Part of the image that some Americans had perceived of their sports heroes parallels that of role models. They're sometimes seen as superior to the average man because the athlete is able to excel in a particular sport. In American, a beginning professional athlete starting pay can easily exceed 1.4 million dollars a year, depending on the sport. The sports business including ticket sales, sports paraphernalia, pay-per-view, and other means of financial gain in America, profits in the billions per year. The average baseball player, for example, receives around $4 million a year; however, the big guns of baseball can average 10 million dollars a year. The competition to stay on top and purse higher pay perhaps causes surmounting stress on professional players to keep up with the high demands it takes to stay on top of their game in order for them to stay afloat. Part of the problem to stay there has caused some of them to use a drug referred to as a steroid to induce endurance.
This issue has recently come of hiding and into the forefront of American media (Mottram 15-18).
Prior to these allegations, the implications of rumors among the players themselves caused an internal investigation that resulted in last years court hearings of illegal steroid use. For the past few years there has been assumption that baseball players have been taking steroids. With Ken Kaminiti's confession for using steroids in Sports Illustrated, questions where addressed. In 2004 more than five percent of baseball players were accused for the use of steroids. Baseball officials and players have tried to ignore the issue and have said that the media has exaggerated the issue (Dohrmann 50).
Over the years baseball fans have been in limbo trying to decide who is the mediocre in the steroid issue.