The craze for information about steroids in baseball has reached almost epidemic proportions among sports fans. Many watched congressional hearings to find out the latest on the witch-hunt to find who's been using steroids.
The masses may think they're getting the run-around from players, coaches and maybe even the commissione. But people close to the game can give a closer look into the world of baseball.
Richard Heiserman, senior journalism major and former pitcher at almost every level of baseball, was around professional baseball for nine years. It was long enough to understand the steroid situation.
"I do agree it's a problem," said Heiserman of current steroid use in major league baseball.
However, it hasn't always been the apparent crisis it is today, according to Heiserman.
"I didn't see them prevalent in college athletics," he said. "But, later in my career, closer to the end, it became a little more common in the late '90s."
Heiserman said steroid use comes from the top down, trickling down to younger baseball players.
The pressure of a big payday and competition can be dangerous for young ball players wanting to make it to the top.
"When your competition is on an unfair playing field, the temptation and opportunity is there," Heiserman said. "It puts the rest of us at a disadvantage."
University of Memphis baseball team head coach Daron Schoenrock doesn't believe steroids are making ball players better, but that it is just an illusion.
"Steroids don't give the ability to hit a ball or throw a ball," he said. "They allow players to perform at a very high level for a longer period of time. And they can train with more intensity in the off-season."
Senior outfielder Ryan Martin is a fan of the game, as well as a player, and his love for high scoring could be a reason major leaguers are tempted to take steroids.
"Personally, I go to games to see sluggers. I don't go to a game to see a pitchers' duel," he said.
As much as steroids have distracted from the game of baseball, Martin said they have both helped and hurt.
"The game has recovered from the financial standpoint that it was at," he said. "It was doing real bad, then it came back once Mark McGwire started hitting all those home runs and once Barry Bonds started hitting all those home runs," he said. "And if that's due to steroids then, as much as it has hurt it, it has probably helped it."Martin and his teammates have a coach that cares more about wins and losses, possibly unlike major league managers.
Schoenrock said he believes he and other college coaches are more than just managers and teachers of the skills and tools of the trade, but are also responsible for molding players into productive citizens, and that means knowing the health risks of steroids.
Schoenrock said the publicity steroids have brought to baseball may help increase public knowledge about illegal substances.
"They have gotten the attention, and that's a good thing," he said.
