With the recent developments of the Miami-based Biogenesis clinic that is at the core of a performance-enhancing drug scandal, the baseball world is abuzz over the possibility that some of the game’s most productive players potentially receiving severe penalties including 100-game suspensions.

Clinic-founder Tony Bosch is reportedly in Major League Baseball’s corner now, and the league is hoping to have the evidence they will need to take a stand against those who allegedly purchased and used performance-enhancing drugs despite continued efforts to close the book on what we now know as the Steroid Era.

Major League Baseball wants the madness to finally end, and they are pulling out all the stops in order to make a statement and curtail the use of steroids in an effort to make it a thing of the past.

Some have criticized MLB for being too harsh in their reported tactics to obtain information on those using and more specifically those who purchased steroids from the Biogenesis clinic, however several of baseball’s finest alumni believe that the league is doing what is necessary to stop these drugs from getting to into the systems of players.

I spoke with several baseball greats on the subject of steroids yesterday and many spoke freely about it, the most vocal of which was Hall-of-Famer and baseball legend Tommy Lasorda, who has little patience for those that choose to use PEDs.

“The guys that are taking steroids, they’re cheating; and they shouldn’t be allowed to play,” said Lasorda with a look of disgust. 

“We can’t allow players to cheat, you can’t allow that,” said Lasorda. “Baseball doesn’t need those kind of players, and that’s what the commissioner is trying to do. He’s trying to make it a game like it used to be. Everybody came out the same way, everybody built themselves up the same way. Everybody made themselves the same way. And that’s what the commissioner is looking for now.

“I think the commissioner is doing the right thing and is doing the best he can. He wants this game to be clean for everybody that plays it, and he’s been doing a magnificent job since all this first started. And he’ll stay on it until everybody is clean.”

The positive tests have popped up again and again over the past decade. Beloved players have turned into public enemies; legends to frauds. It has been a continuously disappointing and heart-breaking process to see many of the game’s most talented players fall from grace and forever be labeled as a “user”.

The heartbreak of  a tainted era once thought to be a golden age of baseball has left a bad taste in the mouths of many fans and those throughout the game. Five-time All-Star and 2001 World Series hero Luis Gonzalez says that everyone as a whole just wants to move forward.

“The fans are tired of hearing about it, the organizations, everybody is and we just want to move on,” said Gonzalez as he crosses his arms and sinks back in his chair. “This is America’s pastime, it’s one of the greatest games ever and we want to move forward from it.”

It seems even current players are tiring of having to hear about it as well, leading many athletes to take strong stances publicly on the use of steroids, as seen earlier this year when David Wright proclaimed ‘if you cheat, I hope you get caught,’.

Longtime Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood had strong words of his own on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in today’s game.

“We’ve been warned of the consequences and if you’re trying something at this point; you’re asking for it,” said Wood.

“They’re trying to make sure that it’s not a possibility,” said Wood, continuing on to talk about MLB’s crackdown on those caught using PEDs. “They’re trying to clean that up and really change the image and I think they’ve done a really good job doing that in the past and if they feel guys are still trying to do that and take advantage of the system and not play by the rules, then we’ve all been forewarned as players. Whatever decision they come up with is to keep the integrity of the sport intact which is the most important thing.”

The coming weeks will be very telling as to how MLB decides to handle this most recent steroids scandal. The road to a clean sport will be long, and very possibly never entirely reached. Steroids will always be around, as will those desperate enough to take the risk to get an edge. However in the end, I believe Wood sums it up better than anyone.

“The game is so much bigger than one player. One or two players, or even a handful don’t make this game what it is,” said Wood. “It’s a game that we all need to respect and keep the integrity of. We at least owe that to the players who played before us.”

To Jeff Wilpon The Mets Are Just A Laughing Matter…

That charming headline appeared in a May 29th Daily News article by the rabble-rousing Filip Bondy

You may remember that Jeff Wilpon showed up at Citi Field and made a rare public appearance during a pregame ceremony for Mariano Rivera, who threw out the first pitch, and eventually the last. That was the day that the Mets COO gave up on the season and let the future HOF closer know about it.

The title caught my eye like a mangled raccoon on Interstate 94, but as I wasn’t able to read it until days later. I tried to hold my preconceptions in check, but it looked like Jeff may have put his foot in his mouth again. Or maybe not… Here is what he actually said: “Wish we could see you in the World Series,” Wilpon told Rivera. “But I’m not sure that’s going to happen.”

For Mr. Bondy, this is tantamount to throwing in the towel, giving up, abandoning hope and tucking tail, only one problem … that’s not really what the words say. “I’m not sure that’s going to happen,” doesn’t mean it won’t … or can’t, or even will not … Correct me but don’t those words mean that Jeff WIlpon isn’t certain the 2013 Mets will make it to the World Series?

On what planet is this a revelation? Is this not what any rational person might say under the circumstances? Am I actually coming to Jeff Wilpon’s defense? What kind of warped alternate reality have I just stepped into? Cue the Twilight Zone music.

For Mr. Bondy these comments were outrageous, an affront to his own lofty standards for spirited competition. He never even thought about giving up when he was on the chess team back at the University of Wisconsin (Badgers never surrender!), or maybe it brings back all those ugly memories in H.S. when the jocks would make Filip cry “uncle” between an atomic wedgie and a swirlie. You may recall, this is the same “Flip” Bondy who spent a year in 2004 with the “Bleacher Creatures” in Yankee Stadium and who wrote the following in 2010 as he was gearing up to cover the ALCS:

“Ryan’s no-hitters aside, this ALCS represents one of sports’ great historical mismatches, 40 pennants versus zero. The Yanks should win this series just by throwing their pinstriped uniforms onto the  field and reading from a few pages of The Baseball Encyclopedia. If only Bud Selig would agree to waive a few silly postseason rules, the Bombers might send their Scranton/Wilkes-Barre roster to Arlington for the first couple of games, make this a fair fight.”

Of course the impossible to beat Yankees lost that series the same way they recently lost four games to the Mets, shocker.

Now lets pan back a little ways to 2008 and look at a different quote by a different NY Journalist.

“The Yankees are absolutely down two stars this season, Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui. They still have enough big names and big contracts in their batting order and that is why it is almost bewildering that, at this point in the season, it is so difficult picking an offensive MVP for them. Right now the closest to that, the player doing the job you expect him to do, is the guy hitting between Jeter and A-Rod, Bobby Abreu.”

“But the biggest offensive disappointment in town, as much of an under-producer as any big name or big ticket or big player either New York team has, is Carlos Beltran.”

