NYT: Araton: With Series Fever, Steroids Issue Fades to the Past

Until recently, players accused of cheating selected from two popular options: vehemently deny, as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have chosen, or remain silent, as McGwire has. But beginning with the admission last season by Pettitte that he had used human growth hormone, a third option has emerged: quickly apologize and move on.

“Obviously, success on the field has helped, but isn’t it something how they beautifully and effectively transcended their humiliation?” said Richard Emery, one of the lawyers representing Brian McNamee, the physical trainer who cited Pettitte and Clemens in George J. Mitchell’s investigation into steroids for Major League Baseball.

Emery added: “Watching the way all this has unfolded makes me believe that it was the stark juxtaposition of Clemens and Pettitte that changed the game. Alex had an easy road because Pettitte showed you exactly what you do when you’re caught.”

Will others who made a less judicious choice when they came to a fork in the road learn from Rodriguez?

“There has always been a tremendous compulsion in the American DNA to cover up, and lie, going all the way up to the White House,” the former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent said. “McGwire got terrible advice, and I think coming back almost certainly leads to him handling this better. But with this issue, it’s so obvious what to do now that maybe it even leads to Bonds and Clemens waking up, too.”

...“I think in some cases, it just comes down to intelligence, and Rodriguez is significantly more intelligent than Clemens and Rose,” Vincent said.

Ouch...sorta like having the biggest bundle of crap at ShredFest.