Baseball is full of interesting "what if's".
People forget the year the M&M Boys (Mantle and Roger Maris) went after the single season home run record, Mantel reached 54 homers and had to sit out a few crucial games games of the year fighting an illness that in retrospect was probably caused by a quack of a doctor who went around injecting his famous clients with amphetamines and other strange and illicit substances that made them sick form time to time. This doctor eventually lost his license to practice medicine.
On September 9, 1961, Mantle had hit his 53rd. homer but didn't slug another one for a two solid weeks. He played seven seasons after that and never hit over 30 homers in a season again. Sad but true.
Then you have Jimmy Foxx, who in 1932 would have beaten Ruth's single season home run record had he not hit 3 balls into fences that covered the top of some outfield walls back in the day that would have been ruled home runs today but were then ground-rule doubles
*.
(
*In a previous post citing this I had incorrectly stated that Foxx hit these three balls against the foul pole, but I looked it up and it was not the case.)
Back to the steroids issue-Victor Conte made a statement on the ESPN program "Outside The Lines" where he says major league players have confessed to him that testosterone use is rampant in the majors. Of course, Conte's comments have been marginalized because he is seen by many as having no credibility, but it's these types of character who would know.
Then you have the sacred cows of sport like Derek Jeter, who because he is such a monolithic figure, questioning his resurgence at the age of 38 is tantamount to heresy. What makes his season stats worthy of skepticism is he is showing improved numbers in home runs and batting average at an age where the natural aging process would tell a different sort of tale. An improved batting average of 54 points from 2 years ago at the age of 38 is quantifiably suspicious.
But the Dominicans have gotten busted much of late simply because they do things in the inimitable Dominican style-no need to be meticulous about it, because they are convinced they'll never get caught and besides, the rules don't apply to them. This attitude coupled with taking advice from Dominican doping gurus who take a class in nutrition and go around calling themselves experts in the field and you're going to have problems.
As for HgH improving eyesight, here is an article written for "Outside Magazine" where the author states his eyesight improved while taking a cycling of it over an 8-month period-
"If the HGH weren't so expensive, I'd probably continue with it, at least until I had a good reason not to, like some new evidence that it makes you grow extra ears. (The side effects of HGH are reportedly mild—one is fluid retention.) If nothing else, it helped my eyesight, and I had more energy."
http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/Drug-Test.html?page=all
In a follow-up question-answer article, the author of the above piece stated that his eyesight improved to the point where he was able to chuck his reading glasses and didn't need them for night driving. When he got off the HgH, he had to resume use of his glasses.
I included this for those who continuously state that steroids do not improve hand-eye coordination. Combine HgH with the improved bat speed one attains with testosterone and it is easy to understand the positive affects a steroid regimen can have on hand-eye coordination as seen from the batting averages of those who've been busted lately.