Damage done by steroid claim

By John J. Roberts Sports Central Columnist

Let's see, we've got a recovering drug and alcohol abuser and a bitter castoff telling us there are anywhere from 50 percent to 85 percent of current major league baseball players using steroids.

Well, if these well-thought out estimates are to be believed, somebody has been keeping the biggest secret in sports history, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco for enlightening the sporting world.

There are a couple of issues to be examined here of course. Canseco and Caminiti, both stars at one time, recently retired. Injuries did in both of these former league MVPs -- injuries, it could be reasoned, that were exacerbated by there own steroid use. Where were these two beacons of information when they still played the game?

In a recent Sports Illustrated, story Caminiti he used the drug and he was not at all regretful he did. He also estimated use among players at half.

During his recent appearances on several sports talk shows while stumping his coming tell-all book in which he claims 85 percent of today's players are users, Canseco refused to answer questions directly about his own steroid use, if any.

Let's take a look at the numbers these two are throwing out there.

If Caminiti's more "conservative estimate" is to be believed, a lot of people out there are lying. In the wake of this past week's "Steroid-gate" which even now continues to mushroom, several baseball stars and managers have intimated reactions from surprise to ignorance on the issue. But either way they see it, there is nowhere close to half the majors on the drug.

"Only if it's in the water or there's some way players are ingesting them without knowing it," New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. "I think it's a total exaggeration, unless you're saying some of the stuff like Met-Rx mix and the blender stuff is a steroid, then I stand corrected."

Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas, whose sheer size and power make him a surefire candidate for suspicion, has come out firmly in favor of testing players.

It has to be a fact some are using. If there's this much smoke, there must be fire.

But a quick look down the rosters is all the evidence needed to rule out well over 50 percent of players. First of all, knock every pitcher off the suspect list. The bodies on almost every one of them belie the notion they are using, plus the effects of the muscle-building drug just don't allow the flexibility necessary to be an effective hurler.

Also, take away almost every middle infielder and center fielder -- I just can't convince myself Rey Ordonez or Juan Pierre are on the juice.

The numbers drop precipitously below the 50-percent level.

Numbers aside, baseball does have a problem. And even bigger than the handful of players that use steroids, is the public relations nightmare the game finds itself in. Testing will become necessary, if only to rid the game of the suspicion it has been overrun by a bunch of cheaters.

And it's all because Caminiti and Canseco chose to strike back in the least constructive manner possible at the game that provided them their livelihood and stardom. Instead of standing alone and admitting their own indiscretions during their careers, they chose to create the idea they were just doing what everyone was doing -- "So don't hate me."

Childish and destructive.

Caminiti -- who since has backed off his "50-percent" estimate, saying instead he knew "some" guys who used -- now will be known as the player who cheated to win his National League MVP award in 1996.

Canseco lost even more. Feeling he was blackballed from baseball and forced into retirement, he probably tossed away any chance he had of getting into the Hall of Fame.

Now, a game that was desperately in need of a shot in the arm, has fans wondering what players are shooting into their bodies.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.