MLB STEROID CRISISBy: Jeff Rodisel

ORGANIZATIONAL CRISIS• Unplanned change within an organization is described as an “organizational

crisis”

• These include the following:

• Natural disasters

• Financial crises

• Terrorism

• Industrial accidents

• Outbreaks of food-borne illness

STEROIDS IN THE MLB

• Major League Baseball has recently had an ongoing issue with their players using performance enhancing substances

• There are still discussions on how to punish those who use steroids

SUSPENSION HISTORY• The MLB has handed out 40 suspensions to

players because of steroids in just the last five years

HALL OF FAME POTENTIAL• Multiple Hall of Fame candidates have been rejected due to

their names being connected to steroids in recent findings

• These include players such as:

• Barry Bonds

• Sammy Sosa

• Mark McGwire

BALCO• BALCO, or the Bay Area Laboratory Co-

operative, was a San Francisco based business which supplied anabolic steroids to professional athletes

• They were under investigation by the U.S. Federal government for multiple years

BALCO AFTERMATH• Before the scandal with BALCO, the MLB did not

have a policy for players who use performance enhancing substances

• Commissioner Bud Selig immediately instituted a league wide policy for substance abusers after the scandal

BARRY BONDS• Bonds and his personal trainer Greg Anderson

were under investigation from 2003-2007 due to his use of steroids

• Barry Bonds claimed he unknowingly took steroids that were given to him by Anderson, but that was found to be untrue

MARK MCGWIRE• Mark McGwire openly admitted to using steroids

throughout his career, including in 1998 when he broke the MLB single-season home run record

• He claims that he began using steroids in 1996 to help heal his body due to injuries he suffered in ’93, ’94, ’95, and ‘96

RYAN BRAUN• More recently, during his 2011 MVP season Braun

was accused of taking PED’s

• He repeatedly denied such reports until 2013 when he apologized for his actions

• Ryan Braun served a 65-game suspension and is still playing in the league

TODAY’S OFFENDERS• While the players in the early 2000’s were linked

to BALCO and a new form of PED’s, today’s athletes are using an older form of the drug

• Multiple players in 2016 were tested positive for Turinabol, a testosterone booster which was developed in 1961

INCREASING TECHNOLOGY• Constantly gaining new technology allows for the

MLB to not only test today’s players more efficiently, but also test previous samples as well

PENALTIES• Penalties for offenders have been continuously

increasing since 2005

• Increasing the penalty length has not deterred players from using PED’s

VOIDING CONTRACTS• There are cases in which a player performs very

well and signs a large contract in the offseason only to be caught using PED’s right after

• Players are not paid during their suspensions, but this is only just a small fraction of what the team has to pay them in the long run

PRE CRISIS• Offensive output increases in the mid 90’s

• Only three players reached 50 home runs from 1961 to 1994 but that number began to increase significantly

CRISIS• Players begin to test positive for performance

enhancing drugs

• Continue to deny they are involved in such actions

POST CRISIS• Players who were caught begin to acknowledge

their actions and apologize for what they have done

• Punishments for offenders begin to be more harsh in an attempt to deter players from using PED’s

SUMMARY• Organizational crises are moments in an

organization’s history that are characterized by surprise, threat, and the need to respond quickly

• The MLB is constantly working to remove the use of PED’s in baseball, and while they are currently in the post crisis stage, there are still instances of substance abuse in the league

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER• If the MLB were to increase the punishment for

PED users, how drastic would the change be?

• Can you implement a clause in contracts that would result in significant losses if a player gets caught using PED’s?

WORKS CITED• Jaffe, Jay. "Explaining MLB's Recent Wave of PED Suspensions."

Sports Illustrated. N.p., 5 May 2016. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

• Leach, Matthew. "McGwire Opens Up About Steroid Use." Major League Baseball. N.p., 11 Aug. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

• Miller, K. (2015). Organizational communication: Approaches and processes (7th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.