Manny Reactions

So the Manny news broke yesterday just as I was on my way back from Purdue. Then we got a flat tire so I was not able to post my reactions yesterday. Initially, I got the text from Dave and I was just surprised. As I was in the process of loading up the car, it just kind of went in ear and out the other. Then, after sitting down and listening to ESPN Radio on the way home, I started to just feel angry. I'm sick and tired of the cheating in baseball. There's no way of knowing who was legit in the past and who was not. As a numbers man, I like to look at numbers and be able to use them as a gauge of skill. However, it just is not possible in this new Steroid Era.

With all of the discussion of whether or not a player's numbers are legit and whether or not they deserve to make the Hall of Fame, one thing is sometimes forgotten: the impact a player has on a team. Manny has been one of the best (though not the best, as I wrote in this post) postseason players of all time. I know we're supposed to be unbiased, but as a Cubs fan I look straight at the 2008 NLDS. Now, anyone who watched any part of that series knows the Cubs played bad enough that they would have been beaten whether or not the Dodgers had Manny, who hit .500/.643/1.100 in the series with 2 HR. Still, the fact remains that the Dodgers were playing with at least one cheater on their team. I'd be naive to think that there is zero chance that there is a cheater on the Cubs, but even in this era of distrust, no Cubs players really fit the profile of a steroid user and there is little suspicion surrounding the team. I'm just upset because the Dodgers would not have been the team that they were with Manny, and that casts a black cloud over their entire season and postseason. Not only does it do so for last year, but for the unforgettable World Series wins for the Red Sox in 2004 and 2007. Bill Simmons wrote a great piece about the cloud that is cast over those victories and you can read that here.

Essentially, I just don't know what to believe anymore. It'll be hard to watch games for a while without thinking "So who in this game is cheating?" I'm with Dave and Buster Olney, there needs to be a zero-tolerance policy. One strike, you're out. Really, I'd just be happy to never again hear the words "steroids" and "baseball" in the same sentence. I just hope this all goes away fast. On the bright side, when I go to Wrigley Field on May 28 to watch the Cubs-Dodgers game, I won't have to see Manny and be reminded about everything that is wrong about baseball.

Interesting Baseball Fact of the Day: Manny hit .299 with the Red Sox and .396 with the Dodgers in 2008. While there were other factors such as Manny not wanting to play in Boston, that is an EXTREMELY statistically significant difference. Let's just say you don't improve your average 97 points overnight just by trying harder...