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.
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