Over the past decade, steroids have become a serious issue in Major League Baseball. There are obvious reasons why someone may begin steroid use. Steroid
use helps to rapidly increase muscle strength, which can in turn help Major League Baseball players perform at a higher level. Over the past couple decades, illegal anabolic steroid use has skyrocketed among professional baseball players. Steroids have had significant effects on the game of baseball as well. In the past couple of years, steroid use in baseball has been exposed to the public and it has become one of the biggest problems in professional sports today.
Although steroids may have helped to fuel Major League Baseball’s comeback with Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa’s unforgettable home run race back in 1998, steroid use and it’s exposure is now scarring the face of Major League Baseball. Former MLB slugger and admitted steroid user, Jose Canseco first exposed the problem of steroid abuse to the public in detail with his book Juiced. The book not only claimed that an overwhelming percentage of Major League Baseball players were using steroids, but
also specifically accused several MLB superstars of using steroids. At first, the book wasn’t taken seriously. People assumed it was just a pathetic attempt by Canseco to
make some money. However, as time went by, more and more of the book seemed to be proven true.
The reasons for steroid use in baseball are clear. Some professional athletes will do anything to give themselves an edge over other athletes. Steroids work by mimicking the effects of the bodies natural steroid-hormone, testosterone. Testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and also secreted in small amounts in the ovaries of females. The average male has about 20 times the testosterone in their bodies than does the average female. This elevated testosterone level in the male body is mainly responsible for the average difference in physical strength between the...