Renzhofer on Baseball: Truth needs to be told about steroid use, By: Martin Renzhofer
08/26/2007
It's interesting to note that, in 2008, Brady Anderson becomes eligible for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. The former Baltimore outfielder isn't going to receive nearly enough votes to become a member of the Hall.
However, the moment is notable because of what Anderson did in 1996. Out of the blue, the suddenly muscular Oriole smashed 50 home runs.
Prior to 1996, Anderson, in all or parts of eight seasons, had hit just 72 homers, one less than Barry Bonds hit in 2001.
What does all of this have to do with anything, you might ask. Well, recently, former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, who in April pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to felony charges of distributing steroids, apparently just sang like a bird to a Major League Baseball investigative committee headed by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.
Radomski, who faces up to 25 years in prison, named names. Lots of them.
The report, due out after the season, could give more than a few baseball players not such a holly, jolly Christmas.
A source said, according to SportsIllustrated.com, "When you see the list, it's going to blow your mind." Radomski's testimony could "blow the lid off everything."
How important is this revelation? The San Francisco Chronicle is one of two newspapers that
has filed a motion asking the court to reveal players' names. Baseball's players association is fighting just as hard not to have the names revealed.
When federal agents raided Radomski's Long Island home in 2005, they recovered, according to court documents, thousands of doses of numerous types of anabolic steroids, bank records with 23 deposits from individuals associated with Major League Baseball.
Furthermore, court documents reveal that once the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) was shut down by the feds, Radomski, who worked for the Mets for 10 years beginning in 1985, became a major drug source for big leaguers intent on getting bigger.
Yeah, I know, so what? All of this steroid and human growth hormone (HGH) talk is boring. We've had enough of it. I just hope any players named aren't ones I like.
Despite an era of deceit that began in the mid-1980s - climaxed by Bonds' breaking Hank Aaron's career homer record - baseball continues to experience record attendance. Divisional and wild-card races are as hot as ever.
So, what's the point?
Despite the initial sting, the truth is always good. Each time we turn our backs and say performance enhancers aren't that important, we run headlong into more facts that insist that they are.
There is an argument that says steroids aren't any different than amphetamines, "greenies," that, until recently, were used by many to perk up during the grueling 162-game schedule. It doesn't hold water.
Speed may pep someone up, but it doesn't enhance. In Jim Bouton's fantastic book "Ball Four", he said that greenies actually gave some players a false sense of security. Pitchers felt they could really bust that fastball in there.
Truth was, when a hitter blasted the ball over the fence, it turned out to be the same fastball.
Which brings us back to Brady Anderson. A baseball scout once told me that Anderson was merely a workout freak, someone who loves lifting weights. That was the reason for his amazing one-year homer outburst.
Could be. It's happened before. Look at Roger Maris, who, before and after hitting 61 home runs in 1961, hit 30 or more only two other times.
While with the Yankees, Maris was emotionally volatile, his hair fell out from stress, and he believed the media was out to get him.
See, it is easy to cast aspersions. What we need is the truth.
