Hardball Heaven

It was uncanny regarding Manny. When I heard the news today that Manny Ramirez had been suspended for 50 games for violating MLB's steroid policy, I was stunned and I thought about how the guys they usually catch are the ones with the least gray matter up there. Clemens, for instance. Then I'm driving home, and my old college roommate calls me up and says in a phone message, "It's always the mental midgets... I'm telling you... track, baseball, football... just look for the stupidest guys who love looking at themselves in the mirror."

Yes, it's true, and the ramifications for us as Boston Red Sox fans could be troubling, but believe me, we're nowhere near "there" yet. Supposedly, he took some type of fertility drug that steroid users often take. Manny's written statement said that he was prescribed a medication by his doctor and he had no idea it was a banned substance. As Bob Ryan points out, if anyone is capable of such a goofy oversight, it's this clown. I also wanted to see what the Manny-loving LA Times' take was, and to my surprise, they had a story with a great quote from convicted 'roid dealer Victor Conte:

HCG is one of dozens of substances prohibited under baseball's drug policy. Players can call a hotline to check on the legality of any substances, and they can obtain a therapeutic use exemption for any legitimate medical use of a banned substance.

"This is failing more than a drug test," Conte said. "This is failing an IQ test. He can call an 800 number to ask about any product that he's taking. To think that a player who's making $45 million didn't do that, or have any agent or any of his numerous advisors check out what he said was a prescribed medication defies belief."

Manny has a way of defying belief, doesn't he? We'll see what happens from here on out, but if it's proven that Manny was juicing during 2004 and 2007, we're now officially dragged into this mess. And that won't be fun.