Professional baseball has continued to experience the challenge of use of steroids among the players since the year 2000. It is due to this fact that the Major League Baseball, therefore, instituted several testing policies that would address the issue at both minor and major league levels. Major League Board developed these testing systems in the years 2002 (Butterworth and Michael 150). Baseball players should not use steroids during and off-seasons. They were liable to undergo random steroid tests throughout the year. Offenders faced a ban of a duration up to a year. However, the ban was dependent on the offense history of the offender. Baseball is slowly turning into a professional sport following the introduction of steroid testing in baseball in both minor and major leagues. However, Major League Baseball owes the perceived success of exclusive collaborations with the best laboratories in the world.
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The steroid testing on the main league baseball players took place in the year 2003 following an agreement between Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and the Major League Baseball (MLB) the previous year (Butterworth and Michael 161). During that year the players were tested on a limit of 5-7 percent steroid positive rate. Most players did not fall within this bracket. The following year, MLB reduced the test limit to 1-2 percent positive rate. The parameter is still applicable up to date. These are some of the reasons why Major League Baseball considered conducting steroid testing (Cohen, Jason, et al. 12).
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Steroid testing is not okay for Major League Baseball because it is not fool proof and it interrupts regular performance of players during the season due to panic. It is, therefore, a waste of time to the professional baseball players and can often lead to loss of focus during the season. Cases which confirm that most baseball players have passed most of these tests yet further tests show that they use steroids to enhance their performance provide a clear indication that the steroid testing by Major League Baseball is not fool proof (Haagen and Paul 831).
Secondly, there are organizations which provide players with short-term steroids that exist in the players’ bodies for a given short period. Unfortunately, quarks are the managers of most of these organizations. They do not only risk the lives of the players, but it also makes the sport unprofessional. For instance, laboratories such as Florida’s Biogenesis lab is has supplied several players in the Major League Baseball with such steroids. They are adamant to the plea from the Major League Baseball because they gain a lot of money from baseball player but expose their lives to grave dangers (Cohen, Jason, et al. 12).
Thirdly, Steroid testing in Major League Baseball is an expensive exercise that does not provide the equal contribution to baseball development. The process lacks economic sense because the amount of money the Major League Baseball channel toward the steroid testing process does not profit it in any way. Technology allows the baseball players to devise ways of escaping the trap of steroid testing so the Major League Baseball must develop new testing methods that are less susceptible to failure (Del and Hector 169).
Fourthly, despite the regulation of conducting steroid testing on professional baseball players both during and off-season, it is not mostly impractical to perform such tests during the off-season because the Major League Baseball cannot determine the players’ holiday schedules. The Major League Baseball must enhance its timing on conducting steroid testing because they stand to lose capturing players who use it during the off-season and test negative during seasons.
Several research studies have confirmed that steroid testing by Major League Baseball is not fool proof. It has a lot of loopholes that the relevant stakeholders exploit to provide the professional baseball player with the untraceable steroid. The Major League Baseball conduct steroid testing using T/E ratio screening testing kits. However, most labs have developed a strategy of supplying the players with steroids alongside epitestosterone which dilute the traces of steroids in human beings. The staff of Major League Baseball does not understand the profiling characteristics of steroid. It is evident that if they continue using the T/E value to determine the level of steroids in the players, then they risk not getting any positive results. These findings, therefore, confirm that steroid testing is not enough for Major League Baseball (Del and Hector 169).
Some pallets and creams contain steroids and have faster effects on the athletes. They can quickly boost the level of testosterone hormone in the players to way below the recommended 4-to-1 steroid limit. The condition can stay the same for a long time without raising any red flags. The co-owner of BALCO, a renowned laboratory has confirmed that there are players who use such screams to boost their steroid consumption. Despite all these unfortunate behaviors, the players risk their lives without having a second thought. Perhaps this explains why cases of cardiac arrest and premature death among baseball players are standard. All these indications confirm that steroid testing is not enough for Major League Baseball, especially the players (Haagen and Paul 831).
Currently, the cost of conducting a T/E ratio test on a single baseball player is approximate $400. Several professional baseball players are members of the Major League Baseball Association hence eligible for steroid testing. Studies also show that for the Major League Baseball to achieve accurate results, they should test a sample from each baseball player four times a year. The cost of carrying out this exercise is so massive that only an insane person can contemplate carrying it out. The Major League Baseball spends approximately $1.5 million every year on 4,000 T/E tests it conducts on baseball players’ urine samples. In case the MLB decides to use a more accurate test it may incur a cost of approximately $7.5 billion. According to these expenses, steroid testing is not enough for Major League Baseball (Cohen, Jason, et al. 12).
The players do not spend their holidays in their clubs; they are free to visit all parts of the world. It is not possible to summon a player from his vacation to conduct steroid tests. Steroid testing, therefore, is not okay for Major League Baseball (Del and Hector 169).
In conclusion, steroid testing is not enough for Major League Baseball because it does not fool proof and it interrupts regular performance of players during the season due to panic. There are organizations which provide players with short-term steroids that exist in the players’ bodies for a given short period. Steroid testing in Major League Baseball is an expensive exercise that does not provide the equal contribution to baseball development.
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