I heard lots of player/manager reaction to the Manny Ramirez steroids bomb that got dropped Thursday morning. Some guys have the typical accomplice-type mentality saying that we should wait to see how the facts play out. Some guys have the typical head-in-the-sand mentality saying we should just move on and talk about the game/wins and losses. There are very few who had what in my opinion would be the proper reaction. As I saw in a clip on ESPN, Jake Peavy was glad it happened because it shows MLB isn’t playing favorites. He’s pissed because he’s a pitcher that has to face the roided up monsters (if he’s not one himself), and he likes seeing guys get punished when they’re caught. The best reaction from a player that I’ve seen so far is Mike Lowell who really seems to understand why it’s necessary to get rid of steroids. As he said to NESN:
This is very negative for our sport. It just seems like kids that are trying to become major league baseball players — the list of who they might look up to or want to be like is getting smaller and smaller and I think that’s very unfortunate.
I just don’t understand why, especially now, [considering] that everyone is being tested. It’s proven if anything that our tests are legit, even people that might be trying to escape it. I think we can at least take some satisfaction in the people that are testing clean in today’s day are doing it right. Anyone who’s not is getting caught.
The guys who say you should give the benefit of the doubt to Manny and wait and see how things play out are those who are probably using too. I’m not as convinced as Lowell that the testing is completely legit because I would expect more people to be caught. I do appreciate his point about players being clean so they can look at themselves in the mirror and so kids can look up to them. The only way to truly please me at this point is to institute harsher penalties for violators. Two years for a first-time positive test. Lifetime ban for a second. Now who would risk their career with that on the line? You’d be playing with fire. That’s the only thing that would help reinvigorate my enthusiasm as a fan because right now I don’t enjoy what I see happen on the field. There are still too many questions about what I’m watching to get excited.
