Despite the rebirth theme of Pitchers & Catchers Day, JC Romero was center of attention as he spoke to the media about his 50-game suspension. He got that verdict after testing positive for an illegal substance, and Phil Sheridan writes that Romero’s suspension should be lessened.
His argument touches on a few facets, mostly concerning confusion about the product he took. His bottom line — that the difference between Romero’s case (taking a supplement that happened to include something that later became illegal) and other major cases (being shot in the rear with an illegal substance) doesn’t justify the penalty.
The issue of Alex Rodriguez shouldn’t be taken into account now, for it wasn’t taken into account before. But there’s a valid point — there seems to be mounds of confusion surrounding this case; should it lead to something as highly consequential as a loss of 1/3 of a season?
Tim MalcolmTim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.
