RUNNING HEAD: PEDS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

PEDs in Major League Baseball

Bibliographic Essay
Spencer Redmond
Jan Lee

RUNNING HEAD: PEDS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Abstract
There are so many people out there that would kill to be in the shoes of a professional athlete for
one minute, one at bat, the last play and to give it there all and know that when there time was
called they made sure to not disappoint themselves or the people around them. Baseball is a sport
that is full of competitive drive, hustle, and an attitude that one has that they will always carry
their teammates to make sure the team is as successful as they can be. There are thirty-two teams
in the MLB with twenty-five men on each roster and they play for the biggest prize at the end of
the year which is the World Series and from what I had experienced they play for the fans, its
more of a thank you and a gift to give back to their city for always filling their seats in their own
stadiums cheering them on for a win but now its starting to feel like the players are taking the
talents that god has given them and are trying to transform themselves from a great player to the
greatest player. The game has definitely changed from when it first started and athletes now-adays, that we look up to and want to be like, are taking performance enhancing drugs to bring a
more competitive edge to their game but why? This paper is going to focus on performanceenhancing drugs, I will explain how the effects can be good or bad and what the consequences
could be to an athlete who chooses to use these substances.
Introduction
In todays world the saying is to be the best you have to beat the best. To be the best it
takes time, sweat, blood, tears, days of wanting to surrender, but pushing through all of these
adversities and being able to turn back and look at what you went through to get on top that is
what being the best is, but now a days it is a tiny pill or a syringe that athletes are turning too.
There are many athletes out there that are broken down cant give anymore so they turn to what
they think is the best alternative, which is performance-enhancing drugs. These athletes realize

RUNNING HEAD: PEDS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

that their professional days are numbered and that if they dont do something to keep them
strong, fast, young, and energized then they will have nothing left to give to keep up with the
younger generation that are coming in to replace them at their job. These athletes are not
realizing that keeping this competitive edge that they are trying to keep with PEDs are going to
lead to consequences in the work world, and lastly lead to consequences that could affect your
body.
The Inside Look
With players trying to better themselves and transform themselves into this athletic specimen that
people want to look up to and remember them forever some players today are doing it in a way
that will make us as fans turn away from them and remember them as cheaters not heroes. Kirk
Radomski wrote a book called Bases Loaded: The Inside Story of the Steroid Era in Baseball by
the Central Figure in the Mithcell Report. In this book is about how he grew up working for the
New York Mets and the more he became acclimated and closer to the team he started noticing
that these players are doing things that will make the public question as to why are they using
things to make them better and why do they just not rely on hard work and help from others. In
his book Radomski talks about a conversation that he had with a Mets player and this is what he
writes I asked player Glenallen Hill, if he had used performance enhancing drugs and he replied
with yes but they did not work properly. (211)
In this book Radomski was not throwing any players under the bus he was just simply
explaining how growing up through this sort of atmosphere opened his eyes to why baseball
players want to be the best they can be. I cannot say that I know what goes on around a
clubhouse or even remotely close to how teams are run, but shouldnt we realize that the use of
performance- enhancing drugs are affecting the players and then when it comes time to where

RUNNING HEAD: PEDS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

that player comes out it is slowly going to start affecting our youth who play and dream to be the
big guy in the sport.
This is a great source for my paper for the simple fact that it is straight from someone
who has witnessed it and been around baseball for many years. This book is helpful and an
enjoyable read for anyone who loves baseball and for someone who is doing research on a topic
like this one. I do not know any other credentials of the author other than him writing this book. I
would love to pick this book up one day an find out about the man on the inside who has seen it
all.
Radomski, K. (2009). Bases Loaded: The Inside Story of the Steroid Era in Baseball by the
Central Figure in the Mitchell Report. Hudson Street Press.
Cheating
There are many ways one could cheat in a sport but the use of performance- enhancing
drugs is cheating in a way that is gives the athlete the upper edge in their sport. Cheating is
defined as a quest to provide an unfair advantage over the opponent; cheating may be
unsportspersonlike aggressive behavior or inappropriate moral action, but always with the
intent to gain an advantage. (Lemyre, P.) This article gives great information on what cheating
is and how performance -enhancing drugs really affect a player on and off the field. They have
charts to show the tests on athletes bodies for ones who are on performance-enhancing drugs
and for ones who are not. It helps the reader put into perspective of what he is learning about.
Research has been done and it has found that players who reported higher temptation to
play unfairly and greater approval of behavior designed to obtain an unfair advantage were more
likely to be ego oriented. (Lemyre, P.). This article was great because it gave me the reader the
ins and outs on cheating and how it affects a players body and mind. This source also fits really

