Even Manny Ramirez Haters Hate to See Him Fall

I do not like Manny Ramirez.

I think he’s lazy. I don’t like his persona while playing the game. He’s greedy in my opinion. And now, he’s a cheater.

Two weeks ago, Manny and the Dodgers came to Coors Field to take on the Rockies. I had the privilege of sitting in the left field bleachers, directly behind Manny’s defensive position. I enjoyed nine innings of heckling the slugger and cheered thoroughly after each of his three strikeouts.

Ramirez is a great hitter. He is the quintessential slugger, but he is far from what a baseball player should be.

Despite my dissatisfaction with Ramirez, I was not one of the hundreds, probably thousands, of gleeful anti-Manny baseball fans Thursday morning.

In February, during the wake of the A-Roid incident, I wrote a piece in which I hoped for baseball innocence. I said it’s the only way for baseball to get over the infamous “steroid era.”

I’m getting pretty tired of the “I didn’t know what I was putting in my body” excuses. We know you’re stupid, Manny, but are you really that naïve?

Although I don’t believe Manny, nor any other suspected users (Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, etc.), is innocent, it’s sad that all of the top players are ruining the great game of baseball—our nation’s pastime.

These players are tarnishing the game and hurting the reputation of all other players. When players perform well, they will no longer be innocent until proven guilty, but guilty until proven innocent.

Despite my stance against Manny, I was not excited to hear the breaking news Thursday morning.

Indeed, today is a sad day for baseball.

This article is also featured on View from the Rockpile.