COMMENTARY

There are rumors that Manny Ramirez could be elected to start in the 2009 All-Star game while serving a suspension for using a banned substance. I suppose this wasn’t blatant “steroid” use -- you know, the “needle” kind -- but it did show some degree of ignorance and lack of respect for the game.

After all, he had to know he would be tested. The message from fans must be that they don’t care about a player’s image or his moral fiber, they care only about what he can do between the lines. Fans are quick to forget, they’ve become tolerant, hardened, they’re used to superstar athletes having issues. New ones seem to crop up every day.

Remember when Manny walked out on a town, an organization and most importantly a team that not only paid him around $100 million but allowed him to make his own rules along the way? He’ll survive failing another team, but failing a drug test I thought would be slightly frowned upon. Doesn’t seem to be in his case.

OK, he said he was sorry, would accept the responsibility and his punishment. Dodger fans seem to have chalked it up to a simple “MBM” -- Manny being Manny -- his personal protective bubble. Of course his antics or mistakes or whatever they are, while not punishable by law, should have more severe consequences.

A suspension without pay, ha! He won’t feel it. How about making him fly commercial for a year or come to spring training on time, or even better, make him throw out the first ball in Fenway one night. Remember Pete Rose, the guy who placed a couple bets on his team to win? Like Manny, Jason Giambi, A-Rod, Andy Pettitte et al, he eventually said he was sorry for doing it and he got baseball’s “death penalty” -- banned for life.

Quite the opposite for Manny. If these rumors become truth, he will become baseball’s “American Idol” of the All-Star game. The weeks preceding, the pregame and postgame, the talk-show circuit, everyone will be enthralled with the return of Manny from his time off. His first regular-season game back will be on national hookup, for sure. Do you think there will be any cameras at his minor league rehab games?

It’s funny how some get a pass and some don’t. Barry Bonds speaks his mind, rubs us the wrong way, so we want him to get his. Rose, rough around the edges, cocky, sells his autograph, gambles, so we pour it on him. Manny, carefree, innocent, always smiling and fun-loving, which we seem to enjoy, no matter what the crime, he gets a pass. Neither Barry nor Pete, or for that matter any of baseball’s bad boys, would ever quit on their teammates. That’s a capital offense in baseball, but Manny is Manny. What’s the big deal? Who cares, because he sure can hit!

The message must be “so what?” . . . these guys are pro athletes, they are rich and famous just like movie and rock stars, so they are supposed to have a fall from grace.

Fans don’t care as long as their tattooed heroes keep making headlines. Voting Manny to the All-Star team should tell you this.

Voting for the Hall of Fame is another thing, a higher standard of judgment. Early returns have indicated that this era’s Hall of Fame-bound stars -- Manny is one, of course -- may have a long wait. Let’s just be glad the fans clicking for Manny in the All-Star game don’t vote on the Hall of Fame. These same fans that have trashed the names and forgotten the careers of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Bonds and others, whom they once cheered for, are now placing Manny Ramirez on an All-Star team.

Wonder if many votes are coming out of Boston?