Peanuts and ‘roids
Baltimore Oriole slugger Rafael Palmeiro served up a steroid-enhanced scandal-ball, and cartoonists blasted it out of the park.
But critics, like Yankees, be damned. Today, Mom is on Paxil and Botox, and apple pie leaks pesticides and additives. So if the muscle boys of summer need amazin’ meds to pad their stat lines, and thus their bottom lines, hey, it’s the American way.
To paraphrase Yogi Berra, 90% of baseball is medical, and the other half is fiscal.
Palmeiro returned from suspension last week, and the nation is still waiting on pills and needles for the big leagues to bat cleanup. A lot of us in middle-infield America choose the relative innocence of the minor leagues, where autographs are free and the mascots don’t earn more than we do. Ah, the pharm system!
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.