Baseball players' use of steroids to enhance their performance is growing rapidly. In Baseball, the increased muscle bulk and strength translates to better performances on the athletic field. To enhance athletic performance, anabolic steroids are taken over a long period of time (weeks or months), well before any competition. In contrast to psychomotor stimulants, anabolic steroids tend to stay in the body for relatively long periods, making their detection much less dependent on testing immediately after use.
Two-thirds of Americans say baseball players found to have used steroids should be barred from baseball’s Hall of Fame, an Associated Press-AOL poll found. Player’s high salaries were named as baseball’s “biggest problem” by 33 percent of those surveyed, followed by steroids at 27 percent and the cost of going to a game at 22 percent, according to the telephone poll done for the AP and AOL Sports by Ipsos-Public Affairs.
http://www.steroid.com/story.php?sid=13
In a much-publicized article, former player Ken Caminiti revealed that he had used steroids when he won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1996 and that at least half of the big-league players used them as well. Another former player, Jose Canseco, also admitted using steroids and thought that some 85 percent of current players were doing so.
Perhaps the idea of a collection of individuals voluntarily taking part in a joint activity requiring the mutual observance of common rules applies here. Thus, in professional baseball, an umpire has the right to require a pitcher to empty his pockets so the umpire can check that the player is not carrying special prohibited substances which, when applied to the baseball, can alter its flight, making it more difficult to hit. Off the field, the umpire would have no right to search the player but does have such a right in the special context of the game...........
