I have never met Barry Bonds, have never participated in his medical or surgical care, and have never even lived in the same part of the country where he has played ball. Although his teammates seem to not think very highly of him, from the limited television interviews of him that I have watched he seems like an intelligent and articulate fellow. He is certainly a great ballplayer.
And, he is certainly headed for alot of trouble – legally, professionally, and down the road probably medically. But,
really, why should anyone care if he used steroids? How does his purported steroid use hurt anyone but himself? Wasn’t he in the position to know if the rewards of furthering an already great career were worth the risks of years of intensive and large dose anabolic steroid use?
Based on his sudden, acute change in physique and his greatly increased home run statistics over the last 5 or so years, everyone under the sun could hazard a reasonable guess as to whether he was on steroids or not. But, it appears that all manner of people are ostensibly in a tizzy about it now. The Feds are mad that he supposedly lied to the grand jury and are bandying about perjury charges. Bud Selig is shocked, shocked that he may have been using steroids and has set up a commission led by former Senator George Mitchell to investigate. And, they are just coming to this realization now???
In what is undoubtedly bad news for Bonds, the one fellow who is really in a position to know if, what, how much, and when is now legally involved in the Feds’ case. Dr. Arthur Ting is Barry Bonds’ orthopedic surgeon and he has been subponeaed to testify about what he knew about Bonds’ use of steroids. His attorney says he will cooperate fully. Dr. Ting has two previous disciplinary actions on his record with the California state board of medicine and may not be looking to be feisty with the federal prosecutors investigating Bonds’ drug use.
Anabolic steroids, even in small amounts, are bad, bad news medically. Taking them is illegal. But, why is Major League Baseball having George Mitchell investigate if a leopard has spots instead of trying to do something about the spousal abuse committed by professional baseball players and coaches? Why are the Feds spending their time going after a few high profile ballplayers, when they could be going after people ripping off Medicare and Medicaid or drug dealers selling methamphetamine to gradeschoolers?
There are bigger health and safety issues in America that need to be addressed than Barry Bonds and steroids.
Copyright 2006 Insidesurgery.com