Steroids or Lying

Earlier this year I wrote two pieces that dealt with Performance Enhancers. In both pieces I argued that the reason we were morally opposed to PE use was because we feel cheated by their use. They are not inherently morally forbidden or bad, but gain that status due to context.

As important as it is that we have conversations about steroids and what they do, today’s news only reinforces the idea that Performance Enhancers are not the root of the evil. What I have seen is that it is instead the deception associated with them.

For those of you who do not know, ESPN’s investigative division OTL (outside the lines) released an article stating that Major League Baseball would be pursuing suspensions for those tied to the Miami anti-aging clinic Biogenisis of America.

The list of players being pursued for suspension has not been released yet, but is believed to include 20+ players. Former MVP Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez are two of the players being pursued along with pitching phenom Gio Gonzalez. The thing that is funny about this scandal is not who is being pursued but how they are being pursued.

Major League Baseball has a three strikes policy: first offense equates to a 50 game suspension. Second offense is 100 games. Third offense is life time ban (three strikes and you're out). In the current situation MLB is pursuing 100 game suspensions for first time offenders. That is right- the first strike is for using the second for lying.

The late 90’s and early 2000’s was know as the “Steroid Era” in baseball. It was a time in baseball where steroid use was widespread and everyone knew about it. Mark McGwire’s pills sat on the top shelf of his locker. Players who had never hit more than fifteen home-runs in a season would hit 50 plus and no one blinked. Heck Major League Baseball’s slogan was “Chick’s dig the Long ball...”

The steroid era in baseball was a black eye to its storied history and was never to be repeated after the Balco investigation was complete. If you do not remember, during the Balco investigation there were congressional hearings where dozens of players were brought to Capitol Hill to answer for their steroid use. Despite congressional hearings and a massive investigation no player ever faced suspensions or punishment from MLB.

This time however the evidence against the players is greater and MLB has a policy in place to punish players for this behavior. But this is not the real reason why MLB is being so harsh to these players. It is not simply because they used PED’s but because they lied about it.

I feel justified in saying this because as a whole we do not really care all that much if players in any sports dope. Cyclist do it, football players, and baseball players do it. If we cared we would not reward or follow sports with dopers. We would not follow football until they eradicated it and we would picket teams that sign players who are know dopers.

For example last year Melky Cabrera tested positive for HGH and was suspended. Before last year he was a below average player on his way out of baseball. With steroids he became a very good player and even after his positive test he was awarded a two year16 million dollar contract. That is right he went from possibly being out of the league to making 8 million a year.

The biggest worry we carry about PED’s deals with their damaging repercussions on the young athletes who take them to compete. Chronic health problems, social development problems, and the possibility of death faced by the teenager who take them. We worry that children who take them do not understand what they are doing in the same way we worry about them drinking or engaging in sexual activity. We feel the teens are not old enough to understand the responsibility inherent with these activities. This is why we do not really care if adults use them, because in a sense it is their life and their choice about what they put inside their body.

This choice that adults carry is based on a romanticized idea about free will and choice. The idea that inherently we all carry the right to make our own choices and our own decisions. Freedom, free will, and choice are predicated on the idea of transparency. Because it is only with honesty, full disclosure, and transparency that one can make an informed free choice.

When we are deceived we feel cheated. We feel like our inherent right to freedom and the power to choose has been taken away from us. Lying in many ways is the one unforgivable crucial sin in our society because it obscures the goal of every religion, philosophy and scientific discipline: identifying the truth.

This is the realization that I have come too about performance enhancers and why people are so against them and why MLB is pursuing these players to such an extent.. PED’s are not bad, if they were we would not reward players with new contracts. We would ban them from sports and pursue them with the fullest extent of the law if they did anything illegal to obtain them.

The truth of the matter here, ironically the truth about why we now hate Armstrong, A-Rod, and the rest is because they lied to us and lied repeatedly to us. They were given many chances to come clean and they did not.

Lying to someone questions their intelligence and shows that one does not respect or trust them. As I am sure any parent would conquer the most disappointing thing about seeing your child lie to you is the fact that it shows a weakness in your relationship where the trust and respect have dissolved.

So over the next few weeks as MLB investigation becomes more clear I hope we stay clear on why all of this really matters. And I hope we realize that as a whole lying about steroids will always be worse than simply using them.