We all remember a similarly beloved slugger with a similarly detached disposition in the NL West who was banned for a similar transgression.

Is this guy seriously trying to argue that Manny got through his steroid suspensions "unscathed?" His reputation is ruined! (His baseball rep, I mean -- his personal reputation was already in the toilet.) The only chance he now has of getting into the Hall of Fame, after a career that statistically speaking is a no-doubter will be a sea-change in voter attitudes five years from now -- which strikes me as unlikely despite the number of people around here who dearly wish for it to happen.

This doesn't exactly lay a blueprint for a Melky comeback.

ALSO: Was Manny ever really "beloved?" More like "tolerated," I'd say.

ALSO: Was Manny ever really "beloved?" More like "tolerated," I'd say.

I can think of at least one primate who loves him...

Branding the guy seems rather harsh to me.

Branding the guy seems rather harsh to me.

More or less harsh than deporting him?

Why can't we brand him then deport him?

Beloved is a strong word, but I think many outside his home teams found him fascinating. An odd enigma that could smack the crap out of a ball and then lumber down the field to catch a ball at his shoe tips that an ordinary fielder would have made look easy. Most of that comes from his incredibly consistent and outstanding batting. Melky has part of one season where he came close to that, and he was actually liked in SF as opposed to inquisitively studied, so I really don’t see any similarities.

If the author is saying he needs to have 12+ seasons of 140+ OPS+ AND do odd things that make him a bit of a senior thesis case study then I’d just recommend the former. That will heal many wounds.

This type of production could be the product of products not allowed by the MLB drug policy, or it might not.

What type of production could a producer produce if the producer were allowed to produce production?

Describing Cabrera as "extraordinarily likeable" seems like a huge stretch to me - first I've heard of it. The personal cheering section is proof only that he's got a fun first name and that he's been hitting .350 -- he never had one when he was an average player in three other cities.

I mean, the fans of San Francisco have showered "insane support" on the likes of Barry Bonds, too, but his charisma and charm have nothing to do with it.

Colon suspended 50 games for testosterone.

You know, Melky is really in a unique situation to be hated nearly unanimously by baseball fans. The steroid haters are gonna hate him because, well, STEROIDS! The steroid apologizers should hate him because he gives what may be the most compelling test case for mediocre to bad player becomes great because of STEROIDS!

I guess what I'm saying is that we should all rally together and hate Melky as one, united baseball fan front for the first time in the history of professional baseball.

Colon suspended 50 games for testosterone.

Correction: Not testosterone, turns out it was deep fried Mangú

Correction: Not testosterone, turns out it was deep fried Mangú

I'm a big fan of Mufongo, you can find it at any "comida tipica" dominican or pr joint in NYC.

Branding the guy seems rather harsh to me.

Absolutely. 50 days in the pillory should suffice.