On a Level Playing Field?

This past Monday, Mark McGwire, the baseball player who captured the world's attention when he broke the record for number of home runs hit in a single year back in 1998, admitted that during that time he had taken steroids. In the wake of investigations into whether baseball players were using performance enhancing drugs or not, McGwire had raised suspicion among many given the fact that he wanted immunity in exchange for his testimony. Why would that be the case unless there was some reason for him to have fear. The truth came out on Monday when McGwire admitted to sports reporter Bob Costas about his past usage. McGwire's teary admission looked genuine and heartfelt though many of those that didn't have as much public adulation during their admission to using drugs (Jose Canseco) didn't have much to say in support of him and I can understand that.

Now I'm no big fan of baseball but I know enough about the game to know that its certainly a different game than when I was a kid and used to watch a bit more due to my friends in elementary school. As with most sports these days, performance is what determines how much a player is going to get paid and unless you are a big name star, there isn't much hope for raking in the big bucks. I mean for every Michael Jordan in basketball, there are at least twenty other players who aren't really known and will likely never be anything more (in the public's eye) than a name on a roster. For a team like the Redskins, this was the year where many of these players had a chance to shine and prove that you don't have to be a big name to impact the future of the team. But not every player (regardless of the sport) may get the opportunity to do that. So then it comes down to how well you perform when it really matters.

McGwire came to fame in 1998 when his home run record began creeping up close to Roger Maris's 1961 record of 61 home runs in a season. Now even then people argued that when Maris beat Babe Ruth's record in 1961, he played in more total games than Ruth and similarly McGwire also had more games in which to play in order to get home runs so again the question arose whether or not the record was actually shattered or not. At that time of course there was no mention of doping or steroids as no one really spoke out about it. It's understandable; why ask about something when you don't think there's anything to ask about. But it leads me to a question about how we choose to look at performance of players.

People make the arguement that McGwire's record making season was assisted by the addtion of more games than what Ruth originally played and so people felt it unfair that a record which had stood for many years would be broken again by someone who had an advantage of a longer season. McGwire, broke this record playing in the 145th game (Ruth played 154 the year he set the record) of his season and so the arguement was put to rest. But when Barry Bonds broke the record three years later and subsequent investigations revealed that he used steroids as well, suddenly the debate of 'playing on a level field' came up again. Many were of the opinion that Bonds had an unfair advantage in that he used drugs to help his performance whereas previous record holders (presumably this only now includes Babe Ruth and Roger Maris given McGwire's admission) played of their volition.

Now some might say that regardless of what drugs a player may or may not have used, the fact remains that the player still managed to perform at a level high enough to set a record in the first place. I mean I can see that arguement making a little sense. After all, if I shoot myself full of steroids I may become a muscle bound behemoth but that doesn't mean I'm going to suddenly start playing at the level like McGwire, Bonds or Canseco. Skill is still involved and that's what should be remembered, even if as the public more or less damns these figures for their transgressions.

Most of us are raised to believe that cheating isn't right and that it's the wrong thing to do to attempt to guarentee victory. Now while I feel that McGwire finally admitting to using steroids was the right thing to do (though it's too little too late) I think it's not fair to count his accolades unless and until the true spread of steroid usage within Major League Baseball is revealed. I mean if there was debate over the comparison of McGwire to Maris or Ruth being fair based on the number of games they played then why not over whether they used drugs or not. To me it would be unfair if one player used them and the other one didn't (as could be the case with McGwire vs. Sammy Sosa); so then why don't the majority of the players just come out and admit that they use steroids. And those that don't? Well they should start shouldn't they? I mean if we want the playing field to be level, and if the majority of players are using them anyways, then why not make it easy for everyone?