Or are we overreacting? The problem of steroids, recreational drugs, and other performance enhancers is one of the fundamental issues facing not only baseball but all of sports and society. With pundits pointing fingers and former players naming names, a drug-induced McCarthyism is tarring some of the greatest players ever to take the field. In The Juice, Will Carroll, an acknowledged authority on baseball conditioning and injuries, calls for a scientific, reasoned approach to the steroids problem. He first explains the science of steroids and other drugs, describes how athletes are tested, considers the scientific evidence of effects and side effects, and, most important, analyzes whether and how these drugs impact the game. He explores the grey area of legal supplements, reviews the law involved in the Balco story, and speculates on the next generation of performance enhancers. And he profiles the motivations and experiences of professional players, student athletes, and baseball trainers. Mr. Carroll has interviewed hundreds of players, executives, owners, and experts. For readers who want to understand why baseball has a drug problem, how the drugs work, and how they have affected the game, Mr. Carroll provides the answers. They are surprising--and should lead to new and better questions.

Baseball is a game that sparks passion, writes Will Carroll, and any attempt to change the game, for almost any reason, meets a nearly universal blockade. The specter that has been presented to fans--that steroids have somehow changed the game--has never been scientifically tested. For me, that's the necessary gold standard of proof, and it should be used with a healthy skepticism for conventional wisdom. The process I went through writing this book was one of discovery. I came into the process with an open mind and a pocket full of questions.

Will Carroll, an acknowledged authority on baseball conditioning and injuries, calls for a scientific, reasoned approach to the steroids problem. He first explains the science of steroids and other drugs, describes how athletes are tested, considers the scientific evidence of effects and side effects, and, most important, analyzes whether and how these drugs impact the game.