Manny Ramirez has been suspended 50 games for taking a female fertility drug: Human Chorionic Gonadotropin or HCG. I admit this came as quite a shock to me personally as I never thought Manny was smart enough to successfully pick his own nose, let alone manage complicated dosages of multiple drugs to effectively cheat at baseball.Shows you how much I know.
Steroids are actually healthy.
But Manny is yet another in a long list of Major League Baseball players to have his career marred by steroid use. Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Miguel Tejada, Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa…the list is as impressive as it is tragic. In fact, I can throw players out there that I guarantee most of you reading this article had no idea were either an admitted steroid user or were otherwise implicated in the Mitchell report or by other steroid users. How about guys like Chuck Finley, Bret Boone, Juan Gonzalez, Andy Pettitte, Brian Roberts, Troy Glaus, Rick Ankiel, Matt Williams, Jose Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, Mike Piazza, Ken Caminiti, Brady Anderson, Gary Sheffield, Wally Joyner, John Rocker, Ryan Franklin, Matt Lawton, Guillermo Mota, Hal Morris, Rondell White, Chuck Knoblauch, David Justice, Mo Vaughn, Denny Neagle, Mike Stanton, Kevin Brown, Eric Gagne…just to…you know…name a few.
I'm sure Bonds is clean. Really.
And these guys have not exactly gone quietly into baseball’s night. Clemens and Bonds are on trial for perjury. Tejada was found guilty of lying to congress. Rafael Palmeiro made a complete ass of himself on national TV – on CNN no less, not ESPN. (And Raffy will probably be the only player ever to hit over 500 homeruns and knock over 3000 hits and not get into the Hall of Fame – at least until Barry Bonds is eligible.)
The questions I wonder though – Does it really matter?And do fans even care?Manny Ramirez is 4th among NL outfielders in All-Star balloting. Fourth! He might very well make the All-Star team. Barry Bonds, while reviled among most of the baseball world, was still cheered every night in San Francisco. A-Rod is cheered at Yankee stadium, especially after he’s hit a bunch of game-winning home runs. All most fans care about is the here and now. Win the game. Put on a good show – score more runs than the other team, hit a homerun or five, send us home happy. Sure there are those baseball ‘purists’ (of which I am one) who decry ‘Roids and complain about the integrity of the game and how the old time records, the cherished records, will forever be tarnished.61 is no longer a magic number. But 73 is a tainted one to be sure. Hank Aaron’s 755 is gone. Now Bonds’ 762 is like an albatross hanging around baseball’s neck. But who really cares? A small group of aged sportswriters?Peter Gammons?
Actions speak far louder than words. And the fans, in turning out in droves to root for their teams – their winning teams – show that they really don’t care about your backne or your steroid fueled rage that causes you bat-slap the umpire on a called third strike or even if you leave your wife to fool around with Madonna (ok that had nothing to do with steroids, but still…isn’t she like 65?)…no, fans simply care that you win and give them a good show doing it.
