Hal Hargrave

5/26/15 Enterprise Story

Sports

5561 Words

Cutting corners in one’s own life is only selling themselves short with an internal

competition against themselves. Cutting corners in sports is regarded as laziness,

arrogance, selfish and at times deemed cheating.

Cheating: an act of dishonesty or somebody unfairly acting in order to gain an advantage.

When people cheat life, in almost every facet, most people never deem it to be good,

especially when you consider something that is morally or ethically unacceptable.

This is no different than in the game of baseball and all sports alike, with today’s athletes

using PED's and steroids.

“No matter what sports do to try and regulate people are going to find loopholes in

something that they can do and use certain drugs to give them an edge that is legal,”

former collegiate baseball player Skye Severns said.

Steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, and the regulation of them, has been a

controversy for more than 10 years now ever since the rise of steroids in baseball; namely

after the publishing of the Mitchell Report and the demise of Lance Armstrong, after he

was caught for PED's after winning seven Tour De France’s in a row.

“When it comes down to it baseball and all sports are a show. Fans come out to watch the

show and be entertained,” Severns said.

Severns, from the Southern California area, last played and pitched at Division II power

house St. Mary’s University in Texas, where he pitched in the Division II College World

Series in 2012.

While the Mitchell Report reshaped baseball back to more of a pure game since it was

released, still players are pushing the limits, cutting corners and trying to find loopholes

to enhance their performance in any way possible.

On December 13, 2007 George Mitchell published a report that named 89 major league

baseball players who were alleged to have used steroids or other performance-enhancing

drugs. The report had findings from random drug tests back in 2003, where 5-7 percent of

players tested positive for steroids. The following year, in 2004, these players found

loopholes in the system and started to use Human Growth Hormone, because it was not

yet detected or illegal on drug tests.

The Mitchell Report came at a time after a decade in the 1990s, where there was no rules

against using steroids or PED's, where baseball fall one of the largest influx of power

hitting that had seen since its inception.

But, if one wanted to really go back to the first PED’s ever used in sports, they’d go back

to the 19th century and Pud Galvin (a HOFer) shooting monkey glands into his arm.

Needless to say, steroids and PED use has been around for over a century and it has

become a problem.

The Mitchell Report investigation was prompted by the MLB after San Francisco

Chronicle investigative reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada published a

book in 2006 “Game of Shadows”. The book chronicled alleged performance enhancing

users of steroids and HGH by Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi.

Among the notable players who have been tested positive during random drug tests and

eventually suspended for some period of time were Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez

(Twice), Edison Volquez, Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon, Carlos Ruiz, Ryan Braun

(During his MVP winning season in which he beat out former Dodger Matt Kemp),

Nelson Cruz, Johnny Peralta, Miguel Tejada, Ervin Santana and Alex Rodriguez (Season-

long ban).

Now baseball tests unannounced twice a year for all players and random testing still

occurs for selective players. MLB also tests for more substances. They test for seven

different kinds of abusive drugs, 47 different kinds of steroids and 30 different kinds of

stimulants. One of the 47 different kinds of steroids is HGH. Along with the increase of

substances tested for came an increase in suspensions without pay. The first positive test

now results in a 50 game suspension, the second is 100 games, and the third positive now

results in a lifetime suspension from Major League Baseball.

PED use does not just go for the game of baseball, as the sport of cycling and nearly

every sport now has the spotlight shining down on it to try and catch PED users some of

the biggest childhood idols across the world and high-profile athletes in their respective

sports.

However, in sports like football where PED use should be more closely looked at, due to

the nature of the physicality of the sport and the repercussions of strong hits induced by

steroid driven athletes, it is not regulated to the degree that it should be.

Athletes use PED's for a variety of reasons, many of which even Dr. Steve Bast can note

as well.

Dr. Bast, a Southern California resident has kids who played baseball at the University of

Southern California and is a former professional baseball player in the Boston Red Sox

organization. His medical background as an orthopedic surgeon has given him more of a

medical approach toward the definition of a PED.

