What are steroids used for and are they easy to get?
TOM VERDUCCI: Well, they’re used to enhance performance and they do work. Players will gain mass. They will gain strength. In some cases, even speed. It’s very common also for pitchers, for instance, to use steroids, to increase velocity and most importantly, to increase recovery. Baseball is a game that is played every day, especially for a relief pitcher, who, say pitches four times in a six-night stand. Steroids will allow that pitcher to recover more quickly from the wear and tear. It has become more popular because people have looked around and seen the results that players who are maybe second tier type players are putting up better numbers than they normally would, and athletics, on any sort of level, is all about competition and players were afraid that if they were not using steroids, they would be at a competitive disadvantage. JEFFREY BROWN: Now, we have some statements from baseball officials after they released the numbers. Rob Manfred of Major League Baseball, “a positive