The above  was written by Mike Lupica in August of 2008. Lupica never seemed to appreciate Beltran and it is believed his attacks may have had at least something to do with Carlos’ brief media blackout after his difficult first year in NY. To read Lupica on Beltran you’d think the guy slept with his wife or stole his lunch money or failed to treat him with the customary reverence media royalty demand. I never quite understood the unceasing vitriol directed at a guy who by all accounts was a great player (the best center-fielder the Mets have ever had) and a decent human being.

Maybe Lupica was upset that Beltran didn’t end up in pinstripes? Who knows. Maybe Beltran brushed past Lupica in the clubhouse on his way to the restroom just as Mike was trying to ask a question? Hard to say, but, beyond the questionable beef stir-fry at the player’s buffet, what was clear was the one man campaign Lupica went on to try and destroy an athlete’s reputation. None of the accusations that Lupica leveled against Carlos were true, not the selfishness, or the lack of leadership, or the absence of passion, or the surly listlessness, in fact, to anyone who knew Beltran and had actually watched him play, they were categorically false.

Or how about Lupica lumping Beltran in with Castillo and Perez (two bonafide lumps) during the whole Walter Reed fiasco, even though Beltran had a more than legitimate reason than them not to attend? This didn’t prevent Lupica from throwing in a nasty little innuendo:

“All athletes worry about their next contracts when they get close to the end of their current ones. It is why Beltran wanted to get back on the field, even in his current diminished capacity, hoping he would look better than he has before his walk year, worried about what happens to him when he comes to the end of his $100 million contract a year from now.”

Lupica once called Beltran “as much of a free-agent disappointment as any big hire the Yankees or Mets have ever made.” Remember, this is a guy who had a 7.5 WAR in 2006 (only Pujols had a higher WAR a 5.1 WAR in 2007, and a 7.1 WAR in 2008 and who by almost any and all measures more than earned his salary over the course of his contract. Carlos remains one of the greatest players ever to put on a Mets uniform, and this is how he is treated? Unbelievable you say?

How about Murray Chass and Mike Piazza? One man’s tenacious obsession with another man’s back acne may very well have resulted in Piazza not entering the hall as a first ballot inductee. The personal and relentless focus on one of New York’s good guys was weird and creepy, and for what? In the end it seemed Murray’s one man witch hunt was more about Chass demonstrating the power of his pen and less about the ethics of PED use. Chass had this to say in a recent post on his blog following this last ill-fated HOF vote.

“When I worked for The New York Times, I tried more than once to write about Piazza and steroids, but the baseball editor said I couldn’t because his name hadn’t been linked to steroids. I can link his name to steroids, I countered, but I had to wait until I started this Web site to talk about Piazza’s acne-covered back, a generally accepted telltale sign of steroids use.”

Didn’t matter that the accusations were largely based on one observation of some acne which may very well have been caused by Mike’s chest protector straps. Didn’t matter that Piazza had an on and off again history of problems with acne since High School, nope, all that mattered was that Chass was certain that Piazza was a roider, judge jury and executioner.

Lets go even further back in our little insidious chronology to February 1977 when Tom Seaver blasted M. Donald Grant for not doing more to improve the team. Later that summer, with a contract agreed upon in principle on the table, Seaver called Grant and demanded a trade after an article by Dick Young came out in which Young commented:

“Nolan Ryan is getting more [salary] now than Seaver, and that galls Tom because Nancy Seaver and Ruth Ryan are very friendly and Tom Seaver long has treated Nolan Ryan like a little brother.”

For Seaver the personal nature of the comment was “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he would not tolerate his family being dragged into the fray. Young faced numerous conflict of interest allegations in the press and was vilified by the fans who were aware of his close ties to Grant and McDonald, and the fact that his son-in-law worked for the Met front office.

The day after the trade, in a rare direct assault on a fellow member of the press, Maury Allen of the New York Post responded, “It is Young who forced the deal, who urged Grant on, who participated strongly in the unmaking of Tom Seaver as a Met.”

The wolf spider is known for a particularly peculiar practice, they will very often devour their own young.

You can’t walk into the Met clubhouse without feeling it. The tension is thick and palpable. I couldn’t help notice on the occasions when I was present that there was visible consternation among many Mets players at having to negotiate the press gauntlet, starting most prominently with Terry Collins who seemed acutely agitated and perturbed — even after a win. It was painfully obvious that this team did not like or trust the press. Their words were measured, their inflection flat, their demeanor extremely guarded.

I’m not saying the N.Y. Press should act like a bunch of obsequious homers pandering to a less than informed home crowd as you might see in some other cities. I’m not saying they shouldn’t continue to hold athletes who play in N.Y. to a higher standard. N.Y. is a tough place and New York’s news-media establishment is the one of the most prestigious in the world. If you can make it in N.Y. right? But there’s a difference between holding players to a higher standard and petty character assassinations.

When you contemplate the ubiquitous nature of the N.Y. media, the brightness of the big city spotlight, and the intensity of the fan base, playing in N.Y. is hard enough, we don’t have to make it any harder by subjecting these kids to the megalomaniac rants of self-declared kingmakers holding who knows what grudges against an organization and it’s players. Bondy has openly admitted his dislike of the Mets dating back to 1969 when they dashed his Cubs’ hopes. Seriously? He’s upset because the Cubs lost? That’s like holding a grudge against a bear for pooping in the woods.

It’s hard enough to play in the Major Leagues and it’s hard enough to do so in New York, but when the press becomes it’s own story, adding to an increasingly difficult set of hurdles that young often foreign born players have to overcome, you almost get the sense they are spiting their own just for the hell of it, because they can, and because negativity sells. Circling like sharks at the slightest inkling of controversy ready to destroy lives and careers because they believe it to be within their purview and part of the dog-eat-dog terrain. Meanness for the sake of meanness. Whatever it takes to break a story or make a mark.

“They rigged the signing of free agents. They got caught. They paid $280 million to the players. And I think that’s polluted labor relations in baseball ever since …”

In spite of Selig’s unscrupulous past he was able to corral enough owners to his side in an 18 to 9 vote of “no confidence” to force Vincent out. Now, you’d think it would be difficult for an owner with a history of impropriety to ascend to a position best suited to someone who might inspire trust from both sides, not so. Selig took the commissioner’s chair in 1992, passing control of the Brewers to his daughter, Wendy Selig-Prieb.

Selig of course presided over the 1994 player’s strike. The 232-day work stoppage lasted from August 12, 1994, to April 2, 1995. What has since been described as the worst work-stoppage in professional sports history was precipitated by a collective bargaining proposal that included a salary cap. Tensions were exacerbated by the collusion attempts … Ownership dug in and the players didn’t budge. Eventually the 1994 season became a lost cause.

