Surrounding steroid allegations have unfortunately tarnished the reputation of America’s favorite pastime. To control this, the NCAA and the Big 12 Conference have taken matters seriously in order to ensure the steroid use is not rampant in college baseball as it has through professional players. Even players from the University of Texas are used to recurring random drug tests. “We have very frequent random drug tests,” said sophomore pitcher Chance Ruffin. “It’s a pants-down, shirts-up type of thing, so there’s really no way around the system.”

The Big 12, NCAA and the University provide the institutional tests that monitor for both street drugs and performance-enhancing drugs. These tests are randomly scheduled and administered equally to all intercollegiate men’s and women’s teams.

According to Allen Hardin, co-director of sports medicine and the athletic training in the UT athletics department, “Most Big 12 and NCAA peer institutions have an institutional drug-testing program that is similar to the University of Texas.”

Baseball student-athletes are tested just as often as those athletes involved in other sports. In a report submitted by NCAA last 2006, it reveals that the use of steroids in baseball and football was two times as high as in other sports. With this, NCAA deems that drug testing is incredibly important.

Senior infielder Travis Tucker disclosed that they have three different drug tests that could happen any moment. “I could have literally taken 15 to 20 drug tests this year,” he added.

The daily grind in baseball particularly in the big leagues is the main reason why some players turn to use steroids. Major leagues play 162 games in a year. Meanwhile, a team that reaches the World Series could have 183 games.

Kevin Keyes, a sophomore right fielder, even said that the “body will wear down over the course of the season. Playing [so many] games a year is a lot of nine-inning games, plus traveling. Your body can’t take all of it, so that is where steroids can help. Guys take them because they don’t want their careers to end, and taking this drug will give them two to three more years, which means two to three years of more money.”

But at University of Texas, your dream of making it big in baseball will be crushed once you ever think about taking performance-enhancing drugs. “The first day you get here as a freshman, [coaches and administrators] sit you down and tell you which drugs are banned, what they can do to you and the consequences,” Keyes said. “They implant it in your head that this is not a good idea to do … and I really think that helps.”

It is already stated in the 2008-2009 NCAA drug testing policy that once a drug test is confirmed positive, the conference is authorized to strip the athlete of his or her eligibility for one year and suspended for the rest of the season.

Steroids can be classified as a form of cheating because this drug helps speed up muscle growth and provide more energy for workout. Players on the other hand, don’t deny that steroids give them a competitive edge. “They give you better hand-eye coordination. They make you bigger, stronger, faster. They basically make you a machine. Who gets paid the most? The best players. Who gets playing time,” Tucker said.

The Longhorns however do not buy this excuse. “Obviously I don’t agree with it at all,” Ruffin said. “I think it’s unfortunate that that kind of thing has been associated with baseball. It’s really heartbreaking.” Athletes do not take into account the adverse effects of steroids on the body including the harmful changes in cholesterol levels, acne, high blood pressure, liver and heart damage. Players now are more informed on the side effects of steroids.

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