Title/Author:
“Suicide Squeeze:
Taylor Hooton, Rob Garibaldi and the Fight Against Teenage Steroid Abuse” by William
C. Kashatus
Tags:
Baseball, high school,
college, youth sports, USC, performance enhancing drugs
Publish date:
January 23, 2017
Length:
256 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (Very
good)
Review:
Much has been written and said about the use of steroids, or performance
enhancing drugs (PEDs) in Major League Baseball. However, the use of PEDs is not limited to
the big leaguers – there are also players who have used them in high school,
college and amateur baseball in order to gain a competitive advantage. The
stories of two players who used them and ultimately committed suicide are the
central tales of this book written by William C. Kashatus.
The two players involved are Taylor Hooton (cousin of former major league
pitcher Burt Hooton) and Rob Garibaldi. Both players started using steroids in
high school with the hopes of improving their performance in order to attract
the attention of professional scouts or obtain college scholarships. The latter
did happen for Garibaldi, as he was awarded a scholarship to the University of
Southern California, one of the more prestigious college baseball programs. However,
both of them ultimately committed suicide as the side effects of the drugs took
effect.
The book starts out with the testimony of a parent of each player, Don Hooton and Denise Garibaldi, presented to Congress during the 2005 hearings on PED use in baseball. That was the most powerful section of the book as both parents gave moving accounts of what their sons went through and the responsibility that major league baseball has in letting everyone know about the danger of these substances.
From there, the reader will learn much about the two young men, their dreams
and what they would do in order to achieve them. More than just success on the diamond,
Kashatus also explains other reasons that young men would want to use these
drugs, such as physical enhancement to be more attractive to the opposite
sex. Kashatus conducted interviews with
family members and also did extensive research on the drugs. Some of those
passages are very technical in nature. If the reader is not familiar with this
topic, they will have to be carefully read in order to fully appreciate what
the drugs to one’s body and mind.
Written with the goal of hoping to prevent additional suicides by young
athletes, this book is one that should be read by anyone who is involved in
youth sports in order to fully learn about the dangers of abusing these drugs.
It will make the reader stop and think about PEDs and whether the risk of
taking these is worth it.
I wish to thank Temple University Press for providing a copy of the book
via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying links
(pre-order at time of review):
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