Now in it's fifth season, Major League Baseball's roid rage nightmare has welcomed yet another 500 home run club member.
Manny Ramirez, come on down!
If you're keeping track, seven of the last ten members to enter baseball's storied 500 Home Run Club have either tested positive for steroids, or implicated themselves beyond reasonable doubt (Sammynospeakadeenglish Sosa and Mark "I'm not here to talk about the past" McGwire).
So at this point, it's safe to say that from 1990-2003, at least 70 percent of Major League Baseball player's were on steroids.
Manny's inclusion into the 500 Roid Runs Club is already being met with a strong denial from the offender.
But unlike Pay-Fraud before him, Manny says his physician prescribed a medication for a "personal health issue".
Are we really naive enough to believe this? He could have tried a little harder and blamed it on an imaginary Dominican cousin. This is Manny we're talking about, so why not blame it on being abducted by aliens who injected him with roids? That would be more believable than a prescribed medication.
The notion that these handsomely paid athletes continue to ingest drugs without knowing whether or not the drug would trigger a positive steroid test is preposterous.
That's no different than having a confused look on your face when your Porsche Turbo breaks down because you used strawberry milk for fuel.
Manny's case differs from the other roiders because Manny's steroid revelation comes during the season, with his team boasting the best record in baseball.
Amazingly, only Rafael Palmeiro is the only other major name to be fingered during the season. And Palmeiro was on a wretched Orioles team and having a rather unremarkable season.
So it will be interesting to see how adversely a 50 game suspension affects this young Dodgers team that really semed like it could put together a special year.
On a positive note, this explains why Manny threw the Red Sox 64-year-old traveling secretary to the floor last season. Roid rage.
