WHY YOU WERE ALWAYS A ROLE MODEL MANNY

Attention to all those kids who watched their role models in baseball grow up to dominate the game and then it was revealed these same heroes “allegedly” took some kind of performance enhanced drug during their career… DON'T CHEAT! There's a new group of losers in baseball and soon the world will be reintroduced to them all as we embark on a new era in baseball. Next year, the writers will need to vote on a new Hall of Fame class, and damn, it won't be easy.

These same baseball heroes who you worshipped are all alone right now, they had their time in the spotlight, showing off and looking and feeling unstoppable, but now... nothing. The writers are going to have a tough time cutting through their own confusion and emotion, trying to do the right thing, and make the right vote in deciding to elect or not to elect guys who "may or may not" have taken steroids, into the Hall of Fame. It’s a mess, but more importantly, it’s a wake up call for our youth. I believe in karma and karma’s a bitch. You do things wrong in your life, so help me God, they will come back to bite you in the ass. I’m not saying I’ve always been on the straight and narrow, I’m saying when it comes to a career that you love, you're supposed to shoot for the moon, not shoot it in your ass... I’m serious. That's my opinion on how I was raised, that's all.

Manny Ramirez was once regarded as one of the greatest in the model era. I am a believer that given the opportunity, George Steinbrenner may have tried to lure Manny to New York at one point in his career. George loved superstars and Manny was one that has raw talent. Without a doubt in my mind, I thought one day Manny would make it to the Bronx. I always loved Stenbrenner's approach; he believed in top free agents to get his team to a championship and he believed in second chances too. He picked up Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry and I remember at the time I thought “Why is George doing that, they’re garbage?” A terrible thing to say, I know, but I clearly didn’t get it. They needed a chance. They got a chance. They won a championship and picked themselves up. Sure, they stumbled along the way, but they did it and hopefully will continue to do it… at the end of the day, they bettered themselves for their family and the fans. Manny Ramirez now wants a second chance, the problem is, he’s had a second chance and he was caught “cheating” again. Read HERE. He retired to avoid embarrassment but the damage was done. My 9 year old, who is no idiot, gave me his favorite Manny Ramirez card and said, “You can have it, I don’t want it.” I remember I was bothered by that. Kids hear things in school from friends and they are already forming hard choices. Luckily my son recognized cheating. But the bigger question now becomes, do these same kids wipe the slate clean when these players “get clean” of drugs and go back to their raw talent on the field? And what about the writers? How do they approach the Hall of Fame voting next year? It’s going to be insane because we know that “maybe” some of these guys did “something” and then again, “maybe” we don’t know if they did or not. Will the writers, adults mind you, wipe the slate clean and say, “let’s analyze the numbers” and give a fair vote or will they just vote with disregard for what happened in the steroid era? It’s a mess and I don’t know the answer, I’m just asking, because you can act like this is no big deal, but it is.

Many Ramirez is out there right now wanting to be a role model for the kids, read watch the ESPN Video HERE. He says: "I don’t want to leave the game like I did. I also want to show my kids that if you make a mistake, don’t quit. Just go back and fix it. And if you’re going to leave, leave the right way....I want to be a role model."

Ramirez is just too immature to realize he was ALWAYS a role model for kids. He was a superstar when he was at George Washington High School and he developed a following of fans when he was with the Indians and the Red Sox. Are you serious Manny? You want to be a role model now? Are you going to teach my son that cheatings wrong now? No, I do that, because one of the ballplayers he looks up to is a cheater. Where've you been all these years man? You didn't realize you were a role model all along? Come on!

I'm torn about all of this because it goes back to second... or third chances. George Steinbrenner would have forgave Manny Ramirez. Many would not. Maybe Manny deserves to try and get his job back, but he needs to do the time like everyone else, then, when he’s “clean”, he’s allowed to play again. But one thing that’s important here are the young fans. What does it teach them? You play baseball, you can cheat, but you can work the system and play again. Somehow it doesn't seem right, you know? Some how we've missed the part where we as kids learn to work hard, focus and shoot for the stars. Nevermind the way ballplayers used to be I guess... the hustle of Pete Rose or heart of Don Mattingly or grit of Robin Yount. No, players needed to dabble and be bigger than the other. What a shame. When I think about the batch of guys involved in this “PEDs” mess, I find it sad. These guys are dudes I worshipped growing up, we all did. Now they sit in a room waiting because of the stupid mistakes they made...alone. And then what? Do the writers ignore it and just vote them in or do they start voting in players less worthy of being voted into the Hall of Fame? I’m tired of the asterisk, but I get it, especially now, I just don’t know what the answer is, clearly I'm ranting.

Do I believe Manny deserves a 3^rd chance? Believe it or not, I do, but clearly the strict baseball testing is finding cheaters, but then allowing them to come back and to me, that's not strict enough. It's confusing for our youth. Maybe we need to test more, and offenders may need to get tested weekly. Maybe 2 strikes is a ban for life. Maybe administrators literally need to watch ballplayers pee in a cup. My point is, if you’re going to make it strict, make it uncomfortable for the violators too, because it’s time to really clean baseball up. It’s not just about the money, it’s about the young fans too.

God, remember when the Hall of Fame was something special? We’re about to embark on a crazy ride, aren’t we?

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