While Mariano Rivera is giving Yankee fans a peaceful, easy feeling each time he steps on the mound these days, I have to admit that I’m nervous. Not about Rivera, but about the possibility of another star player testing positive for steroids. I’m sure fans all over the country are feeling the same way. It seems inevitable that more guys are going to fall. Which Yankee will it be, I was wondering last night? Man, don’t let it be Rivera or Jeter or Bernie or Rodriguez. Please. It’s hard to say anything would surprise me, but really, if Mariano Rivera or Derek Jeter were found using steroids it would shock me.
As exciting as this season as been, it’s hard not to feel that these are dark, paranoid times for baseball. Cynicism is at an all-time high. The commissioner’s office has virtually sacrificed the integrity of the season witholding the Palmeiro test results for so long. Who knows what other players have tested positive yet are still allowed to continue playing? In the comments section yesterday, I wondered why nobody in the media has publicly suspected Roger Clemens of using performance-enhancing drugs. Today, Monte Poole wonders the exact same thing. I’m not saying that Clemens has done anything–how would I know?—I just think it is curious that he hasn’t gotten the same third degree that other bulky veterans have received.
Maybe it’s just me. But while I’ve got one eye on my team and my favorite players, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
