PEDs and MLB

[Hiram]

A statement released today by the league office:

"Major League Baseball recently notified Manny Ramirez of an issue under Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment program. Rather than continue with the process under the program, Ramirez has informed MLB that he is retiring as an active player. If Ramirez seeks reinstatement in the future, the process under the drug program will be completed. MLB will not have any further comment on this matter."

Steroids may enhance your performance, but they also apparently make you dumber than a bag of doorknobs. I mean, how stupid do you have to be as a one-time loser, knowing you're going to be randomly tested, and still fill your body with garbage?

Before anyone who has tested positive for PEDs gets enshrined, Pete Rose has to go in first. Rose never cheated the game, he just cheated himself.

I'm not a big supporter of Rose in Cooperstown, but he certainly deserves it more than these idiots who show a complete lack of respect for the sanctity of honest competition.

[Allen Wiener]

I never liked Rose as a person, but he certainly deserves to be in the HOF if anyone does. I probably would not have liked Ty Cobb, for that matter, but who can argue that he does not belong in Cooperstown? Throw in Shoeless Joe Jackson, while you're at it, especially if guys like Manny or Mark McGuire are inducted. Why aren't their records expunged for cheating? For that matter, why isn't Whitey Ford booted out of the HOF, since he published a book in which he boasted of his years of cheating, and detailed how he and Elston Howard did it?

[Hiram]

Cooperstown is no place for the meek and mild. Cobb was by all accounts a despicable person, Babe Ruth's indiscretions have been well-documented, and as you mentioned Allen, there are confessed cheaters in the Hall; Ford and Perry (there might be more that I'm unaware of.)

Boy Scout membership is not a prerequisite to admission to the HOF. Let's be clear. Gambling was seen as the greatest of all evils in the early days of the game, because the custodians of the national pastime could not envision anything that could undermine the integrity of the game on a more insidious level; only because they were not exposed to the evils of PEDs and their effect on the integrity of the competition.

I am disheartened when I read comments from former teammates of Ramirez that speak of "how hard he worked" and "how great a teammate he was." Allow me to be blunt. The players who praise Manny are enabling others in the game to either continue cheating or begin the slide down the slippery slope of "getting a little help."

I have never understood why owners have not gone to court to recoup some of their financial losses when their employees flaunt the rules of substance abuse and demean the game that is such an integral part of our nation's history.

[Paul Sylvain]

I've long thought that baseball's treatment of Rose is a crime. Well, it should be a crime. Rose made his mistakes, but "Charlie Hustle" still is deserving of a place there.

As for Manny -- well, this latest mess s just another case of Manny being Manny. He was a piece of work while in Boston and, trust me, "Red Sox Nation" and his own teammates (except, perhaps, David Ortiz) were glad to kiss him off to L.A. The term "prima donna" comes to mind when I think of him. So does bully, considering the straw that broke the back was his tossing down an elderly guy who arranged travel and such for the team. I loved thr report last night stating Manny was retiring rather that face a 100-day suspension. Considering he was suspended while in L.A. for a positive test, he should have been bagged and tagged and permanently barred from baseball following this latest incident.

BTW, anyone not familiar with Fenway Park and the work space inside the "Green Monster" score board might enjoy this ...

There was a game where, at some point in the later innings, no one could find Manny. He was supposed to be out there in left field (well, he always was figuritively, I guess, but .... ) but there was no Manny. When the dude finally emerged from the door that goes inside the Green Monster, his story was that he had to use the bathroom inside it (this is a manual board and people work inside the wall, posting the numbers by hand).

In reality, there are no bathroom facilities anywhere inside that wall. Most people don't know that, and when he arrived in Los Angeles he was still telling reporters he had gone inside to use the bathroom. Of course, most of us up here knew better.

Paul

[Hiram]

Jim Thome is seven home runs shy of joining the 600 Club, an exclusive group, despite the presence of three "Peddies," Bonds, A-Rod, and Sosa. Thome has hit the ball a very long way consistently throughout his major league career, and his build has remained almost the same during the same time.

Rafael Palmiero’s build essentially remained unchanged throughout his career, but his home runs spiked considerably beginning in the early 1990s. He hit as few as 8 homers in full seasons for the Cubs (1988) and the Rangers (1989.)

Can we discern those players that remained clean during the Steroid Era from those who juiced up? I suppose it's impossible to know beyond a shadow of a doubt, but I don't believe in guilt by association, in this case, association with an era dominated by steroid use.

Players such as Thome, Frank Thomas, Chipper Jones, Jeff Bagwell, and others who played most of their careers during the steroid era, short of damning evidence, should be judged fairly.

A final note, the public tends to gravitate towards batters when discussing the steroid era, however, of the 27 individuals suspended while on MLB rosters, 14 were players and 13 were pitchers. Twenty-nine players who had major league experience were suspended while on MiLB rosters, while 22 pitchers have been suspended.

[Valerie Hyatt Martin]

Manny was signed by the Rangers and is at AAA in Round Rock. Why? And will Ryan Braun continue to say he is innocent, while he is suspended for maybe 100 games?

[Allen Wiener]

MLB can't seem to find the sand to put a stop to this and drop the hammer on the likes of Ramirez for good. What does MLB need with these guys? There are so many good, hard working players waiting for a chance at the bigs. What would MLB lose by booting out all of them, deleting their so called records from the books, and barring or removing them from the HOF? They are bad for the game and bad PR, far outweighing any thrills they may give the crowd until they self-destruct, or become walking jokes like Bonds. If Pete Rose is barred for life from MLB and the HOF, why aren't they? They are at least as guilty of tampering with the honesty of the game as Rose, if not moreso. Why is Mark Mguire still in uniform? Who needs them? Baseball really needs to grow a pair and end this abuse of the game.

[loucapitano]

I agree with you on this Allen. Baseball will grow a pair when they can seperate the purity of the game and the $$$. I don't see that happening in a fell swoop. I think MLB will speak to the issue and bide its time in hopes that the PED issue will die when the current crop of violators (like A-Rod) quit or retire in a few years. Maybe they feel they will have a clean slate to start off with and go from there.
Unfortunately, my chemistry minded friends tell me non-detectible PEDs are either ready for or already in distribution. That could really F*** Up the game and little can be done about it because the $$$ Interests will outspend the game purists.
Overall, I think we'll get through this with a game in tact.