It’s about time, but better late than never.
In the past two days Frank Robinson – one of the 20 greatest baseball players ever – and Curt Schilling – one of the best pitchers of the past 10 years – have specifically spoken out against Rafael Palmeiro, saying his statistical achievements should be erased from the record books. This is trouble for Raffy and his cohorts.
As more and more major leaguers – active and retired – continue to speak out against the guys who have been caught cheating and who have accumulated statistics under suspicious circumstances, the more likely other drug cheats will be revealed.
Schilling made a great comment when he said that he doesn’t “know (if) there's any way to prove that anything he did was not under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs." It’s great how the tides have turned. This suspicion of Palmeiro’s achievements is a much greater punishment than a suspension of any length.
For years there were few players – active or otherwise – who were willing to speak up and state the obvious. However, once the stats of the truly great players were being passed by the players of this generation, the silence ended.
Reggie Jackson was the first of these great players, who's stats were overshadowed by the “Suspicious Sluggers,” to speak out when he said "You can't be breaking records hitting 200 home runs in three or four seasons. The greatest hitters in the history of the game didn't do that." By the way, Reggie’s right.
Robinson – who has a well-deserved reputation as an old school, no-nonsense guy – was equally as blunt when MLB.com asked him if he would erase Palmeiro’s records, and said, "I would. He was found to have used steroids, and he served a 10-day suspension."
Article comments
1 - Natalie Davis
Harsh -- and I am still praying that there is some way in which Raffy was "dosed" without his knowledge -- but if Palmeiro can't provide a credible explanation, it seems erasing his records is the only way that baseball can maintain any integrity (if any remains even now).
2 - sal m
another player comes down on palmeiro, as david wells says the latest, most infamous drug cheat should take a lie detector test. regardless of whether this would accomplish anything, this is another case of the "pinstriped wall of silence" crumbling a little more...
3 - sal m
check this link to read the whole story...