A-Rod Admits To Taking Steroids. Should You Be Surprised?

----------------------------------------------------news.yaho.com

Baseball's golden boy and arguably the best player in the game, admitting taking banned substances does not really surprise me. In my opinion, it was only a matter of time until another high profiled baseball player admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).

In the past few years, a large number of popular and Hall of Fame caliber baseball players have either been accused or admitted to taking PEDs or steroids. Whether it was Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, Jason Giambi, Barry Bonds or now Alex Rodriguez, all of these players images have now been tarnished, and will never be the same.

A-Rod admits to taking PEDs from 2001-2003 while with the Texas Rangers. His reasoning for taking PEDs:
-------------"When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day," Rodriguez told ESPN's Peter Gammons.

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During those three years, A-Rod had his best career statistically, including one of his three MVP awards.

-------------------------------A-Rod's Career Stats

-------------1996-2000-----------*2001-2003*------------2004-2008

Bat Avg:-------.286-------------------.305---------------------.302

Slug %:--------.498-------------------.615---------------------.572

HR a Year:-----27---------------------52-----------------------41

RBI a Year:----85--------------------132---------------------123

*Years While Taking Banned Substances.*

Pressure or just trying to get an edge, is the reason why people take steroids or PEDs. However, while players taking these banned substances are considered cheaters, it is not the first time baseball players have taken actions like this to get ahead.

Baseball since the 1800s had cases of cheating. In 1897, legendary knuckle ball pitcher Joe Niekro was caught using an emery board on the mound during a game, to sand grooves in the ball. Other pitchers, including Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry, was notorious for doctoring balls. Perry would put saliva, sweat, or petroleum jelly from under the brim of his hat, on the ball making it move in different directions.

Corking bats is another way of players cheating. Players would hollow out the center of a bat and fill it with cork or even rubber balls. Modifying bats makes it lighter and players think it makes the ball go farther. Since 1970, six players have been caught corking bats, including alleged steroid user Sammy Sosa back in 2003.

------------------------------------------------latinosportslegends.com

These cases may seem small and not relevant to banned substances, but the question is, is steroids any different? How can we as a society determine what players cheated back then, without them getting caught? I think it is safe to say, some current Hall of Famers cheated at some point in their careers, without using PEDs. How do you differentiate those cheaters to steroid users?

From the 1980s when steroids and PEDs allegedly came into play in MLB, no one can tell for sure which players used. Until tests started in 2003, the only way of knowing, is from people accusing or admitting to using banned substances.

I believe no matter how many steroid testes there are, steroid makers will always be one step ahead. As the years go on and technology gets better, cheating will get better.

It is sad to see a sport considered America's Pastime, will always be linked to cheating and steroids.

~Sabol