A-Rod in, Ramirez Out: Steroid Stain Remains

Alex Rodriguez took a few steps onto the field Friday night and right away a man with a big neck and even bigger mouth began razzing from behind the dugout.
    
Yankees teammate Nick Swisher heard the taunt, turned around and put his index finger to his lips.
    
"Shhhh!'' Swisher told the fan.
    
That worked, for a moment. But baseball figures to face a much harder time silencing the boos, jeers and doubts stirred up by Manny Ramirez and sport's latest scandal from the Steroids Era.
    
A day after the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger was suspended 50 games for using a banned drug, A-Rod returned to the scene. Off the disabled list from hip surgery, he was set to play in the majors for the first time since admitting in February that he used steroids when he was a member of the Texas Rangers from 2001-03.
    
As he walked on the grass, a fitting song played over the sound system at Camden Yards: "Circus,'' by Britney Spears.
    
"I've made a lot of mistakes in my career. They've been well-documented. I've paid the price,'' Rodriguez said before New York played Baltimore.
    
"I have nine years to make a difference, to become a better baseball player and a better person,'' he said. "I think I have time to have a happy ending.''
    
But what about the game itself?
    
The rocky relay from Ramirez to Rodriguez made for yet another stain on the sport and left the pair, sharing huge salaries and megatalent, chasing the same impossible dream: To just play ball.
    
Yet like their 500-plus home runs, their errors off the field will stay on the board.
    
Besides, Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon said, it's way too late. For both players or fans.
    
"It's heat on baseball. It's horrible for baseball,'' he said in a busy clubhouse. "Now you look at all the superstars who got busted -- or allegedly. This era is definitely tarnished.''
    
Houston star Lance Berkman was among those who barely blinked when Ramirez's penalty was announced.
    
"I wasn't surprised. I think that anybody that makes the game look clownish is under suspicion because it's just not that easy,'' he said. "It's unfortunate that here we go again with another round of steroid questions.''
    
"That's the thing. There's not just a shadow on one person now. It casts a shadow on all our integrity and that makes me mad,'' he said.