Performance enhancing drugs have plagued the game of baseball for more than a decade now and they will continue to do so for years to come.

Baseball will never be the same. Its legitimacy is wearing thin. The players who let their desire to be bigger than baseball chose to walk down this path. They have no one to blame except for that person they see in the mirror. They have cemented this game into a black hole.

On Feb. 9th, New York Yankee star Alex Rodriguez admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. Rodriguez was the player that was going to legitimize the sport of baseball again. This shows baseball is still falling.

“If you need steroids, it gets to a point to where it’s pathetic,” said Mesa College baseball player Anthony Lopez. “A lot of kids look up to them.”

These players are role models for a lot of young people. It’s staggering to think that these players know people look up to them and yet they con all of their fans by cheating in baseball.

Lopez thinks it is not right for a player to be using any substance for whatever reason. It is not fair for the players that work hard and perform naturally compared to the players who use substances to better their performances.

“It’s definitely bad for the game,” said Mesa College pitcher Blake Gallacher.

Gallacher feels that players get a significant advantage from taking these drugs. He feels that the players can heal quicker from injury and they can last longer throughout a season. I think the hardest task a baseball player faces every year is lasting throughout a 162 game season.

How far do these drugs reach in the levels of baseball? Mesa catcher Zach Tanida believes that it is very much a possibility that even kids in high school might be looking for an edge.

“I feel that baseball got to a point where there were a lot of young athletes felt they needed an edge,” said Tanida.

Some of the biggest names in baseball have been linked to performance enhancing drugs. The young players who envy their lives and contracts will look for that same edge.

Lopez, Gallacher, and Tanida believe that the game of baseball will never be the same. Tests may prevent players from using these drugs, but Gallacher believes 20 years down the road, there will be something new for players to use. There are dark clouds hovering over the diamond and will be for generations to come.