Who really believes the Steroid era is over?

So, the steroid era is far from over. HGH. Great article by Wallace Matthews at Newsday:

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-spwally0226,0,6289202.column

The only way it ever gets solved, and MLB institutes a real testing program for HGH (as well as all the other PEDs) is if there are enough clean players that are tired of competing on an un-level playing field to push for a change.

The question is, how many players are clean? Are there enough to form a critical mass to start the process moving? My guess is that there are not. Clearly, Jose Canseco’s estimate of 70 – 80 percent of players using is somewhere in the ballpark.

The public doesn’t care – we keep buying tickets and watching the games on TV and the internet.

The writers don’t care (they say they do) – but when they talk about specific players, they have clear incentive to bend over backwards to not hurt the players feelings. Lacking conclusive proof, they almost always speak of the players as clean. Yet, by doing the simple math, most of the players who have not been linked to PEDs are most likely using as well.

The commissioner doesn’t care – just watch how quickly he avoids taking any responsibility for the mess.

The Player’s Association clearly doesn’t care – just read the article I mentioned. And then listen to Donald Fehr and his henchmen. Since most of their players have a vested interest in not being tested, the MLBPA will continue to do everything in its power to avoid real testing – conducted year-round by an independent organization, and using the best blood tests currently available.

Who’s left? The clean players. If there are a significant amount of these, and they really care, then they must come forward and push for a real accounting. Otherwise, there is no reason to assume that anyone is clean.

All Steroids, All the Time

I am so sick of hearing the denials – from the talking heads on MLB Network (Al Leiter, Sean Casey, et. al). Why should I believe any of them? And don’t release the other 103 names on the list; while it will identify a small percentage of the steroid users, it doesn’t in the least clear anyone not on the list. They could have been tipped off, they could have been using something that wouldn’t show up in a test, or they might have stopped for awhile in between their steroid regimens.

As far as I and any reasonably intelligent baseball fan are concerned, there is only one baseball player with any credibility remaining: Jose Canseco. Doesn’t he seem quite reasonable at this stage?

We have to put this era into perspective: assume all players were using – probably quite close to the truth. Please stop the denials; no one believes them at this point. As for the HOF, the best players from the era should go in – if, as I believe, nearly everyone was using PEDs, then it is, for all intents and purposes, a level playing field, and the best of the best deserve the Hall. As for records, we can only apply the mental asterisk.

And another thing I don’t believe: that the Steroid era is over. Many players are still using; there is no test for HGH, so why stop now? With a little bit of foresight and knowledge and help from a chemist or two, players can still take PEDs and have a fairly good chance of not getting caught.