Stanjames Sports Blog

For baseball net fans, nothing is more sacred than MLB's hallowed records, the integrity of which has been threatened by steroids use. If they want to safeguard this intergrity,baseball net supporters should lobby Commissioner Bud Selig for a tougher offense for first-time steroids users. Under the present policy, first time offenders are suspended for fifty games without pay, far too lenient a deterrent.

Let's look at some figures. The average baseball net superstar now makes between $15-18 million-a-year. CC Sabathia and Johan Santana currently lead the superstar pitchers at approximately $23 million and 22 million, respectively. Heading the top of the order for position players are baseball net's "steroid kids," Alex Rodriguez, at approximately $27.5 million, and Manny Ramirez, at $20 million. For such stars, a fifty-game suspension, even without pay, hardly forces them to start clipping coupons. In short, such a suspension, while not exactly a paid vacation, simply gives these superstars some rest and down time. It does NOT send the strong deterrent message that baseball net fans should demand.

Therefore, baseball net fans should insist that the policy"bulk up," (or "roid up?") against first-time offenders. Instead of a fixed fifty games, the punishment should be suspension for the rest of the season, including post-season play. This would truly send the message that baseball net fans favor: "You take steroids, and you SIT! Your roided-up muscles may not shrink, but your wallets, like your testosterone-depleted testicles, will!"

No other sport can match baseball's tradition of individual star achivements and records. Let's not see that tradition ruined by inflated records set by current superstars who have cheated by giving themselves new, artifically enhanced bodies. They will continue to do so without an effective deterrent. It's time for MLB's steroids policy to toughen up--to bulk up! Baseball net fans deserve nothing less.