PEDs, Players' Ignorance Continue to Hurt the MLB

Before the season began, Bryce Harper made headlines with his comments about the lack of "fun" in baseball. The "Code" of baseball was challenged, and with it came an uproar from both current and retired players. Baseball has always been a man's game. Not "man's game" as in physical stature or strength, like football, but more towards the side of a sport being centered around respect and integrity. The game is littered with rules you'll never set eyes on in the official rule book and that's what makes the game such a beautiful sport. And while I don't agree with Harper's reasons for saying baseball isn't fun, I do believe that the game of baseball as a whole is not as fun as it used to be and Dee Gordon of the Miami Marlins is the latest reason for that.

Gordon will serve an 80-game suspension this season

It was announced this morning that the 2015 National League batting champ and current second baseman for the Marlins will serve an 80-game suspension as a result of a failed drug test. While taking PEDs is pathetic and dishonest in its own right, Gordon made matters worse when he claimed that he did not know that he had ingested the drugs. How do you not pay attention to what you're putting in your body? I don't think people are secretly spiking his food or sneaking pills into his meals, which either means Gordon is lying or he's just flat out clueless. It not only hurts Gordon's physical health in the long run, but it kills the reputation of an All-Star and shows a complete disrespect to the game.

That's why baseball has become so hard to trust and be viewed as fun. PEDs have become a constant reminder that even when things are going so well in baseball, there are still players who feel it necessary to cheat and ruin the integrity of the game. And what makes this even worse is that guys like Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire have now ruined the perspective of fans and analysts whenever a player enjoys success. Take Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta for example: Arrieta has become the best pitcher in baseball over the past year and has had historic outing after historic outing. He has been an irreplaceable piece of the rise of the Cubs and has provided more excitement than any other player on the roster. Yet Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless spoke about Arrieta on ESPN First Take earlier this week and wondered aloud if Arrieta was using PEDs.

While it's ludicrous to think that someone would undermine a guy's work ethic with an accusation like that, you can hardly blame Stephen A. Smith for calling attention to Arrieta's rise to stardom. Was Smith careless in how he phrased his accusation? Yes. Was the thought behind his words justifiable? Probably. That's the way the baseball world works now and that saddens me. If you have any sort of success, the assumption is almost always that that player's success is due to PEDs of some sort, not his own work ethic and improvement. The cheaters of the late '90's and early 2000's created that culture, and it has stuck with baseball ever since.

Arrieta's meteoric rise has recently raised questions about PEDs

Gordon's suspension is the first of its kind for this season, but it falls in line with a long list of other suspensions past cheaters have served. The biggest issue here is that the MLB is not doing anything to make an example out of anyone that will leave a lasting impression. Sure 80 games seems like a big number, but in the grand scheme of things it's only half a season. Who cares? Dee Gordon is 28 years old and in his sixth season. Once he serves this 80-game suspension he'll come back and serve no further punishment. In the grand scheme of what could be a 12-15 year career, is 80 games without pay really a big deal? No. It is estimated that Gordon will lose about 1.65 million dollars during this suspension, but in comparison to the 50 million dollar contract he signed this past winter, 1.65 is pocket change.

The bottom line is that suspensions and fines are not punishment enough for the guys who don't play the game the right way. If you want to stop the use of PEDs or at least lower the number of guys using them then you ban the guys who break those rules. It's absolutely inexcusable to have guys like Pete Rose banned from baseball for betting on his team to WIN, yet the guys who cheat and set a bad example for younger athletes basically get a slap on the wrist in the long run. The MLB has its priorities real mixed up, and baseball will not recover unless the discipline does more damage.

To connect this all to Harper's desire to make baseball more fun, there is no way that that can truly happen. Players can do all the bat flips they want, they can celebrate in any way they desire, but if players continue to cheat and call the integrity of the game into question then baseball will never be as fun as it should be. I absolutely love the game of baseball and it is a sport I follow faithfully, but why should I enjoy watching America's oldest sport if my favorite player will be questioned about PEDs any time he has a successful season? There is no trust in baseball, it has become guilty until proven innocent and it should not have to be that way. It's time the MLB starts taking itself and these PED violations more seriously because, ironically, taking things more seriously would translate to more fun in baseball.