By Jason Scheer
Seven Major League Baseball players, including the Yankees' Jason Giambi and retired slugger and former home run champion Mark McGwire, have been subpoenaed to appear at the March 17 hearing of the House Government Reform Committee. The focus of these meetings will be the apparently pervasive use of steroids in the sport.
While some government officials have questioned whether the government has the right to subpoena these star athletes, one local politician fully supports the efforts to bring the truth about steroids to the public. U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) said that the hearings are necessary, and that some players are setting a bad example for young athletes in our communities.
"I am disappointed to hear of the allegations of steroid use in Major League Baseball," McCarthy said. "So many young people see professional athletes as role models, and athletes must accept this role as part of their jobs. Steroid use creates a dangerous environment in which young players are forced to choose between their long-term health and immediate success on the playing field."
Frank Esposito is the head coach of the Baldwin High School boys' varsity baseball team. He applauds baseball's efforts to keep major leaguers, role models for young athletes, from setting a scary precedent for the future. "As far as the influence on the team, they see [big leaguers] as their heroes," Esposito said. "They're the guys who made it to the majors, and they try to follow in their footsteps."
Regarding the congressional hearings, Esposito said, "I think the kids are finally going to see the [players] who did take [steroids], the stuff that happened to them with their bodies breaking down, and their big heads," he said. "[Learning] from a good athlete who has taken [steroids] is like going to Alcoholics Anonymous and having them teach what happened and what hurt them. Any time you can understand what happens, to see and hear first hand, it can only help."
Esposito said that the competitive climate surrounding professional and collegiate sports lends itself to cheating and quick fixes. "You can be the superstar on the high school varsity team today and on June 25, you graduate and you're just one on a roster of 25 that's average at best," Esposito said. "And if the team is lucky, one kid will get a look from a minor-league team.
"Maybe, in their mind, they think they have to take these drugs to get an edge."
Esposito said that athletes in Baldwin are well versed in the dangers of steroids, thanks to informative lessons from the athletic department. He said he stresses the benefits of hard work, practice, eating right and working out as the only means of getting ahead, and that using steroids is just a quick fix and a quick way to find yourself on the wrong path. "You might be a stud on the team today, but down the line it's going to mess you up, its going to screw with your body, the whole thing," he said.
Comments about this story? JScheer@liherald.com or (516)569-4000) ext. 282.
