Major League Baseball

Bobby Valentine: PEDs are good for sports, will become mainstream

Published Sep. 26, 2015 10:03 a.m. ET

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The always controversial Bobby Valentine is at it again, insinuating that performance-enhancing drugs are no different than weightlifting and saying that they will eventually find mainstream acceptance.

The former MLB manager and current Sacred Heart University athletic director made the comments during an SI Now appearance on Friday, where he was quizzed about PEDs in sports and whether they were a good thing.

“Probably, if you want to see the best out of your athlete,” Valentine told SI’s Maggie Gray. “If it’s not harmful to the athlete, the performance-enhancing’s weightlifting, or nutrition, and getting your rest, and in 2015 and beyond, there’s also this way of enhancing with a medical form that makes you better.”

So, Valentine is effectively comparing performance-enhancing drugs to weightlifting or eating right. He goes on to say that fans want to see players performing at their highest level.

When asked if fans would also like to see everyone competing on a level playing field, Valentine further explained his stance.

“The people who lift weights correctly, the ones who have the best strength and conditioning coaches, actually perform better,” he said. “I think it’s the same type of idea, the idea that because it’s a drug and you’re taking it from the outside, that it’s bad. But there’s a lot of really good drugs out there that we do take that make us feel better and perform better, and I think these PEDs that people talk about that are performance enhancers will eventually get into the mainstream.”

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