RUNNING HEAD: PEDS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

well with my topic because of how it explains to us what performance-enhancing drugs are and
how they affect an athlete. I would say that this article would be for someone with a little more
schools years than me, but it was a great read and I really learned a lot from the writer. There is
no bias in my article it was just information on what PEDs are. Even though the article is from
2004 it gives us great information and is backed up very well. I could not find any other
qualifications for my author except for the fact the he writes and is part of the applied
psychology at Oxford University. I would rate this article a three just because it does not tell
what he does or me who the writer is.

Lemyre, P. (2004). Cheating in sport. In C. Spielberger (Ed.), Encyclopedia of

applied psychology. Oxford, United Kingdom: Elsevier Science & Technology.
Retrieved from
http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/estappliedpsyc/cheating_in_sport/0
Performance- Enhancing Drugs
What are performance- enhancing drugs and why are players today taking them or
abusing the use as I would like to think. PEDs or hormone boosters are a type of testosterone
booster that athletes take either by pill, injections and creams. Athletes use these types of
boosters to help them train even harder for one week (a cycle), then the next week when they are
off the cycle it enhances their training that they have done before. Athletes who take hormones
or steroids experience a strengthening of the muscles, bones and tendons throughout their bodies,
allowing them to train harder, longer and with fewer injuries, according to Dr. Robert Traux
(Woerner, A.) This article is all about who has been banned from baseball and how it affects
these players physically. The article also tells us how it affects the body in such a terrible way.

RUNNING HEAD: PEDS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

PEDs can damage the liver and the heart. The body cannot take all the testosterone at one time
from what the PEDs create so that it overloads on the heart and can form really bad blood clots.
This article is very useful because it gives us a list of players who have been
banned and for how long. This article has no bias in it but it does back up their information very
well with all their statistics and findings. The source is up to date within the last year and is a
good source because it gives us information on while using PEDs here is what can happen if you
dont regulate what you are doing or how much you are taking. I do not know the qualifications
for the writer but I do know that she writes for Fox News. I will give this article a four out of five
because I would like to know more about the writer, but she does a very good job on giving the
information that she has and backing it up.
. Woerner, A. (2016 August 6). MLB players Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs

Comes With Serious Health Risks. Retrieved from

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/08/06/mlb-players-use-performance-enhancingdrugs-comes-with-serious-health-risks.html

This is another great book that tells me about performance- enhancing drugs, what
anabolic steroids are and what they really are. The introduction in the book talks about
anabolic steroids, then it goes by chapters giving the history of steroids, the medical
aspects of the steroids, the sporting perspective, and the regimes, counterfeits, and
profiles of the steroid.
This book was really helpful to use in my research topic because of the
information it offered me. Though it was published in 2004 it did not seem like it was too

RUNNING HEAD: PEDS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

out of date. The information was very helpful and the author had written a great book
from the reviews I have read. I would say the audience would again be someone doing a
research topic or just loves to read about this kind of stuff. I do not know anymore
credentials to this writer other than that this was his book, but I am sure he is somewhere
in the medical field given all the information from a medical standpoint.
Lenehan, P. (2003). Anabolic Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Drugs.
Taylor and Francis Inc.
The Face of PEDs
I have grown up watching baseball almost my whole life, granted those infant years where I had
no idea where I was or what I was doing, but I have grasped the game pretty well and have
watched many players come and go. This article gives a reader information on who today is the
face of PEDs. Alex Rodriguez the third baseman for the New York Yankees is the face of
PEDs this is because he has been using these hormones for so long that when it finally came
out no one looked at what he has done as talent but looked at him as a phony, and a cheater. The
MLB banned Alex for the remainder of that season and the rest of the next season (162 games)
without pay. Alex Rodriguez is not the only one who has been caught with using anabolic
steroids but in the time being it was like he was the only one who was doing it with all the eyes
that were on him.

