It has been eight years since the pinstriped powerhouse of the American League East has won a World Series. In search of a crown, the Yankees have been throwing millions of Franklins at celebrity athletes.
In December of 2007, Alex Rodriguez was the latest beneficiary of the Yankees’ money-grows-ontrees approach. With a 10-year, $300 million contract, Rodriguez became the offensively gifted home run slugger as well as the face of the Yankees. Along with his teammate Derek Jeter, A-Rod became an idol to Yankee fans and people around the nation.
Then came a sudden stop.
This spring, news reports revealed that Rodriguez had tested positive for steroid use in 2003, the year he was named the league’s most valuable player. The news spread like wildfire and Rodriguez’ nickname quickly went from A-rod to A-roid.
Within a day the face of baseball’s future became the face of baseball’s downfall. What have A-rod and the steroid users of major league baseball done to teen athletes?
Steven Golden (’12) is an Urban Blues’ varsity baseball player, and he also plays on an out-of-school travelling team. Often, when facing an opponent, steroids are a question.
“I have played some huge guys before. I have definitely wondered if they were taking steroids or not,” said Golden.
Ian Paratore (’09), who pitches for Urban, once looked up to A-rod, but not no longer. “A-rod is someone I didn’t think that did steroids, but he shows that everyone had access to them and at some point did them,” says Paratore. “When you see the big names like A-rod, and Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens — who are future Hall of Famers and are all doing steroids – it hurts.”
Urban’s Thomas Jacquez, who used to be in the majors, and now coaches the Blues, isn’t shocked by reports of drug use among major leaguers. “When more and more baseball players are caught I’m not surprised anymore. It’s everywhere,” said Jacquez.
Jacquez has yet to experience any steroid issues with the Urban baseball team, but as a professional ballplayer, Jacquez competed against it. Prior to his teaching career, Jacquez played eight years for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles.
“I had seen it before,” says Jacquez, of steroids. “(But) you are always under the unwritten rule that whatever goes in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse.”
Though Jacquez was a loyal teammate, it frustrated him that players were doing it.
“Steroids take an average player and make them a good player; a good player to a great player; a great player to a Hall of Famer,” says Jacquez. “Part of me was upset because I couldn’t compete on the same level. People were able to recover much faster than I was with steroids and come back out and compete. The fatigue factor became a big issue.”
Along with boosting athletic performance, however, steroids have a medical downside, which can include cardiovascular disease, impotency, and even death.
Jacquez remarks that there is “no good model of what to do ” if a student seeks to take steroids. “I would do what my job requires me to do and start with a conversation” about the health impact of using steroids, both now and later in life, Jacquez says.
So the question remains: Will steroids be the downfall of baseball? Paratore says that fan pressure for more home runs is one reason why so many ballplayers have taken steroids.
Now that so many records are tainted, however, ball clubs will have to find another way to dazzle fans. “The steroids have been (used) to make the homerun ball more frequent,” Paratore said. But “(steroid use) won’t be accepted, and what will happen is they are going to move the fences in, because the media and the people want to see the long ball happen often.”
“The game will never be the same,” Paratore added. “All the records aren’t genuine.”