The strike damaged the game deeply, fans walked away in droves. There was a prevailing perception that the great American pastime had been irrevocably corrupted by greed. It was also during this time that steroids took root in MLB locker rooms. This issue was covered in a previous piece, so I will only note here that while it is true that the players shoulder a preponderance of blame, the owners did little to stop the spread of PED’s while they lined their pockets, and, in the end, the spread of steroids did occur on Selig’s watch.

The strike hurt the Montreal Expos more than any other team. Montreal had the best record in baseball at the time. The Expos were also lobbying for a new stadium, an effort that disintegrated with the work stoppage. Soon thereafter the Expos were sold to an art dealer named Jeffrey Loria who immediately demanded that the local government build him a new stadium. When this didn’t happen Loria eviscerated and sold the Expos to Major League Baseball for 120 million.

Loria used the proceeds from this sale to purchase the Florida Marlins. A suit was promptly filed by 14 minority owners of the Expos accusing Loria of conspiring with MLB (Selig) to dilute the minority partners’ share of the team from 76 percent to 6-to-7 percent. The suit went on to assert that Loria never intended to keep the franchise in Montreal and that he planed all along on flipping the Expos with an eye on the Marlins. Eventually the suit was settled with the former Expos owners receiving an undisclosed amount. As part of the settlement, none of the documents from the case were made public. This was in effect the second ruling against Selig in a 15 year span.

In the meantime Selig continued to pursue a contraction campaign focusing on the now MLB run Montreal Expos and the Minnesota Twins (for which there was a glaring conflict of interest since the Brewers and Twins shared the same market). Selig himself (who was good friends with the obscenely wealthy Pohlads) had managed in 2001 to get the city of Milwaukee to build Miller Park with $290 million in public funds, so he knew the drill — threaten and lobby.

Selig’s efforts to contract the Expos and the Twins failed as a result of a ruling requiring that the Twins honor their contract to play in the Metrodome. The Expos were subsequently sold and moved to Washington. What remained unresolved for many fans, however, were the exaggerated claims of losses on the part of baseball owners who at the time argued that the market was stretched thin and that teams were being pushed to poverty by player salaries and crumbling venues.

The Twins did eventually get their stadium (with 250 million in public funding), and on the day of its unveiling in April of 2010, Selig, strangely, brushed aside questions about contraction by brazenly stating, “there was a lot of mythology” to it. These comments left many feeling as if contraction was an elaborate ruse to secure support from legislators for stadium funding, a ruse Selig’s old conspirator Jeffrey Loria went on to perfect in securing public funding for a new stadium in Miami. An endeavor that eventually left Miami-Dade County with a 2.4 billion dollar debt, an empty stadium, and a massive abomination of a fish sculpture.

What does all this have to do with the Mets? There’s a pattern of influence and impropriety here that stretches back quite a ways. Wilpon was able to wrest the Mets from the more belligerent and restive Doubleday with Selig’s blessing (and a handy low-ball MLB appraisal). Selig has also presided over an office designed, ironically, to help maintain the integrity of the game, turning it instead into a vehicle for charting new profit streams. In the business world Selig is considered by many to be the greatest commissioner ever, having overseen an era that saw profits increase by 400%. But if there is one thing we know about Bud, it’s his long-standing desire to undermine free agency and level the playing field for smaller markets.

Bud Selig may have seen a unique opportunity to bring down spending and bolster parity by recommending a high level MLB operative (known for his ability to slash budgets and operate on a shoe-string), for the position of GM of the NY Mets. What better place to promote a small market paradigm than the biggest stage in the world?

In 2010 two crises were raging in MLB. Frank McCourt of the Dodgers was running his team as a personal bank account during divorce proceedings that had brought him to the brink of bankruptcy, and the Wilpons in N.Y. were in danger of losing the Mets as a result of a massive stadium bill and a disastrous association with Bernie Madoff and his ponzi scheme. Selig all but guaranteed that McCourt would sell by imposing a heavy-handed MLB takover, while he quietly supported the Wilpons with loans and votes of confidence.

In the fall of 2011 Frank McCourt filed a lawsuit against MLB, accusing Selig of forcing bankruptcy on the Dodgers by rejecting a contract with Fox Sports. The Fox contract would have allowed McCourt to retain possession of the Dodgers, but as the Dodgers were under MLB control by then, Selig was within his bounds to reject it — even though it was similar in principle to contracts signed by many other MLB teams. The court sided with MLB, but not without a stern warning to Selig. Again Bud had deftly maneuvered borderline illegal practices with impunity. Selig knew the Dodgers would fetch an obscene sum in sale and he also knew that any buyer would have deep enough pockets to pour truckloads of cash into the franchise. The Mets on the other hand would receive the austerity plan, a painful rebuilding process focusing on cutting payroll and rejuvenating their farm … the polar antithesis of what transpired with the Dodgers.

A friend who was in San Diego during Alderson’s tenure there warned me, “Alderson,” he said “would chop the team up piecemeal and sell off the parts for prospects, it’s what he does.” I didn’t believe him. “This is N.Y.” I countered “Here you have to spend money to make money, the fans wouldn’t stand for it …” After losing, in successive seasons, Beltran, Reyes, and Dickey, with a budget effectively halved, I can only admit he was ostensibly on the mark.

The more pressing question, however, is one of influence. Selig has exerted his influence over the years with mixed results. His approach in 1994 backfired as the players hit back, and his attempts at collusion resulted in a 280 million dollar settlement against MLB … but his influence was largely successful in both the migration of the Expos as well as the funding of numerous new venues on the public’s dime. The real defeat he’s never been able to undo is his failure to limit free agency and his inability to institute a salary cap.

Bud Selig is friends with Fred Wilpon, but given Selig’s commitment to the almighty dollar don’t let a personal relationship fool you. Selig would just as soon pop open a can of Milwaukee’s finest than hesitate to throw Wilpon under a bus if it meant more money in the coffers. His reasons for coming to the rescue of the Wilpons while moving to oust McCourt, can only be explained with an eye on profit. You could argue this is contradictory, how would the “Met austerity paradigm” mean more money for baseball when the Dodgers just boosted values of MLB franchises across the country by raising the bar with their sale price?

