Might Doesn't Matter

by Robert Nishihara

Jose Canseco is the Oracle of Truth.

At least, that's what sports media people from all over the country would have you believe. Media pundits everywhere have taken Canseco's recent allegations about steroid abuse in major league baseball and used them as the genesis for a rather ill-conceived and wholly unsubstantiated campaign tying anabolic steroid use to increased home run production.

Jose Canseco

Unfortunately, sensationalism seems to supercede journalistic integrity in most sports reporting these days, the sizzle now trumping the steak. And, clearly, there is no more appropriate individual than Jose Canseco, poster boy for outrageous hyperbole, to serve as the seed from which this hype-laden baseball story springs.

As corroboration for Canseco's charges, former Houston Astro and San Diego Padre Ken Caminiti was sought out and featured in a cover story for a major national sports publication. In it, Caminiti revealed that he took steroids during his 1998 MVP season with San Diego. He also cited an outrageously high percentage of major league players he believed to be steroid users. However, almost as soon as the story came out, Caminiti recanted those statements claiming he was duped into saying those things and that whatever he had said was taken out of context. Strangely, this public contradiction did little to damage the credibility of his original statements.

Thus armed (though, from two fairly dubious sources), the media have taken to scrutinizing the increasing number of home runs being hit in the major leagues in recent years. The reasoning (or lack thereof) goes something along the lines of observing that players have become bigger and stronger and home runs have increased in volume. Bingo. Steroids help a player get bigger and stronger, and being bigger and stronger helps a player hit more home runs. Even though this seems a ridiculously simplistic rationale, it has become a given in the media in all subsequent commentary discussed and questions asked about the subject.

However, there seems to be something missing in this public debate on the issue of steroid use in baseball. The one question not being asked, and, frankly, the one that would appear to be at the heart of the issue is this: How exactly does taking anabolic steroids help a major league player hit a home run that he ordinarily would not be able to hit?

No less a source than Ted Williams, considered by many the greatest pure hitter of all time, cites three key elements to hitting a baseball effectively in his book, "The Science of Hitting". A good hitter must identify a pitch to hit, know enough about the pitcher and the game situation to give himself the best chance to succeed, and put hands and hips into motion to drive the pitch. Nowhere does Williams mention that muscle mass aides in any of those critical elements. Williams, himself, of course, was rail-thin, and yet, he managed to crank out 521 career homers.

Barry Bonds, he of the all-time single season home run record and now being unfairly scrutinized for that landmark achievement, has publicly echoed Williams' sentiments. He has said in many press conferences since the Canseco story first broke that hitting a baseball is primarily a function of hand-eye coordination. When you watch Bonds hit, the first thing you notice is the quickness of his hands.

Sure, added muscle mass may increase the distance a player is able to hit a baseball, but what negative effect does that added mass have in altering the fluidity of the player's swing and, thus, his ability to hit the ball in the first place? A popular baseball refrain cautions fast players who have deficiencies in the batter's box that one cannot steal first base. Similarly, a power hitter cannot hit a home run if he cannot hit the ball. And hitting a baseball is a unique skill in the world of sports. It is a powerful act that does not require extraordinary muscle strength. Instead, it is primarily dependent on technique, reflexes, and hand-eye coordination, not brute strength. It is a correlation that so many people are failing to make these days.

Frankly, I'm inclined to believe the last player to hit .400 in the majors and the single season home run record holder when they talk about what is required to hit a baseball effectively. The fact that most sports media people seem unable or unwilling to do the same is troubling. Further, the very idea that they can dismiss observations from the likes of Ted Williams and Barry Bonds in favor of publicity-laced gossip from Jose Canseco and double-backed statements from a troubled guy like Ken Caminiti says more about the current state of sports reporting than I care to know.

I don't doubt that some major league players are taking steroids, but I do doubt the perceived pervasiveness and the relative value of such usage. Without question, I believe that steroid use is wrong and dangerous. However, the primary focus of this issue by the media has been to emphasize what effect steroid use has on the statistical results of the game, and the idea that the major leagues are rampant with superhuman players who can master the game's most difficult tasks with ease. The media would be better served emphasizing the inherent health risks taken by players who use steroids for what would seem to be marginal performance advantages.

Luis Gonzalez Where's the beef?

This connection between extraordinary muscle strength and home run hitting ability seems a fallacy to me, and I am disheartened that so much of the sports world seems to take it as gospel. If, in fact, excessive bulk were the key factor to driving pitches out of the ballpark, I would have thought that it would have been Frank Thomas (who, indeed, is built like a linebacker) who would reign as home run king. Similarly, Bo Jackson should have been a Hall of Famer given his incredible muscularity. And how would the home run hitting exploits of Luis Gonzalez be explained? Gonzalez, who is built more like a safety pin than a strong safety, cranked out 57 homers in 2001. And what of Hank Aaron, the man who sits atop the all-time homer list with a mark that only a handful of active players have even an outside chance of catching? During his playing days, Aaron stood six feet tall and weighed 180 pounds, hardly a gargantuan individual.

The sooner all of this talk about tying steroids to home runs fades the better. Major league baseball has much more serious problems afoot. Focusing the media spotlight on some of those issues would be a much more constructive exercise than the one currently being played out.

That way, we could all put the image of Jose Canseco as sage away, and let the man do his shameless pandering for his yet unwritten book in anonymity. And we can get back to the critical business at hand in baseball: figuring out a way to expel Bud Selig from the Commissioner's office before he damages the game of baseball any more than he already has.

Bibliography: Williams, Ted and John Underwood. "The Science of Hitting". New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986.