Say it ain't so Raffy. Say it ain't so.

It's a sad day in sports today. No one died, no one retired, but Mighty Casey may have just struck out. For there is no joy in Paajiville today.

Major League Baseball has been engrossed in an unsavory steroid scandal precipitated by both the BALCO scandal and Jose Canseco's not-so-complimentary tell all book about steroid use in MLB. BALCO, for those of you who don't know, is the sports nutirtion lab in Northern Cali that linked illustrious athletes like Marion Jones, Bill Romonowski, Barry Bonds, and Jason Giambi to a large scale Steroid ring run by a man named Victor Conte. In Canseco's book, the long since faded star depicted many accounts of steroid use and abuse and aslo disclosed names of many high profile stars who were using them. The news about the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs such as steroids or andro in baseball didn't come as much of a surprise. The prodigious homerun numbers, coupled with the increased size of players as well as the larger number of ligament and other joint injuries, pretty much told the story for baseball fans and players nationwide. But everyone seemed to turn a blind eye to the problem, because lets face it, chicks dig the long ball.

Two major revelations did come out of the book,however. The first one was slightly comical... Jose Canseco can read? This guy came off as perhaps one of the stupidest meatheads in baseball. How this man can publish a book is beyond me. But the second revelation really shocked me. Canseco named an old favorite player of mine, Rafael Palmiero, as a steroid abuser. He went as far as to say he'd injected "affy" himself durng thier days in Txas.

Palmiero, is one of the few gentlemen in baseball. Blessed with a picturesque swing and a temperment that was as even keel as a sleeping baby, he was truly an ambassador of the game. When news came that he was a potential steriod user, I was shocked and crushed. But he steadfastly refuted all accounts in Canseco's book. He even testified before Congress stating under oath:

"Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Rafael Palmeiro and I am a professional baseball player. I'll be brief in my remarks today. Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never. The reference to me in Mr. Canseco's book is absolutely false. I am against the use of steroids. I don't think athletes should use steroids and I don't think our kids should use them. That point of view is one, unfortunately, that is not shared by our former colleague, Jose Canseco. Mr. Canseco is an unashamed advocate for increased steroid use by all athletes."

After hearing his compelling, self-absolving testimony, I was relieved. Raffy wasn't a cheater. He's still going to be a good guy in America's eyes. Why this was important to me, I don't know. But quietly it was a big deal to me. It's one thing of the showy Canseco or Sosa were caught cheating, but a good guy like Raffy...

Until today... when new broke out that Palmiero tested positive to steroid use and suspended for 10 days. Say it ain't so Raffy. Say it ain't so.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/baseball/mlb/08/01/steroids.suspension/index.html

While baseball will recover from this black eye. I dont' think i'll ever be able to root for this guy the same.