Can Baseball Escape the Steriod Era?

Back in 1998 baseball witnessed one of it's best seasons. Mark McGwire of the St.Louis Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs where tight in a home run race. They were both aiming for Roger Maris' previous record of 61 home runs in a season and it looked like at least one or maybe both of them would achieve it.

Both of them would reach this record and McGwire finished with 70 home runs while Sosa got 66 for the season.

Little did we know that just three years later Barry Bonds would break the record and hit 73. Years before this was an unheard of occurrence. Once again, Bonds would show up and shatter yet another record. This one even more unheard of—Bonds would hit 762 home runs and would be the new home run king.

First ballot Hall of Famer right? Not exactly.

"The possession, sale or use of any illegal drug or controlled substance by Major League players and personnel is strictly prohibited ... [and those players involved] are subject to discipline by the Commissioner and risk permanent expulsion from the game.... This prohibition applies to all illegal drugs and controlled substances, including steroids…" This was a memo sent out by commissioner Fay Vincent in 1991. Of course as we all know selling and use of steroids in baseball is very real now.

In 2005, a book was released that would forever change the image of Major League baseball. Former slugger Joese Canseco released Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big and admitted to his use of steroids. He also made several claims that steroids and HGH are all over the MLB.

After the book was released, Major League baseball investigated for steroids in the sport and found positive tests for several players including Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Gary Sheffield, and Jason Giambi. To this day Palmeiro, Bonds, and McGwire have all tested in front of the Grand Jury saying that they haven't used steroids or HGH. Sheffield and Giambi both admitted to it.

This now tainted the sport and several players like McGwire and Bonds who many people would have voted into the Hall Of Fame. To this day McGwire can't get in and no one will pick up Barry Bonds.

In December of 2007, the Mitchell Report was released. Senator George Mitchell released a report of 89 players who he believed used steroids. He also talked about former trainers Brian McNamee and Kirk Radomski who told him the names of several players who had used these drugs.

Big names released in this report were Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Miguel Tejada, Bonds, Giambi, Sheffield, Jack Cust, Lenny Dykstra, Eric Gagne, Chuck Knoblauch, Paul Lo Duca, Brian Roberts, Rick Ankiel, Jay Gibbons, and Troy Glaus. Many of these people admitted to use, but many also denied it.

Brian McNamee told Mitchell about Roger Clemens, Knoblauch, and Pettite as he was a former Yankees assistant and worked with them. Pettite and Knoblauch both admitted, but Clemens denied it and could face perjury charges because of his non-cooperation with the proceedings.

Just yesterday Sports Illustrated reported that Alex Rodriguez had used two anabolic steroids in 2003, one of his MVP seasons. Alex did use it before it was banned, but now if he is the one to break Bonds' record it will still be tainted by A-Rod.

So with steroids ruining the sport and tainting many records how could Major League Baseball stop this?

Well, to start off, ban the use of any performance-enhancing drug or any non-prescribed drugs. They have banned a lot, but up until the past couple of years they were not illegal. We should probably see with this new generation of players coming in less and less using steroids as they have now been banned.

Of course this won't solve it completely because many players feel they have to break the rules in order to be better.

Next, they should ban the shipping of any anabolic steroids or HGH across the US. I know this would affect people outside of Major League Baseball but when you look at the facts alot of these players receive the steroids through shipping.

Next, they should kick players out of the league if they test positive.

Yes, this is a little extreme, but it would teach the players a lesson. Bonds still has a chance to come back if a team wants him. If Major League Baseball tossed him out and banned him from coming back, Bonds would learn something from the situation.

They could put this in effect in the next couple of years because there are some people who used these steroids before they were banned.

The final step as of right now is a message to the players to just come clean. They are not helping Major League Baseball in any way by lying about their use—even when they tested positive. If more players come clean, then most likely other players will feel like they can.

I know many sports fans who do not like baseball because of all of the players using steroids. So America's pastime is losing many of its fans.

This process won't be easy and it won't be short but if MLB starts now, they may be able to save the sport from its downfall.