An Open Letter To Baseball Fans Everywhere

Dear Fans of Baseball,

By now, the news has probably reached you that Manny Ramirez, one of the most high-profile players currently in the game, will be suspended today for 50 games after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.

I'm sure you are angry and upset that our favorite stars continue to fall victim to their own vices. First it was Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Mark McGwire. 

Now it is Alex Rodriguez and Ramirez.

How many fallen stars will it take before it ends you ask? 

The answer is that neither myself nor anyone in baseball is sure.

One thing that I do know for sure is that Ramirez is the first major star to come down with a 50 game suspension for a current drug test. The black marks on the careers of Clemens, Bonds, and the others are the result of tests conducted prior to most PEDs being labeled illegal.

I implore you, the fans, to continue watching baseball and to embrace young stars such as Tim Lincecum, Evan Longoria, Edinson Volquez, and others.

It is only with their help that we can enjoy baseball as a clean, American sport once again. Abandoning them now would only further harm the game we love.

Baseball has fallen, there is no doubt about that. 

But it has also fallen before and gotten up, dusted itself off, and come back stronger.

We cannot forget the gambling scandals of the 1910s and the trade wars before that, and how Baseball survived all of those challenges.

It will weather this challenge too, but it can only do so with the help of fans like you.

I recognize how hard it is to trust that a game you are watching is clean. I also recognize the anger and resentment toward these players who are trying to gain an unfair advantage.

I will not, however, quit watching and loving baseball simply because the sport has a few bad apples. 

Taken in proper perspective, the Ramirez suspension is the first of its kind.

No major league players had been suspended until today, so it is with great hope that I say that Ramirez may be the lone bad apple. 

Is that hard to believe? Yes.  Is it impossible? No.

I won't be giving up on baseball.

I hope you won't either.