“From a medical standpoint, and being a doctor myself, I understand now that people are

going to do whatever they want,” Dr. Bast said. “If you look at drugs, not even PED's just

ordinary drugs in the world, guys are selling cocaine, pot and any type of drugs just to

make lots of money. Sports are no different, as it has become about money and the value

of the dollar. When you start playing for money, you lose perspective and start making

irrational decisions.”

But, how does making money and PED use correlate with one another?

“The bottom line is that baseball and even sports now has come down to money,” Dr.

Bast said. “There are things that you do and decisions that you can make in life that

people believe will benefit them monetarily and people will do them regardless of being

ethical or not. When you see guys like Alex Rodriguez signing $250 million contracts it

makes other guys want to do the same thing and eventually it becomes a business and not

a sport.”

Dr. Bast believes that people do not see many players using PED's at the minor league

level because there are no big contracts or money to be made.

Dr. Bast may have a point, because his friend and University of La Verne baseball coach

Scott Winterburn agrees with Bast’s notion that athletes do it because of big money

contracts.

“As long as there continues to be big money attached to salaries, people are going to

continue to push the envelope,” Winterburn said. “When people make the decision to use

substances to increase their performance, they are making a career decision because they

are thinking that their performance will go up to a higher level where they can make more

money and a better salary because of production.”

The line is fuzzy when considering if we should give an athlete more slack on using non-

banned substances from situation to situation.

“It's funny how if a guy lifts and works out every day and is taking over-the-counter

supplements at GNC, like amino acids and protein powders, then we praise him for that,”

Winterburn said. “So, there is a funny line there when you are talking about non-banned

substances to improve your performance.”

Winterburn has a good idea of where that fine line is between non-banned substances to

improve one's performance and using substances to recover from injury.

“A doctor prescribes steroids for just about anybody when they are trying to get them to

recover,” Winterburn said. “A doctor gives his patients steroids to recover from specific

ailments or injuries and I don’t think people should be punished for that. I don't see how

that translates to better production on the field. When people are using steroids and

PED’s for the purpose of strength gaining accompanied with a weight-training program

and using a specific dosage is when it becomes unfair. When it is specifically for athletic

performance.”

Maybe, the real question is what is a performance-enhancing drug?

According to the website “Drug Free Sports,” a performance-enhancing drug is any

substance taken by athletes to improve performance. This term is referenced often and

typically refers to anabolic steroid use in sports by professional and amateur athletes.

Other substances may also be taken to improve performance, including human growth

hormone (HGH), stimulants and diuretics.

While many scientists and people of the FDA, along with lawmakers, may have a formal

definition for what a performance-enhancing drug is, the common sports fan, coaches and

even players both current and former, in all sports, have their own definition of what a

performance-enhancing drug might be.

“Performance-enhancing drugs basically says how I feel within the name itself,” Severns

said. “The drug gives you an edge over other players in the game. There is a level of

unfairness compared to the guys who use PED's and the guys who do not. The drug

allows for the body to produce more testosterone, grow faster and recover faster than the

average guy, which gives them the unfair advantage.”

Dr. Bast looks at steroid and PED use from, yet again, more of a medical standpoint and

approach.

“You are injecting testosterone or an anabolic steroid that increases muscle mass, it

increases your strength and your ability to fast twitch,” Bast said. “When you inject that

type of testosterone it increases so much strength in the muscle belly that the tendon bone

interface gets weakened. So, those players will end up with a lot of hamstring pulls, bicep

pulls and forearm tendinitis. These are issues that they did not have in the past and those

things eventually slow them down.”

Defining what a PED is, is out of the hands of fans, owners, coaches and even players. It

is something that people need to leave up to lawmakers and the FDA to try and determine

what they are. However, there is two sides to every story and what a PED is to one person

might be different to somebody else.

“I don't believe that something like an ice bath is a performance-enhancing stimulant

because you are trying to benefit the body,” Severns said. “PED's and steroids in a lot of

senses might not be benefiting your body in all ways. Ice baths are a recovery thing. It's

tough because I guess you could say any type of rehab or training is a performance

enhancer.”

PED’s are not just consumed at just the highest level of sports, professionally, but the

trend even trickles down to the high school level. What might be even more astonishing

is the fact that PED’s have been around for decades within the sports world.

