What Were The Real Benefits Of Steroids?

[Greg Ambrosius]

I must admit that I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV. I don't know anything about drugs outside of the one I like best: cold beer. But I must admit that I am truly fascinated by the whole Steroids Era in baseball and how this drug turned normal players into Supermen.



Seriously, how does Brady Anderson hit two homers at the age of 27 – the prime age for baseball players – and then hit 50 at the age of 32? I'm not insinuating that he was a steroid user, but a stat like that is pretty crazy. Jose Canseco became faster and stronger and a 40-40 product with his admitted heavy use of steroids. Barry Bonds was already a Hall of Fame player when he reportedly started using steroids and grew into the most prolific home run hitter in the game's history.



We all know that steroids can make you stronger and faster, and that it can help you heal quicker from injuries and also break down easier with injuries. We all know the side effects and the positives. But someone please tell me exactly how steroids being used by hitters makes them better than steroids being used by pitchers? What is it that makes them soooooo much better on steroids.



One thing I've heard is that hitters see the ball so much better and the pitch almost seems like it's slowing down for them. If you remember Bonds' record-breaking season, he barely missed a pitch. Any mistake or anything near his strike zone and he was locked onto that pitch and hitting it into the bay. Even that last weekend against the Dodgers, he was so locked in that anything he hit just flew out of the park. He rarely swung at balls outside the strike zone and if anyone challenged him, he was totally locked onto it.



McGwire was the same way in 1998. Of his 152 hits, 70 of them were home runs. The ball just jumped out of the park that year, but he also was locked in like never before. Do you remember how many homers he hit in 1999? 65. Forgot about that before looking at the numbers. And by 2002 he was out of baseball, having limped to a .187 average in just 97 games in 2001.



Okay, so is it the vision that enabled Bonds and McGwire and Sosa and others to lock into greatness through steroids? Was it confidence that the drug brought to them? Was it the extra power that forced these balls out of the park? Someone with more medical knowledge than me can surely tell me, can't you?

[Cseitl]

I can only think of two reasons as to the discrepancy between pitcher and hitter success via steroids.

For a pitcher, no matter the power, it's all about control and accuracy. It could almost be a bit of a drawback being a pitcher on steroids, as your new velocity has pitches breaking at different times, or hanging longer. Maybe for a guy like Wakefield and that knuckleball, it would wobble even crazier (if that's possible).



For a hitter, it's about two things -



1.) Routine, warning track fly balls now carry out - go 30 rows deeper. And, if you take it one step further and add in a juiced pitcher, the higher rate of velocity is supplanted in the longer hit.



2. And what I feel is the most important) Confidence. The first thing anyone says about a slump or some bad plate appearances is that a hitter just doesn't trust his swing, or he doesn't look comfortable. Steroids give that to you. You see results in the gym, you feel the burden of potential contracts removed from your back, and the comfort in knowing you're not alone makes everything easier. Imagine you were not on the juice, and were totally against it. You'd feel so much pressure knowing your numbers are going to be down, and that if you voiced your displeasure you'd be ostracized. You might end up in a slump by simply playing fair. Every pro player has a bit of cockiness in knowing that they're above average (we call it killer instinct essentially), while some potential stars lacked it, they found they could simply buy and inject it.



Although I did take 7 years to finish university, I too am not a doctor.

[Scott Boras]

My opinion is the advantage you get from regeneration. 6 months+ and 162 games (plus spring training)is a drag, especially during the summer heat that july and august can bring. Many stars go on tears in which they are (sorry, dan) "on pace" for ridiculous numbers, but nature happens eventually. Every player is prone to hot streaks and slumps, except with steroids there are no slumps. Your muscles are always refreshed and at their peak. Hot streaks can be maintained and prolonged while clean players are sore, exhausted, and nursing their aches and pains.



Speaking from personal experience, when I go to the gym (which admittedly is rare) and exert myself, it is common to not be able to move or straighten certain muscles for a week. To be able to go all out daily, and never break down or burn out, it's like being 8 years old again except with grown man (or in this case, super man) strength and speed.



Combine this constant fresh and rejuvenated energy with the added strength and quickness steroids can bring and results are inevitable. Add the confidence results bring, and bingo...you've got Barry Bonds! While other players are tired and ready to go home, Barry is locked in like it's opening day and hitting #73 into the bay.

[ESPN8 THE OCHO]

I think the extra strentgh that the steroids gives you helps control the bat head thru the strikezone better thus enabling them to hit the sweet spot more often. Remember a half inch is the difference between a pop up or fly out and a homerun.





Also I think steroids provide great gains for piptchers. Look at Pettite's years especially in Houston and the Clemens resurgeance FTER bOSTON.

[Dub]

Other than those who have already been caught, there are hitters that we all still suspect and apparently there are less suspects for pitching.



How about if I told you that Pedro, RJ, Maddux, etc etc were all steroid users? Pedro once K'd 330 batters and walked 30 in the same season- now if we found out that his season, or seasons like this, were a product of steroids, would we still think that it helps batters more?



Clemens is like Barry, he went from HOF to being compared to the greatest that ever played the game.



I personally believe that the percentage of adults who have tried marijuana is the same as percentage of MLB players that have used steroids. Any advantage is neutralized because EVERYONE is using and on the same playing field.



Baseball is entertainment first.

[huskyfan88]

Steroids increase muscle mass allowing the batter to swing the bat quicker and with more force behind it. A quicker bat allows the batter to wait on the pitch a split second longer and account for more "late break" on an incoming pitch. A swing with more force causes a solidly struck ball to travel farther. If you have a quicker and more forceful swing, you can make hard contact with more pitches.