Afternoon Baseball

Baseball Musings
I love David Pinto and the work he does on his excellent site, but he is again pushing the idea that legalizing and regulating steroids would somehow solve the problem, i.e. that player safety while using steroids is the problem. He even compares it to birth control -- but that's been decided along privacy lines, no female athlete uses birth control to gain a competitive edge, and steroids can't possibly be contained in a privacy ruling unless someone is just using them to get big, without ever competing in anything. Sports are a workplace, and employers have to right to test for substances that might affect the workplace environment.

EDIT: David actually posted here, which is pretty cool. Read his comment. I'm glad he cleared up the point he was trying to make about birth control and it being about the doses -- i.e. low doses of steroids might be helpful, but not a harmful or unfair extreme.
I still don't like the analogy because nobody argued the (initial) legalization of birth control on those grounds. It was because of its effectiveness as birth control and (most importantly) the right of privacy for women. The other beneficial effects were found later, granted, and probably because it was initially made legal. But I can't see how we can turn steroids into a right of privacy issue for pro athletes. What's a better analogy? Other than pure libertarianism, which the baseball player's union has pretty much conceded by agreeing to testing in the first place.

But working with steroids to determine safe doses and that sort of thing, as David suggests, is a fine idea. But can't it be accomplished without allowing pro athletes access -- until, and only until if at all, that safe threshold is reached? Scientists can use amateurs, weight-lifters, and perhaps retired athletes or older folks to figure out the "safe" steroid. Am I way off on this?

Here's the rest of my original post:
This idea that legalization and regulation would promote "safe" steroid use and benefit everyone ignores the reality that many players simply don't want to use steroids and rightly regard the use of them as cheating. And if steroids, etc. were to be made legal, thus encouraged, then players would essentially be told to make a choice between steroids and falling behind other athletes.

This is not an issue of improving fitness and performance, i.e. weightlifting, running, stretching and even vitamins and nutrients. This is about deliberately taking substances which are by no means "natural" and have great risk of long-term harm. Nobody should have to feel pressured to do so. In fact, those who do should worry day and night about being exposed and becoming pariahs, both in the eyes of fans and their fellow competitors.