Did Steroids 'Save' Baseball?

I don’t understand why the players from that era are going to be crucified if this is the opinion of someone who was in a front office during that time. If he thinks this, why wouldn’t the players use steroids?

I do not condone steroid use but its use in baseball definitely coincides with other changes in the game over the years and I think it has contributed to baseball’s growth and entertainment value. Virtually every stadium in the US has seen their fences shortened for the simple fact that people would rather see more homeruns than pop flys.

Also just because a few guys have been called out for taking steroids doesn’t mean there isn’t a much larger population of athletes taking them, both minor and major leaguers, but especially minor leagers. There are certainly players that have amazing talent and are completely clean, but it would be naive to assume that there aren’t 100’s upon 100’s of players who have worked their way up using performance enhancing drugs. At the end of the day if you are getting paid to be the best, but you naturally can’t get there, you are going to take something (not my mindset, but I think many players struggle with this). So I definitely think it has changed the game, definitely increased entertainment value, but unfortunately has made some athletes terrible role models for young athletes.

I understand that everyone’s experience is different but steroids in no way saved baseball for me. I didn’t watch baseball when I was young. I watched basketball and football but not baseball. That changed when I was nine when the Yankees played the Mariners in the 1995 playoffs. That series hooked me on baseball. I watched it with my father and during the games he told me about going to Yankee stadium and watching Mickey Mantle. I’ve been hooked ever since. And in 1998 at age 12 I rooted against Mcgwire because even at 12 I knew that a guy that had andro sitting in his locker was probably hitting some pharmaceutically induced home runs. And while Kennisaw Mountain Landis might have helped baseball after the black sox scandal his stance on black players denied Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson the chance to play against the best. So he might have done as much to damage the game as save it.

It brought the game back yes, but in a unhealthy and unrealistic way. Baseball is different from Beer League Softball just like legitimate Wrestling is different from the WWE. Baseball is on the right path, now if they could just decide whether or not to have a DH and contract to 28 teams we’d really have something but I digress. In all seriousness Jose Canseco saved baseball.