The Agony of Victory

From Senator John McCain to baseball commissioner Bud Selig to the players’ union, promises have been made to clean up baseball with its drug problems, particularly the use of steroids among players. Most likely, the cleaning will simply be lifting the edge of the carpet and sweeping the debris under it where it will remain hidden for the time being. We have only to look at track and field to see the lengths athletes will go in order to enhance their performances and reap the millions of dollars waiting for the ‘best’ of them.

So the public should not, as Jim Pinkerton of Newsday writes, “bet on any big changes.” Pinkerton expects “the trend toward human-body modification…to continue, even accelerate.” And he has every right to expect the use of illicit substances to enhance athletic performance to continue. Despite decades of monitoring, track and field is still rife with athletes who use “undetectable” drugs to make them run faster, throw farther, and vault higher.

The unbridled use of steroids is dangerous, to say the least. We only have to recall the premature deaths of sports figures such as Ken Caminiti, Lyle Alzado, and John Matuszak, who, after the ravages of enhancement drugs took their toll, made impassioned pleas against using the substances. We have only to recall the behavior shifts in baseballers Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds to see the negative effects of substances such as “the clear” and “the cream.”

Steroids in whatever form have invaded every sport of consequence: football, basketball, track and field, golf…

It would be naïve to believe otherwise. During the closing commentary following a Target stores sponsored golfing event – which Tiger Woods won – one announcer made the comment to the effect that it was nice not having to deal with the subject of steroids and golf, as if golf somehow was immune from the world of banned substances. It was this kind of ‘head in the sand’ attitude that allowed steroids and drugs to get such a strong foothold in the other sports fields. If we don’t see it, it doesn’t exist.

But fame and fortune are powerful inducements to athletes to excel. Where sports heroes of yesteryear achieved greatness through a natural talent and practice, the heroes of today take the chemical shortcut to celebrity. How do we – can we – compare the natural talents of a Babe Ruth or a Henry Aaron with the drug-enhanced ‘talents’ of a Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds?

The truth is we cannot compare, we can only contrast. Henry Aaron feels his lifetime record of most homeruns should stand, even if Barry Bonds surpasses his record this year. Why? Bonds relied on outstanding seasons under the influence of steroids to achieve his output. At best, Aaron insists, Bonds’ marks should carry an asterisk indicating his use of steroids. As fans, we can sympathize with Aaron who made his mark the old-fashioned way.

On today’s sports scene, with fame comes fortune. The average Major League Baseball player makes more money in one year than the average school teacher makes in a lifetime. Such disparities are hardly noticed, however, by the general public. Jason Giambi, before his fall from grace, had a $120 million eight-year contract with the New York Yankees. Now the Yankee management is trying to void the remaining years of the contract. Giambi’s salary is the rule rather than the exception for most sports franchises, be it football, track and field, basketball, baseball, or whatever.

We can assume the crime is in getting caught, not in the doing. Club owners are not in the dark about the goings-on with their star athletes. They may turn a blind eye, but surely, with such great investments in personnel they know something is afoot when players make startling turn-arounds in performance within a few seasons. Management may pay out millions of dollars to athletes, but it stands to make billions of dollars in return. Thus, one level feeds the other.

The public can expect baseball to make some attempt at regulating the use of steroids and other drugs among the players, just as track and field has unsuccessfully attempted to do for decades. As Senator McCain has threatened, the government may even step into the fray. Some players may be reprimanded; some may have their statistics footnoted; some may, like Giambi, have their careers shortened. But as Pinkerton says, “[T]here’s no stopping it.”

With new technologies coming on the scene daily, the public can be sure that new and innovative enhancement products will stay a step ahead of testing techniques. From owners who want the billions in revenues, to players who crave the money and fame, to the public who want bigger, better, and faster, the temptations to cheat are too great to resist. The agonies that come with the fame and money can be put off to another day.

Who knows? With gene therapy and new drugs, we may be on the threshold of the ‘designer’ athlete.