Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1122169 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 268 pages

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–Carroll is a recognized expert on medical matters related to baseball, and, for the most part, his analysis of steroid use among ballplayers is fair, thorough, and based on solid evidence. As such, his book is in direct competition with several more sensational and opinionated accounts. There is no question, for example, that Juice has more to offer the baseball community than Jose Canseco's Juiced (Regan Bks., 2005), but the latter has received far more attention from the media. At the risk of being slightly pedantic, Carroll refuses to sidestep the many complexities surrounding the use of performance-enhancing drugs. He considers PEDs not just a baseball or even a general sports problem, but rather a social issue on par with the use of recreational drugs. Despite a few factual errors, and some uneven writing (several of the chapters are written by other experts), this book belongs in most public and school libraries. Many who read it will gain from it, but none more so than the high school athlete who will confront, most likely for the first time, the truth about these illegal substances.–Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"An indispensable guide to today's controversies." -- Newsweek

A great resource for information on the history and presence of banned and illegal performance enhancers in sports. -- Tom House

Carroll does a brilliant thing in this book...in one fell swoop he’s raised the level of debate about 'steroids'. -- Eric Neel, ESPN

Everyone talks about steroids, but no one knows anything about them. The Juice is the first step in our education. -- Allen Barra, Wall Street Journal

Eye opening! This is an important book for everyone who influences young athletes. …An objective look... -- Karl Kuehl

He explains the science...and, most importantly, analyzes whether and how these drugs affect the game. -- Newswise.com

No histrionics, no agenda; just an exhaustive look at steroids.... The most important work of its kind. -- Dayn Perry, FOX Sports

Our education has begun…. Carroll…sifts through facts and myths and helps understand the layers of performance enhancements. -- Peter Gammons, ESPN.com

The Juice is a must-read for legislators, sports administrators, educators, lawyers, doctors, journalists, athletes of all levels, and fans. -- Will Weiss, Senior Editor, YESNetwork.com

Will Carroll...cares deeply about the game of baseball. It is the very reason he has authored The Juice. -- Fred Claire, former L.A. Dodger Executive VP and author of Fred Claire: My 30 Years in Dodger Blue

Customer Reviews

Objective, thorough, enlightening look at PEDs
I've been a follower of Will Carroll's work on Baseball Prospectus for a while now, and got a great deal of knowledge out of his last book "Saving the Pitcher".

"The Juice" is an excellent introduction to the ever-expanding and rapidly-changing world of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Mr. Carroll presents a brief history of how athletes (and their trainers) have been seeking versions of magic elixirs for centuries, and then details the physiological changes and risks (and potential benefits) associated with use of PEDs.

Those readers looking for a tell-all on Barry Bonds and Jose Canseco should look elsewhere. "The Juice" DOES devote a chapter to the BALCO investigation, but it is presented in terms of the legal pathways that are being pursued, and who is being targeted and why. Bonds DOES get mentioned, but the book thankfully does not to jump to conclusions.

The chapter that "made" the book for me detailed the use of HGH by a high school pitcher who was told by a scout that he wasn't tall enough. The interviews of the kid and his parents was amazing and thought-provoking.

Well done Will!

Interesting overview on a controversial topic
"The Juice" provides a nice overview on topic that sports fans hear about constantly but nobody is really saying anything new about.

The book discusses many of the drugs in question -- both providing a history of PED (Performance Enhancing Drugs) and their effects (both positive and negative) on the human body. Included in this discussion is a section on supplements and other PEDs (caffeine! amphetamines and the like) which I found an interesting side note in the PED conversation that is often left out (how many players who get caught say they were taking a supplement).

The best sections -- which play to Will Carroll's strength, a conversational writing style that makes complex medical issues understandable, are the interviews with a Minor League player and steroid user, a high school baseball player and HGH user, a PED Lawyer, a Trainer who knows PED, a man who runs a top testing company, and a man who claims to have created THG (at the center of the Balco trial).

Those sections provide a behind the scenes look if you will at the issue.

My biggest criticism of the book is that in the end, Will Carroll doesn't seem to draw any new conclusions despite all the information he provides. I wish he had been better able to tie the book up, somehow his conclusions (which were nothing new) left me unsatisfied.

Still this book is a quick read, tightly written book that raises the bar on the PED discussion -- giving you a view of the other side (which is never heard), providing the reader with important information and raising critical issues in this debate.

Full disclosure
The review below ("Terrible Book") was written by a guy who hawks HGH on the internet, and thus has a financial interest in discrediting books like The Juice. He's obviously not an objective reviewer.
The Juice is as insightful and well-researched as Carroll's Baseball Prospectus column, of which I am a longtime fan. Highly recommended.