This article works perfect and it suitable for my paper because it gives me a
list of players who have done PEDs and what happened to them. This relates to my topic
because no a days players in the MLB are getting caught more and more for the use of
PEDs. The attended audience for this article would be the general public or baseball
lovers who want to keep up on the latest news. There is no bias to this article; it is just all

RUNNING HEAD: PEDS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

facts about players and what had happened. All his information is backed up by evidence
from the Braves organization. The source is up to date. I do not know the qualifications
of my writer only that he writes for SB nation. I would give this article a 3 for the fact
that I want to know more about my writer, where he is getting his information and where
he stands with the use of PEDs.
Brisbee, G. (2015 April 3). The face of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League

Baseball. Retrieved from http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2015/4/3/8339207/mlb-pedssteroids-arodys-vizcaino

The Consequence
When getting caught using a banned substance in the Major Leagues a consequence is
given and it isnt just a fine and a slap on the wrist. The consequence for getting caught is fines,
game suspensions, suspensions without pay, season suspensions, and worse of all a lifetime ban
of the MLB. This article is about Alex Rodriguez and everything he went through as a

player who used performance-enhancing drugs. It goes on to explain to us about what

will happen when Alex receives his full season ban which include: missing out on checks,
missing out on at-bats, and being at least 100 homeruns behind Barry Bonds record.
This article is perfect for my topic because it gives me accurate information on a
player whom I know and watch, and what he went through after being caught with
PEDs. This source relates to my topic because Alex was a big part in the use of PEDs
and him being banned for a year of baseball made for a big story for everyone to learn
about how bad PEDs are. There are no biased opinions in my article. The author really
supports his detail one because everyone knows about Alex Rodriguez and what he has

RUNNING HEAD: PEDS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

done. This source is up to date. Its a good source because it actually talks about someone
who I know about, and what he went through after being caught with PEDs. The author
writes for Time magazine that is all I know about his qualifications. I give this article a 5
because it tells me who got in trouble using PEDs and gives us a background story on
what happened.
Dickey, J. (2014). The Persecution of Alex Rodriguez. Time, 183(3), 23.
Moral or Not
I can find many reasons as to why steroids are a form of cheating and I firmly believe that it is
but I found that some people believe that it is not cheating and that it could be helpful. Stephie
Haynes wrote and article called Mark Bocek You cant call PED abuse cheating when everyone
is doing it and in this article it talks about how MMA fighters and pro wrestlers are using
PEDs to step-up their game and become stronger and faster at what they do. I agree with why
she says why is it illegal when everyone is doing it and I realized that people are doing it to
abuse the drug not to take it in a positive way. This source is perfect for my paper because it has
a biased opinion on the use of PEDs and how it should be legal.
This article is perfect because I am all for banning PEDs in sports and making sure the
rules are clear that it is illegal, but a source that gives a opinion on why it should be legal is
perfect. The intended audience for this article would be for people like me. People who

are looking for answers and what PEDs are all about and how the uses of them are either
good or bad. I dont know if Stephanie has any more credentials other than writing for SB
nation. I would say this article has a bias and it is that PEDs are useful.

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Hayes, S. (2014 August 10). Mark Bocek You Cant Call PED Abuse Cheating When
Everyone Is Doing It. Retrieved from
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/8/10/5989667/ufc-mark-bocek-you-cant-call-pedabuse-cheating-when-everyone-is-doing-it.
In another article I have read it states that we should test for health, not drugs. If a drug
does not expose an athlete to excessive risk, we should allow it even if it enhances performance.
Performance enhancement is not against the spirit of sport; it is the spirit of the sport.
(Savulescu, J. Foddy, B. Clayton, M.) This article is all about why the use of PEDs are bad and
never good in a sport. It gives me topics on how it can affect children and that they should test
for health not drugs.
This article is very helpful because it tells me something about PEDs
that I havent already read. All I read about is how you shouldnt take it, or
how it should be banned from sports but this journal article gives me insight
on why it should not be banned. Three journal authors wrote it and they are
all writers for the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Everything that is said in
this article is backed up or have come from other scholarly articles given in
the citations below the articles. I dont know when it was published or if it is
up to date but it is very helpful article that I would give a five on.
Savulescu, J. Foddy, B. Clayton, M. (N.d.) Why Should We Allow
Performance Enhancing Drugs In A Sport. British Journal of Sports
Medicine, 38 (6). DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.2003.005249. Retrieved from
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/38/6/666.full