It’s all about parity. As Jason Stark recently pointed out, MLB now features more parity than the NFL. If a small market approach can succeed in a big market it would effectively establish an operational model that could be duplicated in any number of cities big and small. Increased parity means more money across a broader spectrum of markets, precluding the need for revenue sharing mandates. Why didn’t Selig attempt a similar austerity program with the Dodgers? McCourt was himself imbued in impropriety and was openly hostile to MLB, his was a hopeless cause where the only resolution was a forced sale.

If Selig’s plan proceeds according to design, the Mets will benefit from a self sustaining minor league feeder system what will propel them to perennial contention while the Dodgers dig out from an array of bad contracts … but, there are no guarantees. Selig lost control of the Dodger situation once the winning bid was accepted. The Mets on the other hand were under his influence in so far as he was able to impress upon both the Wilpons and Sandy Alderson that they needed to cut payroll. Granted, under the circumstances the Wilpons didn’t have much choice, but when you consider Selig’s history and the fact that he got his man on the GM’s seat in NY, you have to believe he was pleased.

Whether or not this experiment benefits the Mets remains to be seen. Given the volume of pitching the Mets have been able to accumulate you have to feel good about the team’s prospects, no pun intended. The Dodgers on the other hand appear to be a flawed, injury prone, aging, and above all expensive mess. As far as business models, you can bet there will be lots of baseball minds keeping an eye on the Mets and Dodgers in the coming years.

The current period of baseball has often been labeled the “Post-Steroid Era”, but there is nothing “post” about it. Yesterday we learned that over 90 baseball players’ names lie within the records of the now infamous Miami Biogenesis clinic; enough athletes to field ten teams. We talk about steroids as if it’s a thing of the past–something of the days of Clemens, Bonds and McGwire — yet it is seemingly as present as ever.

There have been estimations ranging from 15% all the way up to 90% of how many players were using in the proclaimed ”Steroid Era” of the 1990s to early 2000s; some claim everyone was juicing. The fact of the matter is nobody — other than the players themselves — knows for sure how many were on some form of PEDs, and the same goes for today’s game. We now know of almost one hundred of them in today’s game that are linked to a single PED/steroid clinic and there are undoubtedly others who are using who have yet to be caught. Who is to say that the game is any cleaner than 1999?

Sure, there are stricter penalties in place, but is that stopping anyone from using? The almighty dollar still far outweighs the risk for these players. Ryan Braun is now committed to Milwaukee through 2020 for roughly $140 million dollars. Alex Rodriguez is the highest paid baseball player ever, and still has nine figures left on his deal with the Yankees. Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire combined for three quarters of a billion dollars in salary over their careers. Their names are mud, their reputations are forever tarnished, but they will be sitting pretty for the rest of their lives.

Would you take a magical pill, illegal or not, if it were to increase your salary by ten-fold? Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. The problem will never be solved, but testing will not make a significant impact until it hits the players where it hurts, their wallets.

Make it so the first offense is an entire season–unpaid–and the second time is a lifetime ban with a one-time “parole” after two years, which there have been rumblings about. On top of that, make it so that every MLB contract must have a clause stating that if you test positive for performance-enhancing drugs, your team has grounds to void your deal.

This type of punishment would never go through with the MLBPA since they, like many of their cheaters for clients, value money over the sanctity of the game. It is time for Major League Baseball to take a stand and put an end to this problem once and for all. They have the toughest PEDs testing of any sport by far, but has done little to alter the issue at hand.

Player are not afraid of the test or its penalties, especially after Braun showed in 2011 that you can overturn it with one hell of a lawyer and blaming the tester instead. MLB needs to get its act together and start creating effective ways of stopping PEDs from getting into the systems of its players.

The penal system in place that was thought to have been working has clearly failed. It is time for the Commissioner’s Office to put some real teeth into their bite. Major League Baseball needs to take back this hallowed sport from the toxic, tainted wasteland that it has become, where no records are trusted and nobody gets into Cooperstown. Then, and only then, can we close the book on this period known as the “Steroid Era”, and justly put a “post” in front of it.

As it stands now – especially after this recent Biogenesis superstorm – there is still much work left to be done, and calling this the “Post-Steroid Era” is all too reminiscent of another premature declaration of success:

But of course, I can’t control myself in reading all the news stories about what is actually in the book before I read it for myself.

So that leads me to a very intriguing discussion.

Piazza admitted in his book to using androstenedione and Ephedra before the substances were banned, according to the New York Post. The 12-time All-Star catcher also said in his book that he took Vioxx (an anti-inflammatory), “greenies” (stimulants) and Dymetadrine (asthma medicine), the Post reports.

The New York Times reports that Piazza wrote in the book that he inquired about HGH, not knowing it was a banned substance, but his trainer advised against using it.

So let’s assume that Piazza is clean of HGH. He claims he never used “steroids,” and to this point, we all know he has never had a positive test on record.

But the real question now is how will Piazza’s admission to using these other drugs – mainly the currently-banned substances of andro and Ephedra – affect his chances at the Hall of Fame.

There will likely continue to be a rift amongst the voters. Some will say that since these substances were legal at the time, Piazza was not cheating. However, some will say that he was still enhancing his performance by using the substances, thus tainting his incredible numbers.

If I had to guess, the voters that voted for him this year will vote for him again next year. But then again, some may now change their vote since Piazza admitted to using “substances” during his career.

Of the writers that did not vote for him this year based on the suspicion of drug use, some may change their votes since Piazza admits to have never used “illegal substances.” But of course, the majority will have their initial inklings about Piazza confirmed and therefore will continue to exclude him from Cooperstown.

Talk about a voting conundrum!

I’m not exactly sure if Piazza’s book will help or hurt him. It almost begs the question of why he would even choose to admit anything in the first place. The timing of the book’s release is also strange, since he could have “cleared his name” before the voting occurred.

But then again, would his admission to using drugs clear his name or would it spark even more speculation like it already has?

I want to believe Piazza. I feel like he might have kept quiet if he used banned substances and would have hoped that no test results ever leaked.

He instead chose to be honest, and from what he admitted in the book, he never cheated according to what was and what was not illegal at the time.

I’m eager to see what else he has to say in his book. I just hope that all the juicy excerpts haven’t been revealed already.

The release of this book just keeps Piazza’s name in the news cycle, which will spark much more debate on whether he’s worthy of baseball immortality.

Let that marinate for a second.

I don’t remember who the player was, but I certainly believe that stat to be fairly accurate. It always made me wonder why PED or steroid usage causes such an uproar if it was as common as using tobacco before a ball game. A player could get arrested for being caught with some of the drugs they were using, but there were no written rule in baseball which stated a player couldn’t use them.

For that simple fact, baseball should just build a wing in the Hall of Fame and label it the “Steroid Era.” Baseball should not run away from it’s past, but accept it, and be proud that they took steps to try and right the wrongs.