Winterburn was a catcher for Texas A&M, back in the 80’s, and never used PED’s. But,

he remembers guys who were taking greenies and amphetamines to get themselves up for

games. However, Winterburn’s knowledge of PED's came before he was even in college.

“As early as high school, I felt like there were guys who were using steroids in the gym

and getting big,” Winterburn said. “I felt like it was unfair that somebody could take my

spot and get away with what they were doing.”

While that was some 30 years ago, in high school for Winterburn, those problems still

persist today at the collegiate level.

“As a guy who did not take any drugs or PED's it only motivated me more to try and be

better to prove that I could do it without PED's,” Severns said. “I was not going to treat

anybody different around me that was taking them because once you get to college level,

or above, we are all men who can make our own decisions. Everybody has their own

beliefs and I was not going to sit there and try and tell somebody what they can and can't

do. I would just sit there and try and play the game as clean as possible.”

Severns played two years at Cerritos College, as a pitcher, and then transferred to

Division II St. Mary's University, in Texas, where he nearly won a national title.

“Our coach preached to the fact that hard work pays off and doing the little things will

make you better than the other team,” Severns said. “I really bought into that and I think

it showed as a team by working hard and not cheating.

Severns was never approached personally about taking PED’s, but the thought did cross

his mind as to what if he did take them?

“Could it have helped me?” Severns said. “Would it have affected me? Would I have

played longer because it and not gotten hurt? Those questions certainly crossed my mind,

but never were too serious because I did not act upon it.”

Winterburn believes that two things have curbed and slowed down steroid and PED use

in college.

“One of them is the education that is being provided to people on how steroids and PED's

will have long-term effects on their body,” Winterburn said. “I think when guys see the

long-term health effects that these drugs have on their body, has detoured guys away

from using them. The second thing is that the NCAA is testing for it.”

But, is the NCAA doing a good enough job of testing players for it? Are they truly

serious about cracking down on steroids and PED use across the board? Consider this,

only the eight teams that make it to the Division III World Series get tested for steroids

and PED’s every year out of 360 teams. So, how is that cracking down?

However, Severns thought that at the Division II level, the NCAA regulated drug use

pretty well via drug testing. But, at the junior college level, it was less regulated and was

well known that guys were doing it more consistently.

“It is a matter of budget that junior college did not test for PED’s and steroids,” Severns

said. “But, even in the NCAA only 10 percent of the team would get tested every so

often. Which might mean three guys on a 30-man roster.”

From what it seems like, this issue is more dollars-driven than anything else and possibly

the time it takes to test each athlete. But, isn't time also money?

“If the NCAA was truly adamant on cleaning up the sport then they would test for it and

they would test every athlete, regardless of money, not just a couple and they would test

for it during the season,” Winterburn said. “They have a dollar amount on each test and

the time it takes to get results on it and apparently they have not found a solution that is a

reasonable amount of money to test everybody.”

With a lack of testing at the University of La Verne and the Division III level,

Winterburn has held his program and players accountable over the past 15 years. It has

been speculated that maybe two to three guys over the past 15 years at La Verne had

possibly been using steroids or PED’s. So, Winterburn did what he could and should do

by addressing the situation.

“I confronted them as I should and they told me 100 percent they weren't using,”

Winterburn said. “I felt at that point, I had done my job.”

At what point are these athletes going to be accountable for their own actions and

understand that every decision they make affects somebody else around them, including

possible negative implications to their team that they play for?

Winterburn has said that PED use has slowed down at the collegiate level due to players

receiving knowledge on the potential health risk. But, it certainly has not slowed down

players from using in major league baseball. Still some professionals chose not to use.

Dr. Bast last played professionally in 1990 with the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox and he was

on the big league club’s 40-man roster as well.

Dr. Bast had elbow problems shortly after he was drafted in 1986 and then had Tommy

John surgery in 1987, keeping him out of all of the 1988 season. He played during 1989-

90 season and then he got accepted to medical school and opted to go the medical field

route instead. Even during the midst of his arm problems, he never opted to take PED’s to

recover from such a career-threatening injury back then.

“I never once did PED's or steroids and I was pretty naïve to it,” Dr. Bast. “I wasn't really

around guys who did it. It was pretty few and far between for guys to get caught back

then. I mean you really just heard about it, but never really saw it and I played with guys

like Mo Vaughn and Curt Schilling.”

