Anabolic steroids generally improve the level of athletic performance. Improved performance is, by most accounts, good for sport. MLB umpire Tim McClelland recently questioned how one could fault an athlete for doing something that makes him a better player. Sidney Gendin, professor of philosophy of law at Eastern Michigan University, has even suggested that we should only ban those athletes who refuse to use steroids.
Janean Marti argues in an editorial that professional athletes have an obligation to their fans to use steroids to improve their performance. After all, how else can an athlete like Alex Rodriguez plausibly begin to justify his $275 million baseball contract to his employers and/or to his fans? Furthermore, Marti highlights the utter hypocrisy of society’s condemnation of the unacceptable dangers of steroids and criticism of the wrong message it sends to young people Read more
Timothy McClelland, one of Major League Baseball’s most respected and senior umpires, defended baseball players who have used anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs at a university fundraiser last night. McClelland was the headline guest speaker at the sixth annual Iowa Baseball Lead-Off Dinner hosted by the University of Iowa baseball team. McClelland’s comments on steroids in baseball came on the same day as Alex Rodriguez’s steroid confessional at a press conference in Tampa.
Tim McClelland has worked as an umpire in Major League Baseball for over 25 years. He has been around long enough to witness the beginning of the so-called steroid era in baseball. He acknowledged that rampant steroid use was obvious in the MLB for a period of at least 15 years and hopes that fans and probably also sports writers and grandstanding politicians move past the hysteria that has overtaken baseball. After all, how can you fault an athlete for seeking to improve himself as a player and maximize his performance? (”McClelland: Steroids part of era,” February 18).
“They used it to make themselves better,” McClelland said. “I can’t fault a player for doing that. It was not against the rules of baseball, so I can’t fault a player for trying to make himself better.”
Tim McClelland has established a strong reputation as being fair and consistent. The major league crew chief is always among the top-rated umpires in the league among players and managers. He explains that cheating has always been part of baseball. Read more
