I've voted for him too, thanks to the brouhaha.

BTW, I wish you'd warned us that the link is to a Plaschke article - I try not to click on his links, since I don't want him to get hits.

thanks #1!

saved me from clicking it.

love the vote for manny idea...

this wouldnt be the first time that a players suspended for peds made the all star team, merriman made the probowl the year he was suspended 4 games for doping the world didnt end then

Yeah, but that's football and, as we've seen, no one gives a damn about PEDs in football.

What's "embarrassing" about it? Should Dodger fans vote for Juan Pierre? If the fans vote for Manny, then Manny should go. Its no more "embarrassing" than other All Star selections of players over the years.

What's "embarrassing" about it?

It's embarrassing to the sportwriters who are constantly trying to convince their readers that PEDs in baseball are the worst thing ever since the Plague in Europe, and how it's turning away fans in droves, because it shows that as far as fans are concerned, PEDs aren't that big a deal: crime committed; punishment served; on with your life.

DB

this wouldnt be the first time that a players suspended for peds made the all star team, merriman made the probowl the year he was suspended 4 games for doping the world didnt end then

Ture but I believe the NFL pased a rule that off-season to keep it from happening again.

I read the Plaschke article, and he seems mad that this isn't as big a deal as he thinks he is.

But.... Plaschke himself has been bothering himself with the Lakers playoff run. Its clear where his priorities, and how much he really thinks where the readership cares about.

It hasn't gotten attention locally because Plaschke/Simers/et al. has chosen to make it a non-story, choosing rather to follow the Lakers rather than the Dodgers the past month. You reap what you sow, I guess.

Once again: Columnists such as Plaschke are entitled to their outrage, but they aren't entitled to ours.

I voted for Manny. He is one of the three best outfielders in the NL. He just isn't playing right now. And I voted to show I still support him and look forward to his return.

By the end of the season, he'll have 400 PAs of MVP-level offense making him look like a good pick in retrospect.

Columnists such as Plaschke are entitled to their outrage, but they aren't entitled to ours.

This is a great line.

Manny cares about baseball so much, he risks his health to be better at it. The fans admire his selflessness, and are attempting to vote him into the all star game. The media is in an uproar.

Mike Schmidt hates baseball, and quits. The fans vote him into the all star game, and the media thinks its awesome.

The media loves quitters, and hates winners.

Its not the Yankees, or Red Sox I would worry about.

Its the Mets.

[13] You mean the Mets fans voting in Beltran over Manny?

I'm not in a suspended state of disbelief. I'm just annoyed that the Dodgers' best player isn't out there. But, considering the head start they got and the fact that they're in the NL West, I don't really care all that much.

The usual stuff. Highlights:

Ramirez has been allowed to maintain his lavish lifestyle

Plaschke would have baseball suspendees live in unlit basement rooms on an island in SF Bay, I think. I have read that there may be some rooms available in Cuba, too.

Where is their public anti-steroid campaign that focuses on the drugs' effects on today's youth?

The most agressive high school steroid testing program in the country has tested 29,000 athletes, cost $6,000,000, and found eleven users over a two year period.

I look forward to the July 4 column, the day after Manny's return, where Plaschke says the real trouble with baseball now is the fans.

It seems that he is mad at the fans, and wants the Dodgers to punish them. I'm not sure what he has in mind -- locking them out of the games?

Baseball is a business, the business of entertaining fans. If they want Manny, then that is what the business should deliver. The customer is always right.