Dr. Bast believes the problem is bigger now than players using PED’s and tainting

baseball’s record books.

“Now guys are getting hurt because of them and they will eventually cause long-term

health issues,” Bast said.

The health of these athletes remains to be a huge topic of debate. But, it bars questioning

on whether or not lawmakers, fans, owners and teammates should hold these players

accountable, or should the players do that themselves by wondering whether or not they

are being ethical with their actions?

But, is it unfair to these players that every time an incredible season is put together by an

individual that we automatically assume that they are using PED’s, due to an extreme

influx of power from season to season?

“I think it is very unfortunate today that anytime a guy has a great year that people

automatically think that he is using or is on something and it is not because of hard

work,” Winterburn said. “I would like to think and hope that these guys are doing it clean

and are on the up and up and are not using and are simply just working hard.”

Maybe using numbers and statistics is kind of an ominous thing, because it does not take

into account certain factors that could change the game for these individuals beyond just

using PED’s to better their performances from year to year.

“Say for instance, José Batista has a beautiful swing and plays in a hitter's park and one

year he hits a bunch of homers and the next year he doesn't,” Winterburn said. “There is a

bunch of reasons that this could be why. Injury being one of them, like him hurting his

wrist. But, we automatically think from one season to the next that he was on PED’s the

season before and not using the next season when he had a down year.”

Take Nelson Cruz for instance. Cruz now an outfielder for the Seattle Mariners, was

popped for steroids back in 2013 and was suspended for 50 games. This caused the Texas

Rangers to not re-sign him, so he signed a one-year deal with Baltimore and had an

unbelievable season with 40 home runs and 108 RBIs. People might look at those stats

and say that he was still using PED’s, but he was among one of the players who was

tested more than anybody throughout the season and never got caught.

Now in the 2015 season, Cruz has gotten off to an extremely hot start and among the

league leaders in home runs already was 17 and it is not even June 1 yet. So maybe, for a

guy like Cruz, PED’s did not make that big of a difference anyways with his natural

ability and strength.

But, then there is the opposite end of the spectrum that gets people thinking. When

players actually are using PED’s, complimented by an increase in power numbers and it

is evident that there have been abusing the game.

Dr. Bast played AA baseball with a guy named Brady Anderson, back in the late 1980’s

where PED use had no illegal ramifications, who got traded to the Orioles after playing

for the Red Sox.

“Brady and I were roommates and he was always a health freak and I never saw him do

anything bad or out of the ordinary pertaining to PED's,” Dr. Bast said. “But, when he got

traded to Baltimore he got noticeably bigger, stronger and faster in just a year and even

had a 50-home run season while with them. So, it made me question what he was doing.”

Anderson is just one example of a player who may have been on steroids and saw an

increase in production. For other guys like Mark McGwire, who pleaded the Fifth

Amendment during his hearings in court after the Mitchell Report was released, people

began to wonder what his power numbers would've been like whether he was off the

juice, if he was ever in fact on the juice.

“I do not think a guy like Mark McGwire would have the power numbers that he did

without the use of PED's,” Severns said. “But, when it comes down to it, he still has the

skill to hit the ball, see it and drive it. Those are things that PED's cannot teach and only

about one percent of the people in the world can do at that level.”

But, are PED’s only correlated to production numbers in power categories? Rather, when

pitchers use PED's is that considered just as extreme due to enhancing pitching

performance and velocity?

“I don't think it makes a difference from pitchers to hitters they are both equally

offensive,” Severns said. “But, in the end, those guys are still putting in a lot of time and

effort into harnessing their skill. If a player were to use PED’s for his entire career it may

make a drastic difference versus using PED’s for only five years out of his career.

However, if he did do it later in his career and it allowed him to recover faster, then he

might be able to get more longevity out of himself.”

Severns, a former pitcher, has respect for how pitchers want to keep a career going as

long as possible. Regardless for how morally and ethically unacceptable it is, he sees the

reasoning behind it.

