Classic Rant #40 (July 9, 2009): Go Manny, Go (Back From Where You Came From)

To get off the Michael Jackson bandwagon for at least one rant, has anyone seen the response that the return of Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers has elicited?

This guy is a cheater, the biggest name ever caught doing illegal steroids. He was banned for 50 games, did his stint in the minor leagues, and now is back with the Dodgers. He hit a homerun last night against the Mets.

Anyway, I remember when the names of McGwire, Sosa, Canseco, Clemens and all the rest came out as being steroid users or at least being questionable about their steroid use. There was clamor, uproar, disbelief, and a lot of yelling and screaming.

Not with Manny. When he came back, he got cheers.

I think what has happened is that baseball fans are so used to hearing that their heroes used steroids during the 1990s through the current playing time that if another star surfaces as having used them, nobody cares anymore.

Look at the whole Alex Rodriguez incident. He admitted to using steroids in his younger days, and a book came out to further scandalize his life and career. The whole ARod thing was news for seemingly five minutes, and then it died out quickly. Nobody even talks about it anymore, particularly in New York, where ARod mans third base for may favorite team, the Yankees.

Personally, I was upset at the beginning of this incident, but like how I believe most baseball fans feel right now, I really don't care anymore. And that book, well, I am sure you will be able to get it for $1.00 at Borders sometime soon.

I just think that we are hardened to the fact that baseball players--and other athletes--gleefully used performance enhancing drugs probably from the 1980s to the 1990s, and that some players continue to use drugs that we haven't even heard of yet. Of course, this feeling is unfair to those who have been above board all of this time, but I don't think anyone can blame the fans for thinking this way.

I would hope the next breed of athlete--the kids born in the mid-to-late 1990s--have been warned, and warned repeatedly, about the damage that these substances can do to your body over the long term, even though the initial rewards can be great.

And even though people don't seem to care anymore, Manny Ramirez is not to be pitied, nor cheered, no booed. I think at this point, no response would be better than any response, quite frankly.