When I got wind of Sammy Sosa's recently unearthed positive test for PED's in 2003, I wouldn't describe my reaction as shocked, hurt, nor astounded. Nope, when it comes to this new steroid era in baseball that we are still knee deep in, I am officially numb to any use of performance enhancers, past or present, no matter the excuse. Sure, I was plenty hurt when I heard about Roger; and for a while even refused to believe that my favorite player, Manny Ramirez, was using. I came up with every possible excuse in my head; "a doctor could have prescribed it without him knowing", or "maybe it was for an injury", I even bought the woman's fertility drug alibi for a while. But after no real fight from Manny's camp regarding his suspension, I woke up and swallowed the sad, hard truth. My favorite player, the one guy that was supposed to be clean, the one guy that was born to hit home runs and drive people in, had cheated the game I love. Now, I no longer idolize players in that way, right now there isn't one player in baseball who I wholeheartedly believe has never used anything to gain an unfair edge. It isn't fair to the owners, the coaches, nor the fans shelling out outrageous amounts to see their "heroes" play. And above all, it's a slap in the face to the players of old who paved the way for our athletes today. Sure, it still hurts to see reliever Takashi Saito stroll out in that sacred 24 jersey, but I'll get over in due time. I still love the game of baseball, but until this steroid era ends, for me, there will be no more surprises.
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