Blogging on the latest, greatest Manny saga by Mike Ghika
Manny taints legacy in using women's drug

Recall how we all were mortified when Theo Epstein not only dealt Boston’s best hitter to Los Angeles, but he also agreed to pay the remainder of his 2008 salary as a Dodger AND included two quality prospects in the deal for Jason Bay?

Doesn’t seem so bad now does it?

I won’t even mention that Bay is hitting .299 with 16 home runs and 62 RBIs in his first 77 games as a member of the Red Sox. (Okay, so maybe I absolutely wanted to mention that). Sure, Theo had reasons to get Manny out of town. He was a team cancer, refused to play hard, and seemed to fake injury after injury. In addition, he was going to hit the free agent market and change teams following the season anyways, so the obvious impulse was to acquire someone else with the best interests of the organization in mind.

No one doubted management for ridding themselves the burden that was No. 24, and no one doubted the caliber player that Bay was, but paying the rest of Manny’s salary and letting Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss go out the door was undoubtedly a tough pill to swallow.

Now, with a 50-game ban handed down to Manny on Thursday by MLB for violating the league’s drug policy, it’s certainly not inconceivable to connect the dots and get the feel that the organization realized Manny’s possible use of performance enhancers, thereby adding another reason to run Manny out of town – no matter what expense it may have cost (dollar-wise and prospect-wise).

With the news that Manny tested positive for hCG, a women’s fertility drug, the most recent doping shockwave has rippled its way down the crooked spine of Major League Baseball. The only real purpose for male use of the women’s drug is to regulate the body’s testosterone after coming off some kind of steroid cycle. I’m not saying Manny was using steroids – instead I’m sure it was some other much more sophisticated PED – but regardless, there is virtually no room for excuses on this one for Manny.

He now will be added to the list of superstars whose legacy will forever be questioned.

As Manny enters the I-don’t-know-whether-or-not-you-belong-in-the-Hall-of-Fame club, the all-time home run list continues its recent trend of looking about as legitimate as the Royals’ chances of staying contenders through this year’s All-Star break. Manny currently sits at 17th on the all-time list (and he will remain one home run behind Jimmie Foxx’s 534 now until July).

On top of that, five others (Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, and A-Rod) with steroid connections are atop Manny on the all-time list. When all is said and done and Manny and A-Rod (currently 12th all-time with 553 home runs) project their long ball totals even more, half of baseball’s top-12 all-time home run hitters will have their legacies tarnished in some way or other by using performance-enhancing drugs.

Growing up watching Manny’s picture-perfect swing and steadfast approach at the plate in his seven and a half years in Boston, this news is sure shock for all of us – including me – who genuinely thought he raked in all those career numbers through a dedicated workout regimen and natural virtuosity as a major league hitter. Albert Pujols is now in a class of his own, having separating himself from Manny and A-Rod as the best right-handed hitter in the game. If any evidence down the road suggests or proves that the Cardinals’ slugger is not clean, the game of baseball would certainly have to adopt a zero-tolerance policy.

But from the Red Sox point of view, management has to be breathing easy. Imagine if A-Rod did land in Boston prior to the 2004 season in exchange for Manny (Jon Lester would have been included in the deal as well). Instead, he publicly humiliated himself as a member of the Yankees, and the Sox were fortunate enough for Manny to do it 3,000 miles away. The only negative possibility that could come out of this for Boston is if and when reporters begin to ask David Ortiz about Manny’s drug use, and whether or not Manny’s guilt could incriminate Ortiz by association. Some reporter somewhere will look into it.

As for Manny, enjoy your vacation. We’ll see you in July.

-Mike Ghika

Published on May 07, 2009

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