Baltimore Orioles Soundoff

Alex Sanchez of the San Francisco Giants was the first person to be caught by baseball's new steroid testing policy.

Rafael Palmeiro is no Alex Sanchez. He is a bonafide star.

What does this mean for baseball? What does it mean for us Orioles fans?

I have noticed among fans on Orioles talk forums that many of them have lost their faith in Raffy. They are spurning him by calling him a liar and a cheat. I am not so quick to spurn Raffy.

Don't get me wrong. Palmeiro took steroids--Unless, in order to make himself more credible, Jose Canseco has been slipping into Raffy's bedroom on occassion and injecting him in his sleep. Hey, is that really all that impossible? I've seen Canseco speak, he's a nut.

I've also been a Raffy fan my whole life, since he was an Oriole the first time. I have grown fond of that sweet swing and also of his sweet, never demanding, viagara-taking, and utterly quiet nature. He's never been considered anything but a professional by anyone he's ever met. He is modest, although his numbers are up there with the clouds.

Here is my argument against Palmeiro taking steroids, it may be a weak one, but let me have my dreams (I still like the Jose Canseco theory...) :

Palmeiro has never, ever been on the disabled list. Steroids, if taken over a long period of time, cause muscles and tendons to tighten to the point where they can snap at any wrong movement. The point behind steroids is to tighten the muscles. Now, I ask, how can Raffy have been habitually taking steroids if he's never had to go on the DL? It just doesn't make sense. Look at Jason Giambi, he took steroids and the man crumbled.

With that being said, why Palmeiro had the 'roids in his system now, is beyond me. (Unless because of the Jose Canseco thing). See even if Palmeiro had taken steroids in the past, why take them now? You have 3,ooo hits and 500 home runs, what more do you need? You have one more year left in baseball, why take steroids now? That was stupidity and I didn't want to believe Raffy was that stupid. I guess he is.

Baseball won't miss a beat because of this. It will keep moving in a positive direction. It may actually do some good--if Raffy can be caught and punished, maybe I can too...

It won't hurt the Orioles either. They are invincible from this because they have enough problems already. It's like if you hurt your foot and you want it to stop hurting so you hurt your hand, then your foot isn't so bad anymore. The Orioles can't hurt about the Palmeiro thing at this point, they are too busy hurting about firing their manager and losing.

This may help the O's. Sammy Perlozzo takes over, they start winning some games (2 in a row and counting), and then Palmeiro comes back nicely into the lineup and they take off. Hey, it could happen.

Look, I love my Raffy. I think he is a hall of famer without any doubt in my mind. I think he did a stupid, stupid thing. I don't condone it. But as FU2RMAN, so eloquently points out, "Even the freakin' leader of the free world has Rafael Palmeiro's back!"

Orioles Game Update: Orioles 10, Rangers 5
Box Score

Like Lou Brown, manager from the movie "Major League" once said, "Yesterday we won a game. If we win today, that's called two in a row, if we win tommorow, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before."

Yes, that's right O's fans, your Orioles have won--get this--two games in a row. Sam Perlozzo is doing an excellent job with the pitching staff and the Orioles have responded by scoring more runs(10) than they have in a long time.

Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons went yard, Chris Gomez and BJ Surhoff added doubles, Melvin Mora was on the bench. Let's hope this continues O's fans--not Mora being on the bench, the hitting part.

Weekend Series: Orioles @ Texas: Saturday, August 6th at 4:05 p.m. and Sunday, August 7th at 2:05 p.m.