Fair Ball? Steroids Scandal Strikes Baseball

by Robyn Schafer
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San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds went yard 73 times, shattering the single-season home-run record in 2001. With 703 total home runs, Bonds (who is temporarily sidelined by an injury) is closing in on Hank Aaron’s all-time record of 755 career home runs. But recent allegations that Bonds used illegal performance-enhancing drugs have raised questions about the legitimacy of his feats and his true place in baseball history. Hall of Fame pitcher and U.S. Senator Jim Bunning says steroid users aren’t playing fair. “Wipe all of their records out,” he protests. “Take them away. They don’t deserve them.”

WHAT ARE STEROIDS?
Known as ’roids, juice, hype, or pump, anabolic steroids are powerful man-made drugs that act like testosterone, a naturally occurring male hormone. By building muscle tissue and increasing body mass, small doses help treat medical conditions like AIDS, but some athletes illegally abuse certain steroids as a shortcut to gaining strength.Recently, Congress held public hearings to investigate the growing steroid scandal among athletes and to educate impressionable young people about the health risks associated with steroid use. These risks include heart attacks, anxiety and panic attacks, depression, severe acne, and liver damage. Steroids are especially dangerous for teens, often causing stunted growth and even suicidal behavior.Denise Garibaldi, whose son Rob committed suicide, told the congressional committee that steroids killed Rob. He played college baseball and idolized Barry Bonds. Garibaldi testified that Rob justified his decision to use steroids by explaining that all professional ballplayers took steroids. “If Bonds has to do it, then I must,” she recalled him saying.

WHAT ABOUT BONDS?
Bonds, a seven-time National League MVP, reportedly testified before a grand jury in 2003 that he unknowingly used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. He claims his trainer gave him steroids and human growth hormone, but he thought they were nutritional supplements. The trainer is now being prosecuted along with officials of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), where the drugs were produced.Whether he used steroids knowingly or not, Bonds gained an unfair advantage over those who played by the rules, leading his critics to argue that Bonds’ historic achievements should not be recognized. Others say that his feats should be included in the record books with an asterisk next to his name, marking him as a steroid user.Bonds refuses to admit that he cheated: “I don’t know what cheating is,” he says. “I don’t believe steroids can help your eye-hand coordination, technically hit a baseball.”

THE JEWISH VIEW
Success in professional sports demands discipline, hard work, and a competitive edge. Occasionally, the desire to win tempts athletes to cheat. Not surprisingly, Judaism condemns cheating, but our tradition recognizes that cheating involves more than breaking the rules. A Hebrew phrase used in the Talmud to indicate cheating is geneivat da’at, which literally means the theft of the mind; in other words, cheaters who intentionally mislead or deceive others to gain undeserved goodwill are considered thieves. “There are seven kinds of people who are guilty of stealing,” our sages teach. “First among them are people who misrepresent themselves to others” (Tosefta, Baba Kama 7:3).

Special thanks to Michael J. Broyde and Yitzchok Breitowitz for their continued assistance with this column.