Have I Been Living Under A Rock?
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by user Sigglecow
So, I'm bored before bed, perusing the realms of AGM, when I come across this on the Derrick Turnbow page: "In October 2003, Turnbow became the first major league player to test positive for a banned steroid."
WHAT?
OK, so yeah, I wasn't much of a baseball fan from 1998 (Sosa/McGwire - sickening) through now (I finally came back around - we all do), but with Turnbow being such a "rock star" for Milwaukee, you'd think I would've heard of this by now. Not from the Brewers themselves, of course, but I would have thought that at least one person would've said "Yeah, remember when he got busted for steroids?" Then I could've said, "WHAT?"
I haven't heard anything about this. Ever. Have I been living under a rock?
So I dug around a little bit. According to http://www.steroidlist.com...
- On January 7th, 2003, Turnbow was banned from Olympic competition for testing positive for three steroids.
- Turnbow claimed the steroids were from legal, over-the-counter drugs, which likely true.
- Major and Minor League Baseball did not suspend Turnbow since the drugs did not violate league policies.
- The three drugs, nandrolone, norandrostenedione or norandrostenediol, are all now banned under the 2005 MLB Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
So I breathed a little easier, knowing Turnbow wasn't as much of a cheater as Bonds, McGwire, Giambi, Canseco, Palmeiro, Sheffield, Sosa, Grimsley, Caminiti, and the rest.
Finally, I happened across a May 16, 2006, news story from Madison's own Capital Times that made me feel a little better still:
http://www.madison.com/tct/sports/brewers/index.php?ntid=84005&ntpid=2
So in the end, I'm left torn. Is Turnbow a cheater? No. Was Turnbow a cheater? The quick answer is "Yes, sort of." What it comes down to is how far is too far to get an edge in baseball (or any sport)?
The biggest (and, to me anyway, most important) question of all in the whole steroids thing is this: How did it get like this?
Not long ago, baseball was played by people who loved the game. Now it's played by people who love money. In the past, the players' job was to entertain the fans with their skills, gained by practice and hard work, and win games. Now, the players don't care and it's the owners who want to entertain the fans, not with skills, but with home runs, lots of them, more and more every year. They build the new stadiums with smaller dimensions, all the better to hit homers, my dear.
People say "all these guys are trying to do is get an edge." That may be true, but all these guys are doing it for the wrong reasons. They don't care about the integrity of the game. They're trying to preserve their million-dollar paychecks. They're not trying to help the team. They just want to hit that extra home run, the one that will get 'em that big signing bonus next year. When Albert Pujols or David Ortiz hits a game-winning home run in the ninth, what would you guess they think of first? The team? Or their own league-leading HR numbers?
And the clean players? They're too young yet. Give them time. It won't be long before the clean players of today are the users of tomorrow.
So was Turnbow a cheater? Yes. I hate to say that, but it's true. And while I'm glad that he's (seemingly) clean now, and I'm glad he's pitched effectively without the chemicals, it still sucks. Because that's just one more person that I can never look at the same again. Every time I see him throw a 1-2-3 ninth, I won't be able to stop myself from wondering about the steroids. And it spreads, like a cancer, to everyone else. Because I wouldn't have guessed it from Turnbow. So if I was wrong to not assume steroids for him, what to make of Capuano, Fielder, and Carlos Lee, all having great seasons, and all players which I would never guess to be on steroids.
Maybe I have been living under a rock. Not just about Turnbow's history, but about the true scope of the problems caused by this whole steroids thing. Jesus, all I meant to do was write a quick thing about Turnbow and now I'm ranting about 'roids.
It just sucks, plain and simple, because I love baseball. I would never be able to stop watching, no matter how much today's players rape the integrity the game. And I could never stop going to games because being at a stadium and watching a game in person is beyond words. I hope and hope that Major League Baseball figures out how to fix this, but I know they can't. And even if they could, I don't think they would. No steroids = less home runs = fewer big names and feats = less money.
And in the end, isn't that the bottom line?
Date
Sun 07/23/06, 8:25 pm EST
