Manny, How Could You?

Everything is there, the numbers, the championships, and the fans.

But on May 7, 2009, Manny Ramirez lost something that is worth more than all of those things.  He lost respect. 

Looking back, the past year has not been kind to "Man-Ram."  He has been accused of quitting on his teammates, endured an offseason where he was painted as a money-hungry malcontent, and finally suspended 50 games under the MLB drug-testing policy.

But throughout it all, many people never lost faith in Manny.  He has always been the fun joke of baseball and the class clown of Hall of Fame sluggers.  In Cleveland, Boston, and Los Angeles, there were legions of fans willing to swear by the man—no matter what he did.

Unlike sluggers such as Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, Ramirez remained disconnected from steroid talk throughout his years.  His bat was a model of consistency, producing a .315 career average and 533 home runs.

But finally, "Manny Being Manny" is no excuse for what he has done.  Initial drug tests, showed a drug called hCG present in Manny's system, which is actually a fertility drug commonly used by women.

Now assuming that Man-Ram isn't looking to get pregnant is a pretty safe bet.  From what I've learned, this drug is often used by people coming off a steroid cycle to re-start the human body's natural production of testosterone. 

Further tests have indicated the possibility that there were steroids present in his system at the time of the test.  The verdict?  All signs point to guilty.

Unfortunately for him, he will probably suffer the fate of so many great sluggers before him.  The fact that he has had consistent excellence over the course of his career will not matter.

Like the McGwire's, the Palmeiro's, and the Sosa's before him, Manny Ramirez's career will forever have a mental asterisk attached to it.  Whether this is fair or not isn't the question.  It's just the way it is.

Fortunately for players like Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, they have time to prove that their careers were not just a drug-induced fluke. With several years left, they can improve their image somewhat before their time to retire.

But more than anything, it is a sad and ugly chapter in Manny's career.  For so many years in Boston and Cleveland, he was a "free spirit" in every sense. 

While sometimes looking silly in the field, it was the smooth, fluid swing of his bat and the soar of his home runs that truly distinguished him. 

Manny has always been known for his smile, his sense of humor, and his passion for the game.  It is players like him that really make Major League Baseball a fun sport to watch.

As fans, we can only hope that Manny is able to move past this ugly mark on his career.  After all, we want him to be known for the love of the game rather than that of the needle.