Steroid Users Won’t Surprise Me Anymore

There is no more being surprised.

Mark McGwire. Sammy Sosa. Barry Bonds. Roger Clemens. Alex Rodriguez. And now, Manny Ramirez. Even if Babe Ruth himself comes back from the grave and admits to using performance-enhancing drugs, there is no one out there whose steroid use would surprise me.

A little journalistic prudence before I continue; not all of the players I mentioned above tested positive for steroids or any other performance-enhancing drug. That being said, they all have been linked to doing just that, and in the court of public opinion—and most importantly, my opinion—they all have cheated in some form or another (including Babe Ruth).

So what if it came out tomorrow that Albert Pujols or David Ortiz was using steroids? Two names that once upon a time were thought to have been exempt from this conversation. But with A-Rod’s recent outing, how can we neglect to suspect any and every slugger out there? And the fact that Pujols took it upon himself to say that we can trust in him, shouldn’t that make us even more suspicious. Afterall, we all heard Katie Couric ask A-Rod if he used steroids, and he adamantly said, “No.” She even asked A-Rod if he ever thought of or was tempted to use performance-enhancing drugs, and he said, “I’ve never felt overmatched on the baseball field. I’ve always been in a very strong, dominant position. And I felt that if I did my work as I’ve done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn’t have a problem competing at any level. So, no.”

The audacity of this guy!

Of course, anyone who would feel the need to tell the world that he has never been overmatched and that he has always been in a “dominant position,” is the very same type of person that would use steroids. No humble, self-effacing person with any sort of humility would ever utter the words A-Rod spewed out of his mouth. But someone with the goal of being the greatest ever and being loved by all, is the same type of person who has the audacity to sound overly brash and is probably so overly competitive, that he would use steroids.

That’s why, when Pujols comes out in a magazine and (for no apparent reason) says that we can trust in him, I have no choice but to take his brash statement as evidence that I probably can’t trust him.

With Manny Ramirez joining the Mt. Rushmore of the steroid era, that puts even more people into the category of possible users. Afterall, when we think of performance-enhancing drug users, we often think of the gladiator type bodies associated with McGwire, Bonds, Sosa and Alex Rodriguez. We don’t usually think of plain-bodied, bordering on pudgy, Manny Ramirez, who doesn’t exactly come across as the most chiseled left-fielder in the majors. But if even a stout Manny Ramirez was using performance-enhancing drugs, then why not suspect C.C. Sabathia or Ryan Howard?

I don’t mean to suggest that either one of them is cheating, but my point is that with so many people having been caught, and with Manny Ramirez proving you can use this stuff, be great, and still have a rather plain body-type, how we can not suspect everybody of being cheaters?

While I know that is unfair to the players who are great and didn’t and/or don’t cheat, but that’s just the way it is. This is the sport they chose to be a part of, and with all of the perks of being a professional baseball player, this is just one of the downsides they have to encounter. Because even though I’m sure not every single baseball player used performance-enhancing drugs, I refuse to be surprised ever again. Many people feel the same way I do, and until baseball figures out a way to assure its fans that these cheaters have been ousted, the sexiness and lure of its players will continue to dissipate—along with the sport of baseball itself.

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