I've been a Baltimore Orioles fan for a long time, pretty much since the early 1970s during their heyday. Besides worshipping players like Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, Jim Palmer, Ken Singleton, Eddie Murray, Bobby Grich, Al Bumbry, and Rick Dempsey (not to mention manager Earl Weaver), I loved the Orioles back then because they did thing the right way, the "Orioles Way," with talent groomed in the minors, solid fundamentals, strong defense, great pitching, and Earl Weaver's favorite, the 3-run homer. No fancy ballparks, no big salaries, no arrogant and greedy owners, just a classy organization that knew what it was doing and was comfortable in its own skin. Those were the days.Now comes word that Rafael Palmeiro, who recently became just the fourth player in major league history with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs, has been suspended for 10 days after testing positive for steroids. This comes just five months after Palmeiro testified under oath to Congress that he had "never used steroids. Period." Yesterday, Palmeiro amended that "period" to an ellipsis, adding that he had never "intentionally or knowingly" taken steroids. Huh? Is there a way for someone to unintentionally and unknowingly take steroids? Did Palmeiro mix up his Viagra (he's a spokesman for that LEGAL drug) with something else? Does this mean Palmeiro actually lied under oath to Congress, like Oliver North of Iran-Contra infamy?
I don't know, but something's extremely fishy here. I certainly hope beyond hope that Palmeiro's telling the truth, but frankly I don't believe him anymore. And I doubt almost anyone else does, either. His integrity is shot. At the minimum, Palmeiro's ehavior has been very troubling and very disappointing for this long-time Orioles' fan - and baseball fan in general. Unfortunately, the accomplishments of many modern Major League players have now been thrown into doubt by the actions of otherwise Hall-of-Fame caliber players - at least by the raw numbers, sans steroids - like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and now Rafael Palmeiro. And that's just sad.
Just two days ago, Ryne Sandberg was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and he had some sharp, pointed words to the steroid users of today. They bear repeating.
The reason I am here, they tell me, is that I played the game a certain way, that I played the game the way it was supposed to be played. I don't know about that, but I do know this: I had too much respect for the game to play it any other way, and if there was there was a single reason I am here today, it is because of one word, respect.[...]
I hope others in the future will know this feeling for the same reason: Respect for the game of baseball. When we all played it, it was mandatory. It's something I hope we will one day see again.
So do I, Mr. Sandberg, so do I. Unfortunately, today I feel like that young boy must have felt back in 1919, when he cried to "Shoeless Joe" Jackson -- as the great ballplayer left a courthouse during the "Black Sox" scandal of the time -- "Say it ain't so, Joe!" Today, with another scandal engulfing baseball and tarnishing its legacy, I echo that boy's words: "Say it ain't so, Palmeiro!"