Collegiate Times

A new chapter in the steroid debate begins this week, as Manny Ramirez returns from his 50-game suspension for using a banned substance.

The first star to be caught by the testing system is the perfect player to undermine the issue forever.

"People love me wherever I go," Ramirez said during his rehab stint in Albuquerque. 

Yep, definitely a new chapter. Actually, if I didn't know any better I would thin

k it was a different story altogether from that of say, Barry Bonds or Alex Rodriguez.
After being suspended nearly 50 games ago now, Manny Ramirez will return to the Dodgers on July 3.

He started rehabbing last week with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes and then moved down to take some swings at Single-A.

People just don't care that Manny Ramirez used steroids (Ok, so he got caught with female fertility drugs, but those are used to restart hormones after a steroid cycle). 

And he got caught red handed. 

This is not an instance where some good investigative reporting "linked" Bonds to steroids or where some insider knowledge "leaked" A-Rod's six-year-old positive test.

Manny tested positive. Under the current rules, and is suspended.

People love him everywhere he goes.

Barry Bonds was forced out of the game by the stigma from his possible steroid use. 

Everyone and their brother lined up to take a shot at A-Rod when he admitted steroid use.

Manny tests positive, and the most noticeable effect is that people stop wearing their Manny wigs for a couple months.

Remember the controversy about A-Rod's cousin? The man was practically smoked out of New York City, no longer allowed to follow A-Rod around and help him train.

Manny has his own relative attached as part of his training team. 

Only Los Angeles Times Bill Plaschke has mentioned this man.
. Plaschke is perhaps the only person in America that is noticeably outraged by the incident, by the way.

Why? Well, there are a couple of factors.

First of all, Manny has endeared himself to the fans, albeit in a bizarre, eccentric way. Essentially, people liked him to begin with.

That was certainly not the case with other sluggers accused of using steroids.

Bonds and A-Rod drew fire from fans and spurned members of the media long before steroids came up.

They were stars and acted like it, so when news broke that they possibly had some help getting there, the public (generally) delighted in ripping the aloof superstars.

Manny Ramirez, on the other hand, is more Rain Man than con man.

He is a savant, a man-child, a goofball with a nearly supernatural ability to hit a baseball.

People simply cannot bring themselves to hate Manny. 

The female fertility drugs he was actually caught using further add to the childish, comical feel of the situation.

Secondly, Manny holds no records and really isn't a threat to any.

Those who believe steroids empowered hitters to double their home run total with a simple injection (a camp I do not identify with) have no reason to really care about Manny. 

He will likely reach 600 home runs and has an outside shot at 3,000 hits, but he is not going to be the home run king and he has never hit more than 45 home runs in a year.

In fact, Manny has shown remarkable consistency over his career, a tendency that argues against any steroid use.

With no significant injuries to speak of, he has been good for about 150 hits, 35 home runs and 120 RBI every year, without many spikes or dips.

His career-high power number, 45 home runs, was set in 1998 and duplicated -- in 2005.

I'm not saying he hasn't used steroids. But either he hasn't used them often or they didn't work. 

Which, come to think of it, he may have used them incorrectly. Would anyone be surprised? 

No. It would be yet another example of Manny being Manny.

However, there is one overarching reason why there is no outrage as Manny prepares to return to the Dodgers.

Nobody wants to care anymore.

Quick, who was the most recent slugger to get called out for using steroids?

Just a blip on the sports radar, Sammy Sosa got nailed A-Rod style earlier in June. That Sports Illustrated witch-hunt which was dubbed "Breaking News" never really got much play.

The bridesmaid of 1998's home run chase, Sosa is a member of the 600 home run club, but he also added some doubt to his reputation in his later years.
His Congressional testimony was suspicious due to his sudden loss of the ability to speak English. Of course, there was also his corked bat incident.
However, even now Sosa's reported positive test fails to elicit a powerful reaction from the public.

What impact does Sosa's use have? If anything it adds credibility to the home run charts.

At least Mark McGwire, who has been convicted in the court of public opinion, was going up against equal competition.

At least Bonds was overtaking men on a level playing field.

Who is going to complain about Manny's potential steroid use?

Yankees fans probably have the biggest beef, since he helped catapult the Red Sox past them in 2004 and since.

However, the New Yorkers won't speak out. They don't know where they would be without Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez. Did I miss anyone?

We simply cannot change history, and as more and more players are named, the game appears to have been more and more fair.

The gloom and doom of the issue may put a cloud over it, but the era that will be remembered as the "steroid era" produced moments that brought baseball back from unthinkable lows and took it to soaring heights.

Sports fans have quit complaining about the conditions and continued a practice that the outrage never effected: They buy tickets and watch the games. 

My argument since the beginning has been that it is a fair game and has been the whole time. 

It is time to enjoy the players for what they can do, and while I would prefer him to be returning as a member of the Giants or still be with Red Sox, Manny is the perfect cure for the steroid fever.

Nobody cheated baseball, the players just collectively changed it for an era.

And as Manny comes back, he represents baseball every time he lollygags out to left.

Sure, it's different, maybe even a little flawed. It doesn't fit the classic mold. But it still brings people to the games.

And people love it wherever it goes.