More O's from eBay, and thoughts on Manny

This bad boy arrived in the mailbox today. It was one of those deals where you know you want to buy SOMETHING, just aren't sure what. This auction was ending within minutes of my stumbling upon it, and had no bids. I put in the minimum bid possible, and ended up winning this card for $1.04. It's my very first buy back card, and my first Oriole from the 1960 Topps set, which I hope to one day complete. It also has sharp corners, and is in excellent shape for it's age.



Now, on to Manny. Unless you've been on a deserted island all day, you know by now that Manny has been suspended 50 games for violating MLB's drug policy. I've always been a fan of Manny, and in the past have stood up for him whenever someone criticized his insane behavior. Manny was a rookie during the collecting days of my youth, and had "materialized" into what many people called "the greatest right handed hitter in history". Because of my love for Manny being Manny, I am trying my best to reserve judgment until all the facts are in, but regardless, I will say that in this day and age, taking ANYTHING that you aren't 100% sure isn't on the MLB banned substance list is irresponsible, if not just plain stupid. We're talking about a 500+ home run hitter here, and a unanimous first ballot Hall of Famer. In my opinion, Manny using steroids is bigger than A-Fraud, or Palmiero and definitely taints not just Manny's legacy, but that of the '04 & '07 Red Sox as well. Hopefully this is just a one time "oops I made a mistake" type of thing, but with what we've been through already with superstar athletes and performance enhancing drugs, the odds are definitely against it.

Another thing that has always bothered me about baseball's steroid problem is not only it's effect on the game's image, which is evident, but it's effect on people's statistical expectations as well. How many clean players from the 80's & 90's who put up borderline Hall of Fame numbers won't even be considered because of what "performance enhancing drugs" have done to peoples expectations?