I know some people will disagree. They want these men banned because the cheated! They want their names removed from the record books! They don’t deserve it!

These same people that proclaim these things are rule breakers themselves. They are law breakers. Not only do they break laws, but their law breaking could have a bigger impact on their lives and the lives of others than the men that used PEDs during baseball.

How many of you commute to work everyday? How many of you drive in and stay at, or below the speed limit? I’m going to go out on a limb and say not many. It’s a rule of the road and a law that is easy for us to ignore. We ignore it for a variety of reasons. Some people can’t afford to be late, and fear of losing their jobs. Others just like driving fast. Regardless of the reason we break the law; the law is there for the safety of ourselves and the other people on the road. We do it because the odds of us getting caught are slim.

However, when we speed on the road and take our lives and the other people’s lives for granted around us, it’s not looked on as harshly as a man that took MLBs sacred records for granted. Not unless we get caught, and not unless something bad happens. Then the speeding person’s name is often on the cover of your local newspaper and looked on as a villain.

The same holds true when it came to PEDs, which brings me to the next point.

Why is it that we ridicule the player who was a superstar, when suspicions of PED usage arise, but the fringe major league player and middle of the road players get a free pass?

Nobody gives a rat’s ass about how PED use of these fringe players affected the game of baseball, all that is cared about is the sacred records. What a crock of crap. Has it ever dawned on anyone that these great players were already great, and while the may have used PEDs, would probably have been hall of famers to begin with?

The truly forgotten player in this mess is the player that never lived out his dream. The clean player that tried to stay on the straight and narrow and never even thought to use a PED to gain an edge. These men were robbed of their dreams, often good enough on god given talent to play professional baseball, but often overlooked because scouts marveled at the guy who was juicing.

I’ve had a few friends who played minor league and independent league baseball who would attest to seeing the other players rubbing the “cream” on in the club house. I, with my own eyes, have seen friends helping inject each other with a syringe of steroids.

It was literally everywhere.

How many young lives were ruined because young men were trying to imitate their heroes? How many young lives lost? How many dreams crushed?

I never for a second thought my heroes were ever using steroids. Not that it would have made a difference in what I was doing if I knew that they were. Call me naïve, but I really thought it was Creatine and other over the counter supplements these players were using. If you didn’t find me in a gym lifting weights, I was probably at GNC re-stocking my supplement stash.

I was a player dead-smack in the middle of the steroid era. I was a victim of the steroid era. My story is probably not much different than others. I’m sure thousands of former aspiring baseball players can tell you similar stories. As an aspiring player, I began using Creatine in an attempt to build huge bulging muscles to catch the eyes of the scouts. The result: between my sophomore and junior year in college I gained almost 20 pounds.

A funny thing happens when you gain 20 pounds in a course of two months when you aren’t using performance enhancers—you get slow as heck. I went from a guy who had the green light on the base paths the two previous years with the nickname of “Jackie” (after Jackie Robinson for my aggressive base running style and the way I wore my uniform), to a guy that should have been utilized as a designated hitter. I went from scoring from second base on passed balls to the back stop, to having someone come in to pinch run for me in certain game situations. I wasn’t fat, just didn’t realize what gaining the extra muscle weight was doing to me and my game.

It’s the year 2001. I am one year removed from college and skipped over in the major league draft, knocking around to different tryouts. I had gotten a full-time job at a prominent company right out of college, but I still had the itch to play professional baseball. I remember getting myself in the best shape of my life (naturally) and decided that a tryout I was going to attend for the Cincinnati Reds would be my last hurrah. Unless I got signed, I was walking away from the game. I would leave it all on the field. It was time to move on with my life.

I won’t bore you with the details of the tryout, but I was invited with two other young aspiring ball players to stay after the tryout. We were pulled into the dugout when everyone else had vacated the field. The Reds scout walked over to us, he began to speak, and I will never forget what he said. He looked at us and said “you three guys are good enough to play in the Cincinnati Reds organization right now. The problem is I can’t sign any of you, although I would like to, because then we would have to release an established player that we have already invested time and money in. However, I can have you placed on an independent team, and if a spot opens up in our organization or a player gets injured, we can give you a call.”

I heard all I had to hear. I was happy I heard the words that I was good enough to play in the organization. I walked up to the scout, shook his hand, and thanked him for the opportunity. I walked off the field for what I thought was going to be the last time in my life. I had closure. At least I thought I did.

Fast forward a few years to all the steroid allegations. All these men I looked up to growing up are now being accused of using steroids. I’m hearing that ninety percent of ball players were on some sort of steroid or PED. The closure I thought I had slowly started drifting away. The closure began to turn to anger. I started to question if the reason why I didn’t get a chance to live my dream was because some other guy that was cheating was holding me back. I started to wonder if I had decided to put that needle to my ass cheek, would things have been different. I started to hate the game.

So while some people out there are angry that the star players used these PEDs to pad their stats, those stats can be fixed with an asterisk. The fringe player gets a free pass in all of this, but why? How can we fix the broken dreams? How can we help the grieving mother or father who lost their son because he was using PEDs?

While everyone worries about the sacred records, and argues about players that should not be in the hall of fame, try to remember that there was more at stake. PED usage affected more than just the record books.

It’s a good thing I don’t do radio; I wouldn’t have been nearly as diplomatic as they were. As if there wasn’t enough preordained controversy with this year’s crop of candidates, we get this nonsense and I’m not even going to enrage you with her supposed rationale. I have too much respect for you to even try. It’s almost as bad as the one vote that someone gave Aaron Sele. Again, not going to enrage you with the facts, you can look up Sele’s pathetic career statistics here if you wish. Then you have my permission to curse uncontrollably – - and yes you can practice reading that line in your best Bane voice. Or Darrell Hammond’s Sean Connery as I believe they’re one in the same.

Call me naïve but I was always under the impression that those having been afforded the privilege of a Hall of Fame vote would show just a modicum of respect towards it. I’m not the only one who thinks this way as does the great Metstradamus. But this is unfortunately the year that common sense, fairness and respect for the game clearly went over the edge of the train tracks faster than a New York City subway commuter. Ouch.

Now I’ve been very sympathetic to the plight the writers have when it comes to wading through the waters that PED’s have polluted in Major League Baseball. But like Metstradamus, when voters use their privilege to make some grand statement (i.e. voting no one in), peppered with some who find it – I don’t know – comical, to vote for the likes of Sele and Green, it simply demonstrates to me that stupidity isn’t determined by who you write for or what and if you get paid for writing it.

