Glass houses

A while back.

Not so far, actually. Call it a short while.

Red Sox fans world-wide used to complain about everything...the weather, politics, this fairly insignificant issue of something like 8+ decades without a World Series win. There was even talk of curses, voodoo, and devil worship.

Anyway, back then a certain faction of Red Sox fans reveled in making accusations of their rivals, there was the emerging thought that the Yankees had cheated their way to a Game 7 ALCS win over Boston, thanks to the 3-home run contributions of one Jason Giambi. Early on in the following year, the slugging first baseman had apologized with a fill-in-the blank press conference. Nobody thought he had disobeyed any city water laws, but he never said the "S" word either.

Back then, we were still living in a naïve world of baseball in Boston. We were the lovable losers. The Yankees were the needle-pushing cheats. Back then it was easier to believe that they were the dark knight and we were the damsels in distress.

The Mitchell report of 2007 listed 120 MLB players as steroid users, many of them the nucleus of the Yankees mid to late 1990's dynasty years when they won 4 World Series titles. "Fucking cheaters" we bellowed, as if to make ourselves completely immune from the process. "Didn't see any Red Sox players listed" we were quick to say, and all seemed right in Camelot. Lancelot had finally become king, in both 2004 and 2007, which made it even sweeter that we did it "honestly".

Back then, you know...back then... we just assumed the good guys were the only ones not juicing, a belief not exactly disputed by the Mitchell Report, which delivered us such tasty revelations as ... Eric Gagne, who was here all of three months, and sucked mightily anyways. Meanwhile, Roger Clemens watched as his Hall of Fame career got taken down into a sewer of events, and once again, Red Sox fans enjoyed a nice bout with karma.

Yesterday though, the bombshell dropped when it was announced that Manny Ramirez -- that’s former Red Sox World Series MVP Manny Ramirez -- has been suspended by Major League Baseball for 50 games for using performance-enhancing drugs.

Camelot shook. The glass house that was Red Sox Nation was suddenly in full view of everyone, and the stones were soon to follow. That doesn’t mean he used them in ’04... Or in ’07...but now, we have some reason to believe he may have. And it bothers us.

You see, much like how all of New England grins over the tainted legacy of Alex Rodriguez, so too beginning today, is the resume of Manny Ramirez. And yes, if you think Giambi’s presence in 2003 was a dirty avenue to the World Series, then you have to think the same about Ramirez in ’04 and ’07.

Frankly, these admissions rarely surprise me anymore. I’m more intrigued these days to see how the public reaction develops. It ruined Clemens’ life. It sent Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire into exile.

For the most part, Red Sox fans will revel in the news of another enemy of the state getting busted. But, as one person noted, “If Manny was using in 2009 when baseball was testing, what do you figure he was doing when baseball wasn’t testing?"

Way back then, we didn’t know any better. These days, we should, but something tells me that some of us are going to conveniently forget about Giambi and ’03. When that sort of thing hits close to home, you normally do. In any event. they don't take away MVPs or World Series titles.

Only the perception of them.