Back in Time to The Steroids Era: Baseball and Steroids

McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds

The Google Flourish graphic shows the trajectory of home runs of Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and Mark McGwire from the time span of 1986 to 2005.

The chart’s time span lands in the time frame of the infamous steroid era. During this time in history, there was a scandal in the MBA when players were suspected and eventually confirmed to have been using performance enhancing drugs, steroids, which significantly increased their performance on the field. Players that were involved in this steroid usage scandal were renowned players Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and Mark McGwire.

The confirmed use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) by top players such as Sosa, Bonds, and McGwire with a standing legacy to this day, brought to question the validity of their status as top players. The called “homerun heroics” were called into question especially after steroids were more stigmatized in the MBA after the end of the era in the late 2000s.

The steroid era quickly unraveled after the Mitchell Report, was released and publicized in December of 2007. The Mitchell Report was an over 400 page report of a 21- month long investigation into the use of steroids in the MBA which emphasized how commonly used steroids had become in the MBA world although it was banned and brought the larger problem at hand to light of lack of testing and accountability for players using PEDs. This investigation later was showcased at a congressional hearing during February of 2008.

When we look at the graphic of seasonal homeruns and see the peaks of McGwire and Sosa in 1998 and Bonds in 2001 can we overlook the past and is this dark part of baseball history forgotten?