When the likes of Marty Noble, someone I’ve always had tremendous respect for, thinks that because Mike Piazza had an abundance of—wait for it—back hair, during his time as a Dodger and decides to connect the follicles and assume that it meant Piazza used. It shows me just how far we’ve fallen as a people more than anything. We’ll believe the very worst of each other just to protect our own vanity because God forbid a player is later found to have juiced.

We can’t have writers dealing with pangs of remorse now can we? To top it off, Noble then ironically said that as a Met, Piazza had a hairless back, which is ALSO a symptom of steroid use. So if Piazza essentially played with Robin William’s back he’s using yet if he’s smoother than an Abercrombie model he’s also using? Absolutely pathetic, especially that never, not once, has Piazza been accused or named in any report or tested positive for any performance enhancing drugs.

I always believed that MLB needs to be far more proactive of a guide for the BBWAA when it comes to Hall of Fame voting and steroids. I wrote a piece for Metsmerized in early 2011 calling for Bud Selig to commission a panel exploring the effects that PED’s have on actual playing performance. Of course Selig and MLB want absolutely nothing further to do with this issue—at least not what happened in the past. One bright spot happened a few days ago when the MLB Players Association and MLB agreed to year round drug testing for Human Growth Hormone and Testosterone.

The BBWAA and their writers refused to vote for some players and based it on innuendo and unproven allegations; and that is shameful itself. In part I can understand their fear of enshrining someone who later is proven to have used PED’s as players elected cannot be removed from the Hall of Fame. My question is why is that? Hypothetically if a Hall of Famer does something illegal, whether during or after their playing career, why are they not immediately open to removal? That, in my opinion, would allow the writers to choose players based on their careers and not on speculation.

George Orwell was quoted as saying:

“Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent.”

Now the real question remains, who was Orwell talking about; the players or the writers?

Tepedino’s career spanned parts of eight seasons from 1967-1975. He played for the New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves. Though he was never a Met, I felt like what he had to say was relevant for our site.

During that time, performance-enhancing drugs were not part of the game. Talent and hard work alone were the sole determinants of a player’s success on the field. However, as steroids became popular in the game around the mid-1990s, the level playing field changed greatly.

Super-human athletes were taking the game by storm, which certainly put fans in the seats, but also compromised the integrity of the game. Tepedino addressed the issue of whether he would have used steroids if they were available.

“You can’t answer that question until you’re in that situation and you look at right and wrong,” he said. “Where is the wrong of it? Is it because it gives you an advantage over another athlete? But what if that other athlete is doing it, and nothing is being done about it?”

Tepedino gave an example for this year’s MLB B.A.T. Dinner in New York City. Former Minnesota Twins outfielder asked former Yankees third baseman Mike Pagliarulo is the latter would have ever used steroids? But Gladden told Pagliarulo not to answer the question immediately, but instead deeply think about it before giving an answer.

Pagliarulo thought hard, but he couldn’t come up with a firm answer. Tepedino agreed that it is such a tough decision based on all the extra factors.

“Here you are not using them,” Tepedino said. “But the guy on the mound is using them. The catcher is using. The guys in the minors are using. The guy in the minors is going to take your job. The guy on the mound has an advantage over you.”

When weighing these factors, it’s a lot easier to see why many players turned to steroids, especially veterans later in their careers. Put yourself in their shoes for an instant: You have to support a family and kids, but your talent is diminishing. In order to continue playing and earning a paycheck, you need that extra edge so you take steroids. It’s really a tough call.

“Realistically by not doing it, you’re basically saying that’s the end of my career, because someone is going to take my job,” Tepedino said. “And that guy that has an advantage over me is going to get me out. You can’t just say, ‘No I’m not going to use them or yes I’m going to use them.’ You don’t know until you’re in that situation. That’s human nature.”

Many former players, like Tepedino, claim that based on their morals, they would not use steroids if given the choice. He said players like Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth were all clean and still excelled at the game.

The thing with those players is that nobody else was using steroids at that time, so a player’s own ability determined performance. Without steroids, only the top-tier of players shined. But once steroids were introduced, normally average players began putting up monster numbers and performed better than players with more talent but who chose not to use.

And then of course there’s the money factor. The players who perform the best get the most money. Simple right? But not when steroids are involved.

“They’re making two million [dollars] a year, and you’re home carrying a lunch bucket working in a factory in the offseason because of your morals,” said Tepedino.

Tepedino said that though he may have struggled with the decision he ultimately would have chosen not to use steroids.

“You might not have a good as career as someone else, but you can go to sleep at night and say ‘I did the right thing,’” he concluded.

So before we chastise a player for using steroids because they are illegal in the game, put yourself firmly in their shoes. Hopefully, many of you would choose not to use, but based on the extra factors, it’s a tougher decision when you’re actually faced with it.

So would you use steroids if everyone else was using and your job and family livelihood depended on it?

The Baseball Writers Association of America comprised of over 700 active members of the media working for newspapers, magazines and web sites, last week elected Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar to the Hall of Fame. Along with Blyleven and Alomar, former General Manager Pat Gillick, elected by the Veterans Committee, will be representing the class of 2011 for the Hall of Fame.

Over the next few years Major League Baseball will come to a crossroads where players from the “steroid era” will become eligible for the Hall. With Mark McGwire barely skimming 20% of votes, down from 22% last year, players who ended their careers clouded with accusations, insinuations and downright admissions of steroid use are making life for Hall voters less than simple.

Jayson Stark in a recent article illustrated his concern over being what he refers to as the “morality police” , when voting for the Hall.

I can understand where Stark is coming from. With the exception of actual courtroom Judges, most of us find the act of judging others to be a difficult proposition that we would do anything to avoid, yet here we are mouthing off and judging in places like this every day; ironic I know.  Maybe that’s a good thing that most of us are wary of casting judgement on others.  The last thing I would want is for someone to have some deep, burning, life long desire to become a judge.  To me it’s a position best appointed to and not sought after.

The core of the issue is two-fold, do players who have accumulated Hall of Fame type statistics over the span of their careers have to prove themselves innocent of PED use in the minds of the BBWAA voters?  Second, to what extent do PED’s have on physically enhancing the skills of a Major League Baseball player?

In the United States we are considered innocent until proven guilty, Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, and the burden of proof is on the accuser. While it is not strictly stated in our Constitution, it is however embodied in the 5th Amendment.

Now there have been those who have admitted to PED use such as McGwire and there have been others who have not but have been targets of Federal investigations involving PED distribution and lying under oath such as Bonds and Clemens.

