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Palmeiro strikes out

	AP

It's Aug. 1, 2005. Do you know who is having the Best Week Ever?

Jose Canseco.

Yeah, the village idiot. The guy who wrote in his book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big, that he introduced Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Pudge Rodriguez to steroids while they were teammates on the Rangers in the early 1990s.

Nobody seems to care whether Juan Gone was juicing or not, especially since his Hall of Fame candidacy has hit the skids. But Pudge (he's more like "Mini-Pudge" now), this doesn't look good for you at all. It's not good for business.

For the record, Palmeiro already has entered the all-too predictable plea of ignorance, saying he never "intentionally" took a banned substance. Uh-huh. If we were to take some of these big leaguers at their word, then Canseco and Ken Caminiti are the only two players who have intentionally taken a steroid in the history of the game. How about some accountability, guys? Is that too much to ask for?

Deny, deny, deny. Palmeiro knows that's the way to go. What other choice does he have? Admitting guilt, the way Pete Rose did in his recent book, will only make things worse. Short of a tear-jerking Barbara Walters special, the only thing Palmeiro can do for himself now is one stone-faced denial after another. He is rather good at that.

So what do we do with Palmeiro, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and any other mega-sluggers of this era who have been suspected of taking performance-enhancing drugs? My stance is to give them the benefit of the doubt. This is the land of innocent until proven guilty. But Palmeiro, you've just been proven guilty. We have our smoking gun. Your reputation, your integrity as a man and your place in Cooperstown are long gone.

-- Jacob Luft (2:10 p.m.)

You'd think that the hot water Raffy got himself into testifying before congress would have compelled him to look pretty carefully at what he was putting into his body. Even if he has been using steroids, it is utterly inexclipable why, in the twilight of his career, he would put himself into a position to completely destroy his rep.
-- Bill, Minneapolis (2:26 p.m.)

I don't know if Big Mac is jumping up and down at home, but he was just replaced by Palmeiro as baseball's most hypocritical person. This is just sad.
-- Flemming, Copenhagen, Denmark (2:26 p.m.)

I believe Palmeiro's claims of innocence. Why else would he campaign so vehemently against steroid use and why else would he be such a big proponent for MLB's no-tolerance policy? To think that it was all a front he put on is ridiculous, like thinking Apollo 11's moon landing was planned by the Communists.
-- Kevin, Fairfax, Va. (2:26 p.m.)

I almost fell out of my chair laughing this morning when I saw the news. Who can forget that out of the dozen or so MLB players called to testify before the Congressional hearing, Palmeiro gave the absolute most certain denial of all the players. Is it no wonder none of the implicated players in Canseco's book sued him for libel? It seems that cheating isn't beneath Palmeiro, and now lying under oath isn't either. I don't take dishonestly very lightly. I hope the writers with HOF votes don't either.
-- Santos, Toronto (2:26 p.m.)

Who would have believed six months ago that Jose Canseco would have more credibility than McGwire, Palmeiro and Sosa?
-- Tom McGill, Atlanta (2:26 p.m.)

It seems whatever type of wood Palmeiro uses, he requires help to wield it.
-- Zach Adams, Auburn, Maine (2:31 p.m.)