Top 10 Players I HOPE Were Not on Steroids

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Manny Ramirez could not have used performance-enhancing drugs, could he? Even though everyone else Jose Canseco named turned out to be guilty, A-Rod didn’t, right?

What in essence was our wishful thinking turned out to be wrong, and many of us felt cheated with Rodriguez’s admission and now the latest news about Manny Ramirez.

Now, we must ask, “Who are the good guys?” All 700 others not on the list of 104 who tested positive seem to be in doubt. Jose Canseco gauged it “90 percent” likely Manny Ramirez was on that list. Now we must wonder.

Here is my list of 10 players I HOPE have not taken performance-enhancing drugs

10. Curt Schilling

What if the bloody sock was bloodied by a mis-injected needle? One of the most recognizable power pitchers of the 1990s, Schilling helped lead three different teams to the World Series in his career: the 1993 Phillies, the 2001 Diamondbacks, and the 2004 and 2007 Boston Red Sox. 

“Once every fifth day Schilling was a horse,” current Astros general manager Ed Wade is alleged to have said. “Every other day he was a horse’s ass.”

Let’s hope he was not asinine enough to take performance-enhancing drugs.

9. Jim Thome

Jim Thome is one of the nicest players ever to play baseball, a big teddy bear of sorts. As steroid scandals were breaking, Thome pointed out that his family was all big, and that he has never used steroids. Thome had the hearts of Cleveland, Philadelphia, and now Chicago.  

His health has deteriorated since playing first base regularly for the Phillies, perhaps a testament to the fact that he did not rely on the use of banned substances to help his body recover. Clear of illegal substances, Thome’s home run total of 545 and counting will be recognized as worthy of the Hall of Fame.

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