The best way for MLB to come up with a fair and workable approach to this issue, especially when it comes to Hall of Fame voting, would be to assemble the brightest minds in Medicine – commissioned by Bud Selig – to determine to what extent PED’s have on the already existing skills of a Major League Baseball player.

While we all have speculated that steroids makes an average player good, a good player great and so on, we really haven’t had a definitive, medically supported and dissected view of this, at least not one sanctioned by MLB. The point being, not all players who have taken steroids have become Hall of Famers and not all Hall of Famers have taken steroids.

The BBWAA writers clearly would rather not be placed in a postion to judge players on issues indirectly connected to baseball.  Taking drugs – whether they are PED’s or not being one of the issues.  If a study can give them a somewhat difinitive answer on what effects steroids and other PED’s can have on a professional baseball player’s skill level, perhaps then the writers can vote not so much with a clear conscience but at least with the facts on their side.  It’s an idea that should be explored.  Unfortunately it seems like MLB has had it’s share of PED discussion and deems the current standards of player testing to be the answer to just about every question posed to them.

Here lies the great problem with that. Over the next few years we’re going to see many players become eligible for the Hall of Fame who have the PED stigma attached to them, rightly or wrongly. And like Stark mentioned in his article unless the public and the people who run the Hall of Fame are willing to accept empty podiums (i.e. empty wallets as well) then the course of action is to do nothing.

While many of us are tired of the steroid, PED talk, the fact remains that this issue isn’t going away and to remain ignorant to it or wish it away won’t change the storm that’s clearly on the horizon.

The following paragraph is part of a letter that I wrote – it was published in the New York Times on January 26, 2004.

“President Bush mentioned the issue of steroids in sports in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 21, 2004. As a lifelong baseball fan, I am very concerned about the effect of steroids on the integrity of baseball and its players, statistics, records and history. Let’s hope that this very public message reaches those who can – and should rid all sport of these substances.”

Later that year the Congress had their dog and pony show with Mark McGwire talking about the past, Sammy Sosa unable to speak English and Rafael Palmiero defiantly saying he had never done ‘drugs’.

A couple of years later, Roger Clemens appeared before Congress after chatting up the committee ahead of time and apparently just flat out lied his way through the session – we haven’t seen much of him since then because the Feds are making a thorough investigation of him and plan to call him again.

Then there is the legal issue. Steroids and other drugs of their kind have been illegal since the early 1990′s. This means illegal everywhere, including major league clubhouses. MLB has danced around this rule, mentioning union contracts etc.

It’s now 2010 – long past time when MLB – and the other sports – need to take action and do the right thing. We’ve got a whole generation of kids who are copying their sports idols by enhancing their performances in any way they can.

From the New York Daily News , June 23, 2010:

“MLB yesterday hosted a meeting with Drug Enforcement Administration officials yesterday in Milwaukee. With the case of Toronto physician Anthony Galea heating up (he was named in a federal criminal complaint and is suspected of providing human growth hormone to pro athletes) Sports leagues are facing pressure to keep pace with anti-doping efforts…Last week, NFL VP Adolpho Birch met with World Anti Doping officials in Montreal to discuss numerous topics including testing for human growth hormone. The NFL bans HGH use – as does MLB – but neither tests for it, because HGH needs blood testing, not urine”.

Yesterday’s meeting was the fourth that MLB has hosted. Representatives from the DEA, NFL, NBA and NHL also attended.

They are all taking their time, aren’t they.

Historians point to the Black Sox Scandal as the worst thing to ever happen to Baseball. Although it was tragic and unthinkable that gamblers could bribe players to throw the World Series, fixing games was not as rare as we think. Players accepted money from gamblers long before 1919 and continued well after. Some of the greatest players such as Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and Smokey Joe Wood had been implicated in fixing games. But it was never proven. What made The Black Sox situation so grand was that involved so many players at one time and was committed in the Holy Land itself, The World Series. But lets be honest. Do any of us see that ever happening again? Players make way too much money to even be tempted.

Collusion in the 1980’s was another black eye for Baseball. When talented free agents do not get offered contracts it is quite obvious that somethin’ aint right. Like the Black Sox Scandal, the effects of collusion were short lived. Steroids, however, is a different ballgame completely.

Ask a hundred fans what they love about the game and you’ll get a hundred different responses. One theme that is constant, however, is the statistic. No game, no sport in the history of man, pays more attention to detail. Everything that happens on the field is recorded, kept track of for all eternity. With the exception of a minor tweak here and there the game has remained unchanged for well over a century. This simple fact is what allows us to compare today’s All-Stars with the greats of yesterday. The numbers signify a level of achievement, of greatness. 200 strikeouts is 200 strikeouts no matter if the pitchers name is Lincecum, Seaver or Hubbell. A 300 hitter means something, be it Horsnby, Rose or Ichiro. A Stolen Base by Rickey Henderson carries the same impact as one by Jose Reyes. But nothing, NOTHING, is more majestic than the Home Run. There is no event  that can simultaneously cause a crowd of 50,000 fans to rise to their collective feet in unison as the sound of a batter connecting and seeing an outfielder turn and race back to the wall.

I was only 7 years old when I learned the game. As I read about and studied photographs of Ruth, Mathewson, Gehrig and other larger then life mythical Baseball Gods, I also memorized their stats. At 7 years old if someone asked me, “Who holds the record for most career Home Runs?,” I could proudly cry out, ’Babe Ruth, 714!” Had someone asked me, “Who holds the record for most HR’s in a season?” I could reply confidently, “Roger Maris. 61!” I am a lot older now and I’d like to think I’m wiser. However, ask me that same question today and I’m not sure how to answer.

I find it sad that for many years a dark cloud has been hovering over our game and there’s no end in sight. The old theory was that 500 HR’s meant you were a lock for Cooperstown. Not any more. Hell, 700 HR’s no longer means you’re a lock for Cooperstown.

As we watched it all unfold we knew something was amiss in our game. We turned a blind eye. We tried to pretend it was smaller parks, depleted pitching, weight training. But in our heart we knew something was not right. Players were suddenly doing things on the field that had never been done before. Performing at levels never seen before. It cant all be due to reluctance to pitch inside. But yet, we loved it, didn’t we?  It’s not just ‘chicks who dig the long ball.’

Babe Ruth’s unbreakable record of 60 HR’s stood for 34 years, from 1927 to 1961. Roger Maris’ mark of 61 stood from 1961 to 1998. However, after holding that record for 37 years, Maris’ mark of 61 was surpassed 6 times in just 4 years! In the long illustrious history of baseball, the mark of 50 HR’s in a single season has been reached 41 times: 24 of those times, it was reached between 1990 and 2007.

