Don't stop believin'? On this juiced journey, you're better off
So how do you like Rick Ankiel's fairy-tale story now?
Do you still buy that "The Natural", as he's been dubbed in St. Louis, is all natural? Do you believe his tale that the human growth hormone was legitimately prescribed by doctors to help him recover from elbow surgery, and that it was way back in 2004?
Or are you ready to lock him in a cell with Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi?
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| Mike Scioscia: 'There are going to be some layers you have to peel off, and some of them are going to be painful.' (US Presswire) |
The landscape is one big minefield, and you're always one step away from seeing your favorite player -- or story -- blown to smithereens.
What's that, you say? St. Louis doesn't do it for you -- you're more of a West Coast kind of person? Well, then, a second report Friday linked Troy Glaus, the 2002 World Series Most Valuable Player, to steroids. If you're all fire and brimstone, that surely casts a pall over the Angels' emotional first Fall Classic title.
Doesn't it?
I was at Angel Stadium on Friday before the first-place Angels and first-place Cleveland hooked up for the second of their intriguing four-game weekend series. Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia was so quick to point out that none of us has all the facts yet -- about both Ankiel and Glaus -- I thought he might tear a rotator cuff in the process.
"There's certainly not enough information yet to comment on it," Scioscia said. "We'll just have to see what develops."
He's right -- we don't know very much at all yet. But in this era of instant analysis, blogs and talk radio screamers, we want verdicts now.
The Angels themselves were in a pickle this spring when another name tied to HGH leaked: that of Gary Matthews Jr., who had signed a shiny new five-year, $50 million deal over the winter with ... the Angels! Matthews clammed up for several days after that broke -- while owner Arte Moreno fumed and demanded that the center fielder explain himself -- before finally invoking the Bill Clinton I-Did-Not-Inhale defense.
Isn't it disturbing, what players might be doing without a manager's knowledge?
"There's a lot of focus on steroids right now, and our stance is the same," Scioscia said. "I know the way I feel about it, I know the way Bill (Stoneman, Angels general manager) feels and I know the way Arte feels.
