John Rocker voices his support for steroid use:
The retiree said that players juiced not only for themselves, but for the sake of the fans. You’re paying to be entertained,” Rocker said. “At the end of the day when people are paying their $80, $120… to buy their ticket and come watch that game, it’s almost like the circus is in town.. They want to see some clown throw a fastball 101 mph and some other guy hit it 500 feet. That’s entertainment.”
He’s not the best person to be pushing this idea, but at least it’s out there. It also seems to be the defacto standard in the NFL.
My only concern with steroids given the health effects has always been that some players may have used just to level the playing field so they could keep their job or get the best contract they could based on their talent. That was Rick Hellings concern as well when he lobbied the MLBPA to do something in the 90’s.
I am all for permitting steroid use , but doubt Congress feels the same, so long as players disclose they use them , and 30% of their salary gets distributed to the non using players. If they use without disclosing they cheat their non using teammates who may be more likely to blow the whistle on them.
And MLB teams must reserve a certain number of spots on the roster for non users.
And countless fans who remember what Rocker was like as a player mutter, “This explains *so* much!”