Some Thoughts on Clemens and Steroids

Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus did a great job summing up the hearings. Here are some of the key details with commentary.

For those with Baseball Prospectus premium subscriptions, you can read the text of Will's excellent article here.http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7141">here.> If not, he made some great points that provide some sanity on the issue, and with his permission I am going to outline and comment.

In the interests of full disclosure I am linking something">http://www.fantasybaseballgenerals.com/2007/08/did-thomas-bayes-prove-that-bonds.html">something I wrote last year on Barry Bonds. It is my belief, based on a somewhat novel use of Bayes' Theorem to the case of Barry Bonds, that at least in his case it is likely that performance enhancing drugs did contribute to his performance. I have never written about my personal views aside from that one article above until now, so before I address Will's article I should make it clear what my views are and that at no time has Will ever indicated what his personal views are, so this is no apologia by a sycophant.

Do not take from my position on Bayes' Theorem that I am against the use of steroids in baseball or sports, or that I believe Bonds' record is illegitimate. Professionals should be allowed to use steroids from a "morality" standpoint in my opinion. That is to say, while it may be government's or the baseball industry's right to proscribe their use, there is no moral reason I can see that the use should be proscribed.

Let's even assume that steroids shorten a player's life (which is by no means true, in fact there is no proof of this, Lyle Alzado and his medical education notwithstanding). "Abuse" of steroids is far different than the mere usage. It is not for me to say that this is not a worthy trade off; playing major league ball and gaining economically is a choice that many people might make. Moreover, the hypocrisy of older players is stunning. It was fine, in their minds, to take greenies by the handful; but let someone provide them with a soapbox on the steroid issue and they may never get down from it.