Does A-Rod
deserve a suspension? Yes, but the suspension should not be as large. The main
reason for a suspension should be for lying, not cheating. As a baseball fan
it’s not good to see players who cheat, but there are some things that a lot of
people don’t notice. First, a vast majority of the players who make up the
major leagues are from South America. As kids they grew up in poverty and would
do whatever necessary to start a new life somewhere else without poverty. They
would find a love of baseball at a very young age and hold on to their dreams of
going to the United States to make money and do what they loved. They are under
a lot of pressure to make money for their families, and do whatever it takes.
For a lot of these player steroids or PEDs was an alternative that worked. Note
that it’s not all of the Spanish speaking players that use steroids, but a few
have gotten caught up in them. With that many American players have done the
same thing.
Secondly,
major league baseball cares a lot about the viewing public as much or more than
their players. With that being said the fans like homeruns and hard throwing
pitches. Steroids and PEDs give a result to both of those things. By any means
I don’t promote any type of substance, but the fans aren’t as interested in
small ball. Just like when A-Rod wasn’t suspected of any of that, he was the
face of major league baseball. Truthfully if it’s not brought to the public the
fans love those types of players. You can very well assume the players that hit
a lot of homeruns are on a certain type of substance, so when they get caught
it shouldn’t be a surprise.
Lastly,
major league baseball will get suspicion of drug use through others rather than
themselves. The hardest part I have about all this is the fact that major
league baseball claims they want to clean up the game, but don’t give either
random or mandatory drug tests. If a player takes something and major league
baseball tests him there is nothing that he can do to cover up the drug use.
They don’t test them and expect players to not do it? That seems fishy to me.
It’s like a teacher assigning a take home test and saying they can’t work with
other classmates. It’s going to happen no matter what. So when it happens, it shouldn’t
be a surprise.
Do I believe
Alex Rodriquez did the right thing by taking these substances? The answer is
no, but I think that with major league baseball’s poor effort to regulate
situations like this that the time doesn’t fit the crime. I used to like Alex
Rodriquez, and I don’t like him as much now. Not because he took steroids, but
because he lied to the public and his fans. That’s a bigger deal to me. All in
all he wasn’t right with what he did or how he went about it, but he doesn’t deserve
210 games.
This blog post really stood out to me because I have always been a big baseball fan, and I grew up watching Alex Rodriguez. When Alex Rodriguez was a Ranger, I enjoyed watching him play. But, when he put those pinstripes on, I stopped pulling for him. Furthermore, I am glad that he is finally about to face a suspension that he highly deserves. I believe that PED's have no place in the game of baseball. I also believe that any ball player, not just A-Rod, that takes PED's or Steriods, needs to face the consequences.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite obvious throughout this ordeal that Major League Baseball (MLB) had a business mentality first and discipline second. Having players who receive as much negative publicity as A-Rod, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire for PED usage is damaging to MLB's reputation as well as their bank account. For many years there were strong implications that this was happening and MLB gave it the cold shoulder until third parties were ultimately forced to be involved. A-Rod unfortunately has become the scape goat for this due to his massive popularity and his once premium talent. Whether a 210 game suspension is appropriate for this is up in the air, but it's safe to say that a punishment had to be implemented to give a clear message to the current players and the young. This is definitely a step forward.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that the MLB has poor efforts to regulate situations involving steroids, but at the same time I feel all other sports should be testing professional athletes for using steroids and other substances. If all the professional sports organizations form an agreement to test all professional athletes, then less professional athletes would use steroids and other substances. If all of the professional sports organizations agree that if a professional athlete gets caught with using steroids, then that player should be banned from the sport throughout his whole life. That would lay down the law and I am almost certain no athletes would use steroids or other substances if they knew they would be banned from the sport if they get caught.
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