“I think the steroid era could be a big reason that we saw the influx of power in the late

1990s and early 2000,” Severns said. “But, you could also make the same argument for

some of the years that pitchers had during those times as well. Pedro Martinez had one of

the greatest seasons ever.”

Baseball is becoming more of a true game now than ever before and is not a slugfest

anymore. It has become a manager's game.

“Pitchers inside bullpens are being used much more now,” Severns said. “You look back

then on how pitchers used to go more than 200-plus innings every year and not miss a

start every fifth day. You don't see that all too often anymore.”

Something that maybe is seen and even understood by some people and fans, but is not

generally talked about, is the mental edge that PED’s give these athletes.

Beyond just the physical enhancements to these athletes, mentally these athletes are taken

to another level of confidence with their skill set.

If somebody like Barry Bonds is on steroids and he gets thrown an inside pitch, prior to

using steroids he might not try and turn on the inside pitch and waste a bad swing.

However, after Bonds is on steroids, he might think about trying to turn on the inside

pitch because he knows that he is stronger and quicker to get to the ball so he mentally

does not even think twice about doing so.

The confidence that these athletes gain does not just produce tangible results and

accolades, but it also speeds up decision-making with a reassurance that their strengths to

make certain plays, hit certain balls and tackle somebody out in the open field is the best

that it could possibly be while using PED’s.

Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis was suspended on Sept. 12, 2014 for 25

games after he had been caught using Adderall to try and help himself focus within

games, due to his diagnosis of his ADHD disorder. This type of drug use someone could

deem to be as a player trying to gain a mental edge.

The league twice over the course of the 2013 and 2014 seasons caught Davis. The drug

did not help him as you may have expected, as he saw his power numbers drop

drastically from 2013 to 2014.

“I took it a couple of times. It was a moment of weakness,” Davis said to NBC Sports. “I

wish I could go back and undo it. It was never a baseball issue. It was an everyday life

thing.”

Prior to the 2013 season, Davis had an exemption by the league to use the drug because

of his clinical diagnosis of his disorder. In 2013, he was not granted an exemption but he

still continued to use the drug and saw his home run total drop from 53 in 2013 to 26 in

2014. So, was the drug a placebo to Davis or was it effective to treat his disorder?

With so many aspects that could be debated about steroids and PED use, the ultimate

question lies in the hands of voters. Are these alleged and convicted users worthy of the

Hall of Fame?

“I would consider a lot of these guys on the Hall of Fame ballot that aren't getting in still

Hall of Famers,” Severns said. “To me sports are a skill, regardless of performance-

enhancing drugs, that you have to execute by being that great at something. I don't think

that if anybody, off the streets, took what Barry Bonds took that they are going to have

the same results. They still need to have the skill that he does.”

The past 15 years in baseball has become an era where most every player has used some

performance-enhancing stimulant. Much of the time, fans only talk about the players who

have gotten caught and debate on the guys who are good enough to get into the Hall of

Fame. So, what about someone like McGwire who might be on the cusp of a Hall of

Fame status statistically?

“It's hard to say if he is a Hall of Famer, but that's not to say that he would not of had All-

Star type seasons though,” Severns said.

But, why is the debate always about steroid and performance-enhancing use just in

baseball? Can the bigger issue be performance enhancing drug use in football where life-

threatening implications are more drastic? Is PED use by football players worse than

PED use by athletes in other sports?

“I think PED's in football are the worst,” Severns said. “It's a full-contact sport and guys

are going at each other. That puts more people at risk for injury than anything else and

especially if you throw brain injury or concussion into the mix, then that sport needs to

stay as clean as possible.”

A correlation of football players and PED use is evident to the naked eye, when seeing

inhumanly large men hit each other on a football field. PED use does not just affect the

players on the field, but in many ways it affects their personal lives at home.

“PED's create violent people at times,” Dr. Bast said. “These athletes go from very calm

individuals, to very angry athlete type individuals. You look at guys like Ray Rice who

beat his wife, or Adrian Peterson who hit his son and it makes you question whether or

not those guys are using PED’s.”

One might think back to the early 2000s, when the Yankees Roger Clemens was pitching

against the Mets in the World Series. Clemens sawed off Mike Piazza's bat on an inside

pitch, which then caused the bat to trickle out to the mound by Clemens. Clemens

retaliated by picking up the bat and throwing it back at Piazza as he was running down

the line. One might begin to wonder if PED’s were what made Clemens more aggressive.

