Manny being.....?

Today Manny Ramirez was suspended for violating Major League Baseball's substance abuse policy. He tested positive for a banned substance, not a steroid. The band substance was hCg, which is found in women's fertility drugs. This substance itself is not a performance enhancer, it is a testosterone stabilizer. It is most commonly taken by steroid users to counteract negative side affects . There is however another widely known use for the drug by men but we will get there.

When I thought about steroid users, or "cheaters"as they have been so often branded, I never thought about Manny. Sure he was steadily producing gaudy numbers year after after, but it all seemed so natural to him. He has possibly the best hand-eye coordination i have ever seen and that cannot be enhanced by steroids or HGH. He wears a baggy uniform and didn't seem to be big and bulky. I thought a lot about Manny, he was lazy, unmanageable, and very volatile, but I never thought he was taking steroids. Also in an era where we speculate on every player, Manny stayed out of the conversation. If he was using any type of performance enhancers the game of baseball will be devastated. This era of steroids will now encompass the majority of great players from my adult life. The list includes; Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Petite, Mark Maguire, Sammy Sosa, Rafeal Palmeiro, Jason Giambi, and now possibly Manny Ramirez. Not to mention countless others that I am forgetting. Baseball is heading for a bad crash, now more than ever we can not trust the players who say they are clean.

I am not so quick to label Manny as a cheater though. I am not a cynic like most sports fan, and I basically like Manny. His first statement said that the supplement was doctor supplied for a "personal medical issue". This has some possible merit to it. See hCg is prescribed to men who have impotence issues. Maybe a doctor and Manny made a terrible mistake and missed it on the band substances list. Manny needs the doctor to come forward as well as admit his "issue" publicly. Manny isn't fighting the suspension and even took responsibility for the mistake. Maybe, just maybe, he made an honest mistake trying to combat a problem that a majority of men have, and most of them refuse to admit. Manny has to decide between the Hall of Fame, and his pride. Live like no one and is watching and maybe I am naive.