(Site note: Look to the bottom of this post to find links to the other opinions and intro to this debate).
I have many qualms with Bleacher Fan’s rebuttal, just as I predicted I would. Let’s address them.
His comments regarding Shawn Merriman are useless in this case. You can’t compare the NFL to MLB and you sure can’t compareRoger Goodell and Bud Selig! There are different rules, different standards, and different procedures.
Last year is last year, Bleacher Fan. It has no relevance on this year’s All-Star game, per se. Mike Cameron was suspended last year, but not this year. His 2008 suspension does not impact the 2009 season. It’s the same with Manny. His 2009 suspension will not impact the 2010 season.
It is true that there is not currently a rule that says that Bud Selig can ban Manny Ramirez, or any other player, from playing in the All-Star game because of a suspension for a performance-enhancing drug. But, was there a rule when Selig suspended the All-Star Game in 2002 with the score tied up 7-7? Sometimes, there are extenuating circumstances that call for action. This circumstance is one of those times.
Let’s keep in mind that the All-Star game is also an exhibition. It isn’t a regular season game. Plus, there really is no precedent for this type of situation.
When all is said and done, the people will speak and not elect Manny Ramirez to the All-Star game. Many of his votes were tabulated before the suspension was handed down. With that in mind, I think you will see his place in the standings slip just as they have in the numbers announced yesterday, when he dropped from fifth to sixth.
But, if this numbers by some miracle do not drop, then perhaps Manny will bow out of the All-Star game gracefully. That would get him a lot of support throughout the inner circles of baseball. Hopefully he knows that he has no legitimate (there’s that word again) reason to play in the game.
Loyal Homer has spoken!!!
(Site note: to read the judge’s intro to this debate, click here. Read Bleacher Fan’s first argument in favor of Manny’s inclusion in the game here, and his follow up argument here. To read Loyal Homer’s argument about Manny being banned from the All-Star game should he be voted in, click here.)
