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Manny Ramirez's return to Chavez Ravine on July 16 was overwhelmingly (and unsurprisingly) positive. Why not? They cheered Bonds in the Bay Area. Missourians still dig Big Mac (and Big Macs). They cheered Alex Rodriguez in the Bronx. Heck, New Yorkers even cheered Sergio Mitre after he threw 5.2 innings in a winning effort on Tuesday. The bottom line is that fans - generally speaking - want their players to be clean and awesome, but when push comes to shove, they'll settle for just awesome. And maybe at the major league level that's actually okay to do - no matter what fans are told they're supposed to feel about it. What have steroids been proven to do? The answer after all the bluster of the last half-decade, is not too much. Sure some of the superstars that have been decidedly guilty (if not proven so) for PEDs have seen a dramatic dropoff of their statistics after the point in which they were slammed. Miguel Tejada, Jason Giambi and Sammy Sosa all come to mind. But two of this season's biggest stories have been Alex Rodriguez's admitted use of steroids and Manny Ramirez's 50-game suspension for taking care of her uterine wall. Rodriguez missed 28 games at the start of the season because of a hip injury unrelated to the steroid scandal (supposedly) and Ramirez returned from his suspension at the beginning of this month. So how much different are those dirty rotten cheaters' numbers been this season than their career averages? Again, not too much.
Ramirez's 2009 statistics if averaged out over the course of a full season:
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
156 642 510 113 174 43 4 39 131 -- -- 117 96 .340 .470 .666 1.136 Now, here are Ramirez's numbers from his previous (presumably steroid-riddled) 15 seasons in the league:
Um ... you'll notice that every 2009 stat category falls in between his career average and his 162-game average. He's pacing more doubles, triples and percentages. And for those who like to remind the rest of us that steroids helps the eyes just as must as it helps the muscles, Ramirez is walking at a higher rate and striking out at a lower rate than previous seasons. If Man-Ram has been using steroids since his days with Cleveland, it appears as if they were holding him back a bit.
Now what about Alex Rodriguez?
Rodriguez's 2009 statistics if averaged out over the course of a full season:
G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
157 682 547 97 138 19 0 45 131 14 2 121 109 .252 .397 .535 .932
Now, here are Rodriguez's numbers from his previous (presumably cheat-filled, frosted-tipped) 14 seasons in the league: 
Not all of Rodriguez's stats are on par, but the big ones that get the headlines (and asterisks) are. He's running less and earning fewer runs, but that isn't necessarily even in Rodriguez's control. What is in is control are homers, RBIs and his patience at the plate all of which surpasses even his 162-game averages (and few superstars still play all 162 games these days). Again, the aspects of Rodriguez's game that would conceivably be punctured by a leak in the steady flow of steroids simply have not been affected. One can extrapolate from these numbers that this is why an overwhelming amount of fans can't be bothered losing sleep over this ongoing ruination of the game. If one believes Ramirez and Rodriguez are no longer using steroids (it would be simultaneously shocking and appropriate if they were), then one has to wonder at all the "fake and liar" talk is about that surrounded these two superstars. What were they lying about? Because it doesn't appear to be statistics related. And judging by the applause those two players got in their first home games following their shamed revelations, the stats are really all anyone cares about.
Photos courtesy of Yahoo! Sports via Getty Images
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