Arielle on Bonds

So yesterday I commented on Bonds when I wasn't really meaning to (it just came out somehow). Since it is an off day and there is relatively little news besides The Ball now residing in Cooperstown, why not waste some time on Bonds and 'roids?

As for Bonds, I think he is guilty. Guilty of steroid use, guilty of perjury, guilty of destruction of MLB record books. Some people say that steroids did not help him steal bases. While his base stealing may possibly have been more natural than his home runs, Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery also used steroids (similar or same as Bonds) which made them run faster. So there you go.

I know that Bonds is not alone in use of steroids. I know that there are white men, latinos, nice men, quiet men, and any other stereotypical men who use(d) steroids as well. MLB is extremely lax in terms of disciplinary action taken against  steroid users.

The current policy reads as:

• First failure to comply: 15 to 25-day suspension or up to a $10,000 fine
• Second failure to comply: 25 to 50-day suspension or up to a $25,000 fine
• Third failure to comply: 50 to 75-day suspension or up to a $50,000 fine
• Fourth failure to comply: at least a one-year suspension or up to a $100,000 fine.
• Any subsequent failure(s) to comply: The level of the discipline will be determined by the Office of the Commissioner.

• First positive test result: 50 game suspension
• Second positive test result: 100 game suspension
• Third positive test result: lifetime ban

All suspensions are without pay.(wikipedia.org)

Under this policy, not agreeing to a test is not that big of a deal. 15 days off and it is over and done with. A player should not be able to choose whether or not he is tested and play baseball at the same time. A player can also be caught using steroids twice yet still be able to play ball (though surely issues with the team could ensue). MLB is basically saying "use steroids, and if we catch you enough times, we might ban you forever."

The other problem with steroids is that now, every player is doubted. Example: Chris Shelton. The guy barely makes the Tigers last year, and this year starts off the season leading the league in home runs. Questions of whether or not he is on 'roids are starting to pop up all over the place. The same thing happens with David Ortiz. While I'd like to think both players are clean, I know there are steroids that do not show up in MLB's testing. Now, every time some player does something great, a small voice in the back of my head doubts them.

I'd like baseball to be simply baseball again, like when I was seven and did not know about drugs. I would love to look at David Ortiz or Nomar Garciaparra and not have question marks in my head. Barry Bonds is not the only steroid user, the only player who has ruined the integrity of the game, he is just the poster boy. With Bud Selig and MLBs lackadaisical view on steroid testing and punishment, there will be many more like him to come.