Dr. Velasquez
ESS 101- Final Paper
11 December 2008
Steroids in Baseball
“To help children make right choices, they need good examples. Athletics play such an important role in our society, but, unfortunately, some in professional sports are not setting much of an example. The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football, and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message -- that there are shortcuts to accomplishment, and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches, and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid of steroids now,” (Bush). President Bush said it best when he made his State of the Union Address in January of 2004, telling all of America that steroids are a problem and that they need to be removed from sports immediately. Anabolic steroids not only change the level of competition in professional sports, but they harm those involved and set a bad example for others to follow. While an issue in most professional sports, baseball takes the forefront of both accusations and investigations by government officials and administration alike. The purpose of this research is to better explore the causes and effects of using anabolic steroids, along with the effects it has on the game of baseball and what is being and/or can be done to prevent them from further tainting “America’s game.”
Anabolic-androgenic steroids, also known as AAS, are artificially manufactured substances pertaining the male hormones, mainly testosterone. Anabolic refers to the muscle and cell building characteristics associated with steroids, and comes from the Greek word anabole, meaning, “to build up.” Androgenic refers to the development of male-like properties, and also has Greek origin where andos means “male” and geneis means, “to produce.” Examples of the anabolic effects on steroids include are increased protein synthesis in amino...