In Other News, It’s Cold When the Temperature is Below Zero
I realize this hardly made any headlines, so you may not have heard that Mark McGwire, former holder of the Most Home Runs in a Season record in Major League Baseball, admitted that he took steroids.
In full disclosure, I’ve taken steroids a few times in my life. Of course, these were prescribed by a doctor, picked up at a pharmacy out in the public. There is nothing illegal about that. (It didn’t stop my friends from harassing me that I had a 50-game baseball suspension, though.)
This is something people have “known” for years, without really knowing it. Mark McGwire claims that steroids
didn’t help him hit home runs and he could’ve done it without steroids. Steroids merely helped him with his injuries, as he was, “A walking M*A*S*H unit.”
In a small way, he’s right. From my vague understanding of the human body (the last time I took a health class was almost 20 years ago, and I’ll admit now that I don’t even remember attending health class my sophomore year of high school. The only reason I know I did is because it was a required class, and I didn’t indiscriminately skip classes), this is what I know. Steroids do not, in themselves, make you stronger. Steroids merely help your muscles recover faster. If I were to simply take steroids, and change no other part of my daily routine, I would have the side effects of steroids but I wouldn’t be bulking on muscles. If I were a gym rat, I would be able to bulk up some muscle, because the muscles would help me recover faster.
Hitting home runs takes an amazing amount of talent, not just related to strength. It doesn’t matter how many steroids I take for strength-building purposes, I will not be able to hit a home run. I have the eye-hand coordination of an infant when it comes to hitting a baseball (or playing video games, but that’s another story for another time). I can’t hit a baseball in general, so adding strength won’t help me hit it at all. The baseball players can already hit a baseball, by default (except Corky “Corky” Miller). Adding strength only helps them hit it further. Adding steroids allows the muscles to recover faster, so they can exercise more and get stronger.
Mark McGwire believes he could’ve hit 70 home runs in a season without steroids. Maybe he’s right, but I disagree. Based on the above, we know that steroids didn’t help him hit the ball. It probably helped him build the strength to hit the ball farther, or at least recover strength to hit the ball farther more often. Beyond that, by his own admission, he was so injured, he needed the steroids to stay on the field. If he couldn’t stay healthy for a season without steroids, why does he think he could have hit 70 home runs without them? Injuries and strength are part of the game. Those who are “fragile” players (oft-injured) generally don’t last long in the game. Joe Crede’s career may be over at age 32 due to injuries. It’s a sad factor of life.
In short, I believe that Mark McGwire has deluded himself. He feels guilty about taking steroids, because he knows it was wrong. He’s only half-right when he says it didn’t help him hit home runs, and he could’ve done it without steroids. He had the eye-hand coordination and reaction times to hit a baseball. He even had the power to hit the ball very, very far. He just lacked the strength to do it as often as he did, so he took steroids. He only wants to concentrate on half the story.
We can all believe what we want. If it helps him sleep at night, great. If it convinces some kids that there’s no point to taking steroids, even better.
Timberwolves update: They have a 1-3 record since I last reported. They’re now at 8-32, or a 20.0% winning percentage. The have the worst record in the West, but New Jersey has the worst record, 3-35.
Wild Update: The Wild have a 24-20-3 record, for a 51.1% winning percentage. They were also in a few fights last night.
In full disclosure, I’ve taken steroids a few times in my life. Of course, these were prescribed by a doctor, picked up at a pharmacy out in the public. There is nothing illegal about that. (It didn’t stop my friends from harassing me that I had a 50-game baseball suspension, though.)
This is something people have “known” for years, without really knowing it. Mark McGwire claims that steroids
didn’t help him hit home runs and he could’ve done it without steroids. Steroids merely helped him with his injuries, as he was, “A walking M*A*S*H unit.”
In a small way, he’s right. From my vague understanding of the human body (the last time I took a health class was almost 20 years ago, and I’ll admit now that I don’t even remember attending health class my sophomore year of high school. The only reason I know I did is because it was a required class, and I didn’t indiscriminately skip classes), this is what I know. Steroids do not, in themselves, make you stronger. Steroids merely help your muscles recover faster. If I were to simply take steroids, and change no other part of my daily routine, I would have the side effects of steroids but I wouldn’t be bulking on muscles. If I were a gym rat, I would be able to bulk up some muscle, because the muscles would help me recover faster.
Hitting home runs takes an amazing amount of talent, not just related to strength. It doesn’t matter how many steroids I take for strength-building purposes, I will not be able to hit a home run. I have the eye-hand coordination of an infant when it comes to hitting a baseball (or playing video games, but that’s another story for another time). I can’t hit a baseball in general, so adding strength won’t help me hit it at all. The baseball players can already hit a baseball, by default (except Corky “Corky” Miller). Adding strength only helps them hit it further. Adding steroids allows the muscles to recover faster, so they can exercise more and get stronger.
Mark McGwire believes he could’ve hit 70 home runs in a season without steroids. Maybe he’s right, but I disagree. Based on the above, we know that steroids didn’t help him hit the ball. It probably helped him build the strength to hit the ball farther, or at least recover strength to hit the ball farther more often. Beyond that, by his own admission, he was so injured, he needed the steroids to stay on the field. If he couldn’t stay healthy for a season without steroids, why does he think he could have hit 70 home runs without them? Injuries and strength are part of the game. Those who are “fragile” players (oft-injured) generally don’t last long in the game. Joe Crede’s career may be over at age 32 due to injuries. It’s a sad factor of life.
In short, I believe that Mark McGwire has deluded himself. He feels guilty about taking steroids, because he knows it was wrong. He’s only half-right when he says it didn’t help him hit home runs, and he could’ve done it without steroids. He had the eye-hand coordination and reaction times to hit a baseball. He even had the power to hit the ball very, very far. He just lacked the strength to do it as often as he did, so he took steroids. He only wants to concentrate on half the story.
We can all believe what we want. If it helps him sleep at night, great. If it convinces some kids that there’s no point to taking steroids, even better.
Timberwolves update: They have a 1-3 record since I last reported. They’re now at 8-32, or a 20.0% winning percentage. The have the worst record in the West, but New Jersey has the worst record, 3-35.
Wild Update: The Wild have a 24-20-3 record, for a 51.1% winning percentage. They were also in a few fights last night.
Labels: G-g-g-girl, Mark McGwire, MLb, Steroids
posted by thisisbeth | 8:58 AM
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