by John Scanlan<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So how exactly should we treat him? I can\u2019t even bring myself to mention his name.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a Dodger after all. As a Dodger fan, I feel I should show nothing but support, but I morally feel at a crossroads. Am I supposed to just pretend he didn\u2019t do anything wrong and accept him back unconditionally?<\/p>\n
Sure, he is very important to this team, but I don\u2019t want to appear to condone what he has done. Yes, everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a second chance, but at what point do we say enough is enough and hold them to a higher standard?<\/p>\n
He hasn\u2019t talked directly to the media about his poor decision making. Shouldn\u2019t he have to offer some mea culpa to them?<\/p>\n
He hasn\u2019t spoken to the fans directly. Aren\u2019t we entitled to some form of apology?<\/p>\n
We could make him a social pariah and boo him every time we see him walking through left field, but we are way too forgiving of Dodger players. As long as that uniform says Dodgers, fans will cheer for them. God forbid they be traded or not brought back by the Dodgers, though. We save our boos for the likes of Shawn Green and Nomar Garciaparra, guys who did nothing close to as heinous as what he did and were nothing but classy and professional during their time with the Blue.<\/p>\n
He isn\u2019t the first one to do this and he isn\u2019t going to be the last. That doesn\u2019t make it OK and neither does the argument, \u201cWell, it\u2019s not as if he killed somebody\u201d. He very well could have.<\/p>\n
His \u201cpoor decision making\u201d could have adversely effected the lives of many people. If you don\u2019t believe me, ask the families of Nick Adenhart and the other victims who tragically lost their lives on April 10th.<\/p>\n
OK, I\u2019ll go ahead and say his name. I\u2019m talking about Ronald Belisario, who was arrested this weekend on suspicion of DUI. Who\u2019d you think I was talking about? Oh.<\/p>\n
While Manny Ramirez may be vilified this week for using PEDs, it is Belisario who deserves the scorn of the baseball media. Belisario deliberately but himself and others in harm\u2019s way by making the choice to do something that could have had deadly consequences. Thankfully, the California Highway Patrol stopped him before anything tragic occurred.<\/p>\n
Ramirez, caught using a female fertility drug designed to restart testosterone production at the end of a steroid cycle, made the choice to do something that would benefit him and his team personally. Thankfully, baseball stepped in and stopped him before\u2026he could grow ovaries?<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll have local hacks like Bill Plaschke pretend to be the moral compass of Los Angeles and try to browbeat you into booing and heaping scorn upon Ramirez. I\u2019ll save my outrage for guys like Belisario, who two short months after the death of Adenhart, chose to endanger other people\u2019s lives by driving drunk.<\/p>\n
Quick Scans testifies Monday thru Thursday at midvalleysports.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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