“I played with Roger and as he progressed through his career, he definitely got bigger,

stronger and his mood/attitude definitely changed,” Dr. Bast said.

Putting aside the legal, ethical and medical negativities of steroid and PED use, at the

bare-bones of it all, it is cheating. Cheating is not tolerated amongst any sports and even

shunned upon when living life.

Defining what cheating is within sports is tough, but many athletes would argue that back

in the 1990s there were no rules against PED use. However, there is no excuse for betting

or gambling on games when there are signs outside of every major-league clubhouse that

warn athletes against gambling. Gambling on the game has been a no-no since the 19th

century.

Major League Baseball banned Pete Rose, the all time major league baseball leader in

hits, from participating in any baseball-affiliated activity for many years until recently.

Rose played back in the 1970s and was convicted of cheating, by betting on his team to

win ball games. Does something like this truly constitute cheating and somebody who is

no longer Hall of Fame worthy? Is it better or worse to bet on the game as a player then

using performance enhancers?

“When you look at PED use verse what Pete Rose did, they are both making a mockery

of the game,” Severns said. “However, I don't think what Pete Rose did is worthy of

keeping him out of the Hall of Fame. If he would've bet against his team and shaved

points I think that would've changed everything, but he was betting for his team.”

People should bet for their team and be confident in them, but the question against Pete is

did he? If one does bet on their team then it brings in the question of, what happens when

they do not bet on their team? It could indicate that a player or a team has something to

hide or they know something that somebody else doesn't know.

Winterburn is a firm believer as both the player and a coach that cheating is cheating,

especially when betting on the game.

Winterburn played professional baseball for one year, for the Boise Hawks in the

Northwest League in 1988, and was exposed to this very issue.

“For all the guys that have played pro baseball, the reason that Pete Rose did such wrong

is because the message is really hammered home that betting on the game is just flat out

wrong,” Winterburn said. “People really get you to understand the conflict of interest that

it brings to the game and the shadow that it brings when you do something like that. It

becomes an integrity issue with the way you play and how hard you play when you bet

on the game and the potential for you not to try your best. When the game is about trying

as hard as you can.”

The bottom line is that fans, people and most ethical athletes believe cheating is cheating;

whether it is gambling on the game, drug use, or shaving points. The problem is that this

issue does not just occur in sports, but it merely stems from societal issues.

“The problem with our society is that people are not willing to step up and tell the truth

and say ‘Hey I messed up’,” Dr. Bast said. “When our society starts to become closer to

that than I think you will start to see steroids and PED start to go away.”

Telling the truth is something that the best cyclists in the history of cycling, Armstrong,

had trouble doing even when people were looking them in the eye and asking him

whether or not he used PED’s.

While Armstrong was a freak of an athlete as it was, and was able to retain oxygen higher

than the average human being, there is no question that this super athlete reaped extreme

benefits due to performance enhancers.

Granted, Armstrong was the American hero after he came back from brain, long and

testicular cancer only to win the Tour de France seven times. However, shall we put

asterisks’ next to all of his accolades after he came out and openly admitted on Oprah

Winfrey show that he used performance-enhancing drugs?

Should we put * next to every athlete that has used PED’s during record-breaking years?

Bonds? McGwire? Sammy Sosa?

Some might say, what kind of message are we sending to our youth as these athletes are

deemed and supposed to be idols to these kids? Are we saying that cheating is okay? That

we are supposed to be unsportsmanlike? That we should disrespect the games we play

and find loopholes? We are not setting a good precedent to the next generation.

So, maybe this is not even about performance-enhancing drug use and steroid use. Maybe

the greater question is what is cheating and lying?

Those definitions lie in the hands of the beholder and the person that is holding

THEMSELVES accountable. Like anything in life, everything is perceived differently

and defined differently. However, most things people can agree on ethically, morally and

physically, unless they are a money hungry athlete looking for their next big contract.

Moral of the story: Don't sell yourself short. Don't use performance enhancers. And most

importantly don't cheat, because then you are lying, lying to yourself.