NCAA

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Not only do we need to focus on our professional athletes and their use of
performance enhancing drugs but if the professionals are doing it then I garuntee so
college athletes think they can get away with it as well. The objective is to find out
how many substance users and the patterns of the athletes who use them in
the NCAA. They tested for many different kinds of drugs other than just
steroids. They did testing in all three divisions in the NCAA and found that
alcohol was the highest abuse at eighty-five percent. Division three had the
highest abuse rate for most drugs, and they found that Caucasian student
athletes has the highest abuse rate of smokeless tobacco, alcohol,
ephedrine, and marijuana. This is strictly research found in a twelve-month
study, done by the NCAA.
I think this article is very useful for the facts that if we focus on
professional athletes and lose sight on the younger generation who want to
become professional they will also fall into the drug habit. I dont just mean
steroids but in college any drug can ruin a career but steroids can be the
biggest cause. I dont know if this article is up to date but I know that the
writer writes for the NCAA. There is no bias in this article it is just helpful to
know that they are cracking down in the NCAA as well.
Green, G. (2001). NCAA Study of Substance Use and Abuse Habits of
College Student-Athletes. 11(1), 51-56. Retrieved from
http://journals.lww.com/cjsportsmed/Abstract/2001/01000/NCAA_Study_of_Su
bstance_Use_and_Abuse_Habits_of.9.aspx

A Story

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Sports Illustrated came out with a story of three pitchers that made their MLB debut and
the work they did to get there, but with the use of performance-enhancing drugs. This
article written by Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci, to tell a story of four
pitchers in the Minnesota Twins Organization who were drafted late in MLB
draft. These pitchers came to realize that they were not big enough or had
the velocity to make it in the MLB so they turned to performance-enhancing
drugs. One pitcher too these drugs, which in turn made him, gain fifty
pounds and gain ten miles an hour on his fastball, which would put him at
100mph. This raised some questions and later he was tested and tested
positive for PEDs which in turn drove his career into the ground.
The intended audience would be for ones who love sports. Sports
Illustrated reaches out all the way from kids to adults and it lets the reader
keep up with information on professional athletes. I know that Tom Verducci
is a writer for sports illustrated and is also incorporated with ESPN. This is a
great article because it gives us a reason to why the athletes take the drugs,
and in return if they get caught the repercussions it has on their future.
JUICING

Juicing is the term used my players who are using anabolic steroids to enhance
their performance. This article that I got off of ebscohost is called totally juiced and it is
about how players using performance- enhancing drugs have no regrets and how it is
aimed at the public.
This article is very helpful because it gives us information from inside the players
heads and how they could care less what they do until it hits the public. If these athletes

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are serious about being the best and want to be everyones hero why are they ruining
themselves by doing these drugs? This article has no bias just good information from the
writer(s). I would give this article a five because I love reading about what and how it
happened not just what steroids are.
Verducci, T. (2002). Totally Juiced. Sports Ilustrated, 96(23), 34. Retrieved from
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.ottawa.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=48fa6df70b6d-4aec-8fc5-bf8d2688770f
%40sessionmgr114&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1za
XRl#AN=6734685&db=aph
Prospects
MLB has many players and the biggest part of the MLB are their prospects the
future of the game This article is about the prospects in the Dominican Republic, where
most of the MLB prospects are, and how they use anabolic steroids like its no ones
business.
This article is great because it tells me about players outside of the US and why
they use the drugs. Baseball is all they have in the DR and its their ticket to getting to the
MLB and the US. These players will do all they can to make it to the pros and steroids
are not stopping them from going to their goal. This article is great and there is no bias to
it, and it has great information about players over seas. This article is for someone who is
doing research on this subject. I give this article a five because the author gave great
insight on how these players did all they could to make it to the MLB. There was no other
credentials to this author.

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Fieser, E. (2011). How MLB aims to stop steroid abuse, starting with Dominican
Prospects. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.ottawa.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=48fa6df70b6d-4aec-8fc5-bf8d2688770f
%40sessionmgr114&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1za
XRl#AN=59975816&db=aph
Conclusion
Athletes are always going to be under the pressure to use performance-enhancement
drugs. Each athlete is taught to gain a competitive, over the competition, and some will
misinterpret it. When athletes are contemplating on whether to use these performance enhancing
drugs, they need to research the facts, and determine if the risk short term and long term,
outweigh the fast production that make these drugs appealing. Kids look up to professional
athletes and we need to realize everything they do the youth wants to do. Its not worth getting in
trouble because of the wrong decision to take PEDs, but realize that God gave us this talent and
they should use it to the best of their abilities.

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