Unless you are a baseball fan, potentially diehard at that, you probably did not know who Melky Cabrera was until he just recently got suspended from baseball for 50 games.  His testosterone levels were elevated to a point that he failed two drug tests.  He later admitted that he took something he probably shouldn’t and would accept his fate.  This was obviously before we found out he was trying to create a fake website/company to cover his tracks.  Anyways… 

Up until that point, Cabrera was one of the hottest hitters in the National League this year and was the All-Star game MVP.  His batting average had increased by 100 points in two years and he was going to be a free agent at the end of the season.  This suspension cost him millions experts say.

Now, if I’m incorrect in some of the facts (not my opinions) that I present in this blog, please comment in the box below.

The way leagues test for elevated testosterone is through urine samples.  A normal adult male has a testosterone to epitestosterone ratio of 1:1.  To trigger a red flag, many sport leagues have to have the ratio higher than a 4:1 ratio.  The theory is that high level athletes can create a little higher level of testosterone in their body.  Of course this 4:1 ratio gives them a heck of a lee-way.

Victor Conte, the former BALCO founder, says that the testing standards are a joke and you have to be an idiot to get caught (I’m paraphrasing).  Because of the 4:1 ratio ,what athletes do is cycle in the testosterone/steroids/fill-in-your-word-here at a rate that would be a ratio just below the 4:1 threshold.  Thus, giving them the benefits of these drugs for more strength, better recovery, and power.

Conte now says that instead of the synthetic steroids out there like what BALCO created, athletes are taking a cream that they rub under their arms or on their hands.  It then gets out of your system within 6 to 8 hours and keeping you below the 4:1 ratio, so everything is good.  Plus, there still is HGH out there.  Which as far as I know the only way to test it is through a blood test.  MLB I heard does a blood test once in spring training and then nothing throughout the rest of the season.  It can be cycled very efficiently throughout the season then.

The point being is that the testers are far behind the cheaters.  I think they always were and they always will be.

Why would Melky Cabrera take a drug if he could potentially get suspended?

If history has taught us anything is that people will do whatever it takes to win and be successful, no matter what the cost.  I read a book in college about the history of college football (okay, I only read half of the book).  You know that back in the early part of the 20th century the powerhouse college football teams were Ivy League schools.  The games were so cutthroat that they were paying players who weren’t even college students to be on the football teams.

That is why we have so many dumb rules from the NCAA.  Nowadays when athletes get busted for some kind of infraction, people say that is so stupid.  But, at some point in time, someone was taking advantage of the system where the NCAA felt a rule was needed for just that infraction.

Baseball has had cheaters for years.  Gaylord Perry had every concoction known to man on his body to groove that baseball just a little more.  There were corked bats and players taking amphetamines.

Why did Cabrera do it?  A high risk could potentially bring a high reward.  Experts say he lost close to $75 million dollars with this suspension.  If he had remained the hitter he was 2 years ago, didn’t get caught with any illegal substance, he probably is signing a contract worth $2 million a year rather than $15 million a year he was projected to get after this season.

That explains that.

I’m a cynical guy.  I think a lot of the high profile sports where you are exploiting your size, speed, and strength have a big PED (performance enhancing drugs) problem.  It doesn’t bother me a whole heck of a lot.  I like seeing the bigger, stronger, athletes go at each other and by the ratings so do you.  I don’t know any of these guys personally, so what do I care they do to their bodies.  But, let’s not be naive and think that this is only segmented to a few people.

We all think Barry Bonds took steroids, but he never failed any tests.  Lance Armstrong never failed any tests, yet he’s being hounded about blood doping.  So don’t believe the testing has gotten better.  If someone is getting caught, I agree with Conte, they had a mental lapse.

Professional athletes are competitors at the highest level.  They want to be great and the reward for being great is getting paid.  I’ve talked with several athletes who played collegiately, but didn’t have the skill to move on.  They all said without hesitation if they had made it to the next level and they felt taking a PED would benefit them, they would do it.  So, if these guys are saying it, you have to understand why Melky Cabrera, and Ryan Braun for that matter, did it.

As the years go on in sports, I have a feeling this is something that will never end.  You will see names, sometimes big names, get suspended for a PED.  Unfortunately, I just don’t find it shocking anymore.  I just hope the next big name isn’t on a team that I’m rooting for.