Steroid Take
I know that some people feel that steroids should be legalized in baseball for a variety of reasons (mainly that it's going to be difficult to stop them from infiltrating the game and perhaps we can learn more about the drug from more research on it). David Pinto of Baseball Musings, the Bill Walsh of blogs, is one of the people who feel this way.

I really couldn't disagree with this notion anymore. The problem with players taking steroids is that others are then pressured into taking the drug in order to keep up. Eventually this will all filter down to college and high school. Do we really want .220 hitters in high school juicing because they think it's there way to the Big Leagues?

There is an idea that if steroids are done in moderation it can be helpful--and maybe that can happen. But what happens when everybody is on a "moderate" amount of steroids? Then players are going to feel the pressure to be even bigger and stronger, so they'll up their dosage...Then you have a bunch of 'roid monster freaks with giant heads running around and engaging in a race to see who can be baseball's Lyle Alzado.

Do we really want Major League Baseball (or any other professional sport) to become a test of who has the best doctors and who has the best designer steroid? When I played junior college baseball in Southern California there were guys we knew took steroids and many players that were suspected of it. It has trickled down to the high schools in America as well. Like I said, do we want kids who have no shot at playing professional baseball taking a potentially harmful substance because they think it'll turn their .220 batting average into a 40 HR swing in the Show? Do high school kids need to take anything that'll make their voices crack more or give them even more acne?

I think we can all agree that the testing in MLB isn't strong enough. Two things could be done to dramatically change the effectiveness of the testing: 1) Test for masking agents. If a player has a masking agent in his system, treat it just as a steroid (similar to the NCAA) and 2) allow blood sample testing for things like Human Growth Hormones.

Out.