Juiced

There are so many serious things too talk about. But I'm going to take a little break to talk about Raffy. Rafael Palmeiro returned from his drug suspension yesterday. Yes, Mr. "Wag-My-Finger-to-Congress-and-Deny-Using-Steriods" is back in the Orioles' lineup. I've got to say that on one level I feel a bit sorry for Raffy. I can't imagine how embarassing it must be for people to realize that not only have you been cheating at your profession, but you also told one whopper of a lie to the public and to Congress. Not to mention tarnishing your legacy.

Recall that Palmeiro was first accused of steroid use by Jose Canseco in the latter's much-ballyhooed book. Canseco also named Mark McGwire and a few other former teammates who he claimed to shoot-up. Given Canseco's troublesome history, he was hardly considered a credible source on the subject. (His admissions of drug use in the book were more matter-of-fact than they were a mea culpa.) And while there has been suspicion about McGwire for years, Palmeiro was not generally seen as having the body type of a steroid user. But a mention in Canseco's book was enough for both McGwire and Palmeiro to volunteer to go before a Congressional committee investigating the issue because, apparently, there wasn't anything more important to take care of last March. We all know what happenned next. The Bunyon-esque McGwire turned into a dithering fool in his unwillingness to address whether he had used steroids, his non-answers speaking volumes. Conversely, Palmeiro defiantly wagged his finger and Proclaimed, "I have NEVER used steroids. Period." After that confident and decisive display, many people believed him. After all, he's a good Republican from a Cuban immigrant family who professes strong love of country, works hard and plays by the rules. I was skeptical. Maybe it was the finger wag, after which I half-expected him to say, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." His statement was a little too emphatic for my liking. Nonetheless, he was regarded as the big winner of the proceedings, and McGwire the big loser.

Then, on August 1, it was revealed that Palmeiro had tested positive for anabolic steroids. He could be seen wiping pterodactyl egg from his face, and I felt vindicated in my assessment of him. In fact, Major League Baseball had been sitting on that positive test since May for whatever reason, but the time finally came for Palmeiro to face the music, and the mandatory ten game suspension. Naturally, he changed his tune when he spoke publicly on the matter, now saying that he never "knowingly" took steroids. Those were the exact words used by Ben Johnson in 1988. He also was caught using the same banned substance as Johnson, stanazolol, which doesn't enter your system through a spiked gatorade bottle. Palmeiro isn't saying a whole lot now, on the advice of his lawyer, because Congress is reviewing whether he perjured himself. O, what a tangled web we weave...

I do not trust Jose Canseco enough to buy into everything he says, but there is circumstantial evidence to back him up regarding Palmeiro. Canseco was traded to Texas (and became Palmeiro's teammate) during the 1992 season. If you check out Palmeiro's career Statistics and note the spike in home run numbers starting in 1993, this whole affair should not be so shocking a revelation.

Palmeiro came back yesterday, and there was the predictable mixed reaction when he came to bat. It was disappointing that so many people cheered, but it was to be expected. One of my pet peeves with sports fans is that they cheer a uniform more than the people in it, and they react to outcomes instead of performance. I caught the end of the game on TV. Sure enough, Raffy came to bat in the ninth inning with two out, two on and a run down. He had a chance to win the game, and now all the Baltimore fans were on their feet for him. He flied out to end the game. There was some poetic justice.

The reason why I mentioned above that Palmeiro is a Republican was not to imply that only Republicans cheat - although they do seem to be more self-righteous in their denials. But it is significant in the fact that President Bush was a key player in making the steroid issue an important matter to be dealt with, and is now Defending Palmeiro. I guess any Muslim swept off the street is a terrorist without evidence, but a positive steroid test proves nothing.

When all is said and done, Palmeiro will still make it into the Hall of Fame based on his numbers. Most of his accomplishments came at a time when there was no ban on steroids, the modern spit-ball era. But his case makes you wonder just how many players were using these substances - or still are. And did MLB turn a blind eye to it as long as people paid attention to the long balls and flocked back to the ballparks after their disillusionment following the 1994 strike? Perhaps the drop-off in performance of players like Sammy Sosa and Jason Giambi and the mysterious status of Barry Bonds indicate that the testing is starting to affect change, and Palmeiro was one of the players who rolled the dice and got beaten by the House. Time will tell. But don't say I didn't tell you so.