Deadline #11 HW#2

Intro #1

What keeps fans going to the ballpark? Is it the atmosphere, the food, the live entertainment? Baseball has been a storied sport throughout American history and touches millions of lives throughout the country. Most young boys grow up playing the sport and therefore have a closer relationship with it. However nostalgia and gimmicks alone are not what perpetuates baseball as a business, it’s the record of the home team. Everyone knows that in almost all sports putting up a higher score means victory. In baseball this comes in the form of runs produced. In recent years offensive output has been increased throughout the league and has been linked hand in hand with the ever so controversial subject, steroids. Are the good for the sport are the bad for the sport? In conjunction with proper medical and legal guidance steroids would be a benefit for baseball.

Intro #2

September 8th, 1998 was a date that rekindled the magic in a sport that seemed to be dying slowly. Baseball, the great American sport just four years removed from a strike that led to no postseason was being overtaken by football and basketball and little money was being put into teams except for the larger cities. Then came along a Mr. Mark McGwire and a Mr. Sammy Sosa. Throughout the 1998 season these two sluggers belted homeruns at an alarming rate inching themselves towards the season single homerun record of 61 set by Roger Maris in 1961. Both ended up breaking the record and they captured the attention of all of America. How did these two sluggers do it? The dark horse of baseball, steroids, seemingly held the answer. With larger muscles, and faster recovery times, baseball seemed to be picking up steam offensively. Although viewed by almost all as corrupt and dangerous, they do have their benefits for baseball players.

Conclusion #1

Who knows what can be possible for athletes at the 21st century moves on. Almost certainly though there will be a demand by the players themselves and their fans indirectly for uber steroids/supplements. Just imagine if medical technology could lead to super sight and super reflexes, athletes would be spider men and supermen. One thing is for sure though if regulated and controlled, the athletes of the future could be putting on performances one couldn’t dream of.

Conclusion #2

Under the proper rules and regulations and proper testing times, steroids can only be beneficial for athletes. For the enjoyment of the sport one writer (Tom Verducci) puts it best when he said, “In 1998 a 70-year-old man would have seen a major-leaguer hit 60 home runs in a season only once in his lifetime. By the time the man was 74, the feat had occurred six more times, all by players accused in the court of public opinion of having used performance-enhancing drugs.” Clearly there can be no coincidence, numbers don’t lie.