We are a cynical society and we have more doubt in these uncertain times we live then ever before. The negative effect of steroids make us wonder, second guess. It opens up more questions then it answers. The most feared hitter in the game today is Albert Pujols. There have never been any rumors of him doing anything illegal and I am in no way implying that. But the fact that he is putting up such incredible numbers since he first walked onto a field is an attention getter. Is he truly that gifted? Probably. Lets all hope so, but still don’t we all wonder about it? Lets say a ‘clean cut’ guy like our own David Wright rebounds in 2010 and hits 62 Home Runs (Don’t we all wish?) Is that the new record? Will people wonder?

In Mark McGwire’s first 4 years he averaged 38 HR’s, including 49 in his rookie year. But still, 49 to 70 is quite a stretch. Or take someone different for example: This must be proof of Performance Enhancing Drugs. In his first 7 years in the majors this particular player hit 7,10, 9, 7, 10, 18 and 5 HR’s for an average of just over 9 HR’s. Then suddenly he walloped 43 in one season!!! Almost a 500% increase??? It’s gotta be steroids, right? Well, this was back in 1973 and this player is 2nd basemen and former Mets manager, Davey Johnson.

I am not condemning Mark McGwire. Nor am I condoning his actions. He is one of many. It’s easy for us to throw stones but he does at least deserve credit for having the courage to come clean. Even in our personal lives, none of us like to admit when we are wrong. But sometimes we do, to a loved one, friend or family member. But at least we don’t have to go on national TV and confess our sins to Bob Costas. Big Mac at least deserves credit for doing that.

I was 13 when my dad took me to the Hall of Fame for the first time. The memorabilia, the artifacts left a mark on me. Seeing Babe Ruth’s uniform, Ty Cobb’s shoes and Honus Wagner’s glove were something I will never forget.  But the highlight for me that day was walking into the actual Hall itself, the hallowed ground where the best of all-time had their names, their stats and their accomplishments displayed on a plaque for us mere mortals to gaze upon. I was thrilled to actually see the plaques of guys I only read about: Cy Young, Nap Lajoie, Christy Mathewson, etc…But the most moving moment for me was looking up at my father as he also relished the moment. I listened to personal stories he shared about players that he actually saw play with his own eyes! Many of the stories were related to his boyhood team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and his idols like Snider, Campanella, Robinson. But now I wonder how this will be played out years from now. Kids not even born yet will go to the Hall of Fame with their fathers or grandfathers and the greatest hitters of an entire generation are nowhere to be found.

a glycoprotein hormone produced in pregnancy that is made by the developing embryo soon after conception and later by the syncytiotrophoblast (part of the placenta). Its role is to prevent the disintegration of the corpus luteum of the ovary and thereby maintain progesterone production that is critical for a pregnancy in humans.

Now I’m not one to look into a players personal life but I don’t think Manny was using the drug for it’s intended use.  From the research I have done HCG is used primarily by steroid users when they come off of a cycle to get the production of testosterone started in their bodies again.

Manny is now the 2nd most high profile player to test positive for PED’s.  The first being New York Yankees 3rd Basemen Alex Rodriguez.  I’ll admit here and now that I wanted very much for the Mets to sign Manny Ramirez in the off-season.  I’ve been saying through this short season so far that the Mets should have signed Manny Ramirez to a contract.  It looks like the Mets did dodge a bullet here.  With everything else that is going on with this team, this was the last thing the Mets needed to happen to them.  Unfortunately while the Mets have dodged a bullet the Dodgers and more importantly Major League Baseball have not.

Some of the sports best players in recent years have tested or are highly suspected in using steroids or some other form of PED’s.  Manny Ramirez up until today I believe was a lock for the Hall-Of-Fame.  Players such as Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa at one time were also locks for Cooperstown but most likely won’t get voted into the hall now.  While these athletes are at fault for using roids and PED’s the blame also has to fall on Major League Baseball.

For years the home-run totals were getting higher, guys were getting bigger in their final years of playing than they were in their prime, pitchers were throwing harder than ever but Bed Selig ignored the problem until Congress got involved.  The Mitchell Report was conducted and a new drug policy was implemented to the approval of the Players Union.

The testing that major league baseball does is not enough.  They do not test for human growth hormone (HGH).  There is a blood test that could test for the use of HGH but MLB doesn’t use it.  MLB also does not test for masking agents that hide the use of steroids and PED’s.  Once again it’s a simple test but it’s not implemented.  The 50 game suspension in my opinion is not enough.  Manny will lose approximately 7.7 million dollars due to his suspension.  I believe that if players are still trying to get away with steroid use in this day and age when they are being tested then the penalty needs to be higher.  The penalty should be a suspension for one season.  I know the Players Union will never approve of this but this is the only way to ensure that these players will stop using.  You take away their salary for a year that will make them think twice before injecting PED’s into their bodies.  If it’s a players walk year they’ll be afraid of getting caught using PED’s.

Fans, writers, broadcasters, bloggers and everyone else who cares about the game will be talking about this for days on end.  In the end though the fact that Manny Ramirez, one of the best right handed hitters in the game tested positive for a PED will change nothing.  Until the drug policy is tougher these guys will continue to use PED’s.  They will use it to get higher numbers that will ensure more money.  They will use PED’s to heal from injuries and get their spots back.  They will use PED’s to cheat the game and the fans who watch and love this game.  They will break the records of guys who got those records using their ability, not PED’s.  If  MLB wants new records set by younger athletes to mean something they must make the changes to the drug policy.  If MLB wants fans to continue to show up to games and to watch their TV network something needs to change and that change must happen soon.

The suspension will cost Ramirez $7.7 million, or roughly 31% of his $25-million salary. Players in violation of baseball’s drug policy are not paid during suspensions.

Ramirez is expected to attribute the test results to medication received from a doctor for a personal medical issue, according to a source familiar with matter but not authorized to speak publicly.

The Dodgers informed triple-A outfielder Xavier Paul this morning that he was being promoted to Los Angeles.

Ramirez joins A-Rod as the two biggest stars who have been implicated with banned substances.

Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti and Manager Joe Torre said they were unaware of any failed test or pending suspension.

Ramirez leads the Dodgers in batting average (.348), on-base percentage (.492) and slugging percentage (.641), and he is tied for the team lead in home runs with six.

He signed a two-year, $45-million contract with the Dodgers in March, with the first year guaranteed at $25 million and the second year at his option at $20 million.

Could you imagine if the Mets had signed him?