk from using PED’s is that they can cause permanent physical illness and psychotic episodes that include aggression, violence, and rapid mood swings. Some rewards that these players see from using PED’s is increased muscle mass, increased performance, increased endurance, and a feeling of invincibility. Other side effects can include a plethora of problems, the worst being liver damage or cancer. More risks can include acne, excessive hair growth or loss, testicular atrophy (shrinking), …show more content…
Alex Rodriguez is the most recent player to be caught using PED’s and is facing the consequences of a long term suspension. When Alex Rodriguez admitted to the use of PED’s, it shocked the baseball world. He was one of the most admired baseball players in major league baseball in terms of his skill. Roger Clemens was one of the biggest disappointment when the public found out about his use of PED’s because he was one of the most promising players of the time, as he was a 7 time Cy Young Award winner. Anabolic androgenic steroids are a class of synthetic drugs that are designed to mimic the effects of hormone testosterone and are the most commonly used PED among major league baseball players. In sports, players tend to take mega doses of steroids which are sometimes 10-100 times the normal dosage that would be given for some medical conditions and they often use more than one type at a