Roid Rage

I really hate agreeing with White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen on anything--he's an obnoxious loudmouth who often speaks well before he thinks about what he's saying--but I couldn't help but be struck by his comments on the news, as reported by The New York Times, that former Cubs/sox star (and former Guillen teammate) Sammy Sosa was one of the 104 Major League Baseball players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs during supposedly anonymous testing in 2003; Alex Rodriguez also tested positive at that time and has had to attempt to explain and apologize for it since the information was revealed earlier this year.

This is what Guillen had to say in today's Chicago Tribune:

We need to get it over with. Get those names out there. Whoever is guilty is guilty, whoever is not is not. Let baseball deal with it once and then move on. Every month we seem to talk about somebody and it's not a good thing. It's not healthy for the game.

Much as I hate to admit it, he's right.

Having a name come out once every several months is indeed bad for the health of baseball, which will have a cloud of suspicion hanging over each and every player--a few of whom are guilty, but most of whom are exactly what they appear to be: extraordinarily, naturally talented athletes. Until we know the names of the guilty, everyone is guilty by association. No, that's not fair, but it's how it is. It would be refreshing to see both the Players' Union and commissioner Bud Selig for once do what's best for the sport and its fans. Come clean. Yank the Band-Aid off. Let the healing begin.