Manny Ruins His Legacy, Many Others

Everything and everybody who has been in the same baseball universe with Manny Ramirez during the past 17 years deserves an asterisk. We're talking about a big one, nearly the size of his artificially-enhanced accolades. That's because Manny being Manny now translates into Manny being a fraud.

In case you haven't heard, Ramirez just became the latest supposedly great player to test positive under Major League Baseball's drug-testing program. He also joined the majority of such players by trying to lie about it. According to the Los Angeles Times, he said he was taking medication from his doctor for a personal medical issue, and he said he didn't know it contained anything banned by baseball.

Blah, blah, blah.

More Coverage: Manny Banned for 50 Games | Never Doubt Canseco

Those "blahs" should continue when Ramirez does the inevitable: He'll extend his lie by claiming he only used performance-enhancing drugs that one time, or maybe just a couple of other times. Definitely not forever.

At least, Ramirez's lie is better than Mark McGwire irritating those on Capitol Hill by saying again and again, "I'm not here to talk about the past." It's also better than Roger Clemens throwing his mother, wife and best friend under the bus when the feds suggested that he won all of those games and all of those awards beyond doing an extra set of bench presses. Even so, Ramirez resides in McGwire and Clemens territory, which means, just like those two, every team and every player that Ramirez has shared a uniform with through the years is tainted forever.

Is that fair? No, but neither was Manny being a fraud along the way to helping to propel his teams to victories they didn't deserve.

Let's start with this: The Curse of the Bambino still lives. After all, with Manny being a fraud, the Boston Red Sox captured both of their world championships during this century. Without Manny being a fraud, he doesn't slug his way to MVP honors of the 2004 World Series. Which means, without Manny being a fraud, those Red Sox don't win it all for the first time since 1918, when Woodrow Wilson was in the White House, and when Babe Ruth was ending his last year in Boston before leaving in a trade to the New York Yankees for nothing worth mentioning.

Three years later, without Manny being a fraud, the Red Sox don't sweep the Colorado Rockies in the World Series. He had a .348 batting average in that postseason, with two home runs and 16 RBI.

Did Ramirez use juice or adrenaline?

Can't tell, which is why those Red Sox teams deserve asterisks. The same goes for those Cleveland powerhouses of Albert Belle, Jim Thome and Ramirez. Prior to his debut in the majors with the Indians in 1993, the only thing more depressing than baseball around northern Ohio was Lake Erie. Then, with Manny being a fraud, the Indians had an unprecedented run for the franchise. He collected homers and RBI at a ridiculous pace, and the Indians reached the World Series twice out of nowhere.

Speaking of becoming something out of nothing, how about the Los Angeles Dodgers, sputtering toward oblivion through last July until Ramirez arrived in a deal from the Red Sox? With Manny being a fraud, the Dodgers roared down the stretch into the playoffs as Ramirez went absolutely nuts at the plate. Even now, with Manny being a fraud, you have to place a mighty asterisk by the Dodgers and their Ramirez-inspired record of winning 13 games in a row at home.

Just like that, Ramirez joins a list that only will expand beyond Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, McGwire and Clemens. They all are former Hall of Famers in waiting, and they all won't see the edge of Cooperstown, especially if I have a say in the matter, and I do, by the way. I vote for Hall of Famers, and since it says on my ballot that you must consider "integrity" and "character," none of these frauds will get my check mark next to their names.

Otherwise, that would be a fraud.

Latest Manny Ramirez Images

Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez looks out from the Dodgers' dugout during their game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego in this April 9, 2009 file photo. Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug, Major League Baseball announced on May 7, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake/Files (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL CRIME LAW)

Reuters

Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez walks to his team's dugout during their game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego in this April 9, 2009 file photo. Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug, Major League Baseball announced on May 7, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL CRIME LAW)

Reuters

Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez runs in from the outfield during their game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego in this April 9, 2009 file photo. Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug, Major League Baseball announced on May 7, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake/Files (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL CRIME LAW)

Reuters

Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez walks back to the dugout after striking out in the 9th inning against the San Diego Padres in San Diego in this April 9, 2009 file photo. Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug, Major League Baseball announced on May 7, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL CRIME LAW)

Reuters

Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez strikes out against the Padres in San Diego in this April 9, 2009 file photo. Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug, Major League Baseball announced on May 7, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL CRIME LAW)

Reuters

Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez walks back to the dugout after striking out in San Diego in this April 9, 2009 file photo. Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug, Major League Baseball announced on May 7, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL CRIME LAW)

Reuters

Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez tosses his batting helmet in the air after grounding out in the ninth inning during a one run loss in San Diego in this April 9, 2009 file photo. Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug, Major League Baseball announced on May 7, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BASEBALL CRIME)

Reuters

FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2008 file photo, Los Angeles Dodgers' Manny Ramirez (99) waits to hit as team owner and chairman, Frank McCourt looks on during the first inning of a baseball game againstthe Arizona Diamondbacks in Los Angeles. Ramirez was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday, May 7, saying he was prescribed a medication by a doctor that contained a banned substance. The commissioner's office didn't announce the specific violation by the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder, who will lose about $7.65 million of his $25 million salary. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

FILE- In this July 14, 2008 file photo, baseball players Manny Ramirez, left, and Alex Rodriguez share a laugh during batting practice at the Major League Baseball All-Star Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium in New York. Ramirez was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday, May 7, 2009, becoming the latest high-profile player ensnared in the sport's drug scandals. The Los Angeles Dodgers star said he did not take steroids and was prescribed medication by a doctor that contained a banned substance. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

Los Angeles Dodgers Manny Ramirez adjusts his glove as he gets set to bat against the Washington Nationals in a baseball game in Los Angeles, Wednesday, May 6, 2009. Ramirez was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday, May 7, saying he was prescribed a medication by a doctor that contained a banned substance. The commissioner's office didn't announce the specific violation by the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder, who will lose about $7.65 million of his $25 million salary. (AP Photo/Lori Shepler)