MLB Players Have ADD at Twice the National Average…Or They’re Just Cheating

Approximately 9% of of MLB players are diagnosed with ADD, and they’re hoping you don’t focus on it.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Major League Baseball kicks off the week and the Cubs will begin their trek to becoming 2016 World Series Champs…or not?

Last week, on the Baseball Tonight podcast, Buster Olney brought up a topic that many baseball players have been adamantly ignoring or adamantly pursuing for some time, depending on who you ask.

Performance enhancing drugs (PEDs)have plagued the MLB for some time. I would know—basically every All-Star and hero of my childhood will be barred from the Hall of Fame because of the “cream and the clear” or some other PED. These drugs have been outlawed from the sport, both for the preservation of the game and the wellness of the players. But, baseball players are some of the most competitive men in the world. When it comes down to going to the Show and making millions or going to AA and riding a bus, many young men will do anything to get an edge over the competition.

So, many of them are turning to a drug that is allowed in the MLB, because it sorta has to be: Adderall. Traditionally used to treat attention deficit disorder and other medical conditions, Adderall can also be used as a PED, increasing players’ performance in the weight room and on the field. A similar drug, Ritalin, plagued the sport in the 1970s and 1980s.

What’s the big deal?

Basically, MLB players could be gaining a competitive advantage simply because they’re able to convince team doctors they can’t focus on the ball or pay attention in team meetings.

As Gregg Doyel wrote for CBS Sports back in 2014:

Adderall is a performance-enhancing drug that is being abused in baseball to the point of statistical absurdity. Doctors estimate 4.4 percent of the general adult population suffers from ADD and other disorders that would legitimize a prescription for Adderall, but this season more than double that percentage of MLB players — roughly 9.9 percent of 40-man rosters league-wide, 119 players overall last year — presented baseball with notes from their doctor that they required such medication. Davis says he has had such a doctor’s note in the past. For whatever reason he didn’t have one this season.

And without one?

“It’s cheating,” says Dr. Richard Lustberg, a New York State Licensed Psychologist and member of the American Psychological Association. “It does provide you with energy that you wouldn’t normally have.”

Did you read that? Approximately 4.4% of the U.S. population is diagnosed with ADD, but approximately 9.9% of MLB players are diagnosed with the condition.

That doesn’t even make sense. The slow, boring sport of baseball is supposedly attracting twice percentage of people with ADD than the general U.S. population? Ok, so you say, “But baseball players are playing the game, not watching it. They don’t care if it’s boring.” Even still, baseball requires precision hand-eye coordination and focus, both of which are skills that are typically more difficult for those diagnosed with ADD.

Players like Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers are calling for the MLB Players Association to release the names of the players who have permission to use Adderall because of “Therapeutic Use Exemptions” or “TUEs.”

The MLB and the Players Association will be debating a new collective bargaining agreement in the next year, so it’s possible this topic will come up in the negotiations, but it is unlikely to gain much traction due to the necessary privacy of medical information.

When it comes to drugs that could be used for performance enhancement, MLB players should be checking their privacy at the door.

I don’t want the players my kids eventually idolize to go the way of Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and Mark McGwire.

The MLB has an Adderall problem, but they’re hoping you just don’t focus on it too much.