Steroid Nation So now Seattle Mariners pitcher Jamie Franklin has tested positive for steroids, the second major league baseball player in two days to be busted. (The Orioles' Rafael Palmeiro, of course, was the first.)

This is all very discouraging, but equally unsurprising. All the stories about how widespread steroid use has been in baseball are proving to be true. And Palmeiro's finger-wagging denial before Congress now seems ever-more calculated and practiced; it reminds me of Bill Clinton's adamant tone when he said, "I did not have sex with that woman."

Which brings me to my point: We now have to consider very seriously the possibility that the entire Red Sox team was on steroids last year, when the Sox won the Series. It certainly helps to explain their behavior, in addition to their hitting and pitching.

As a result, we should now discuss whether the Sox' World Series victory should go into the record books with an asterisk...kind of like the 1918 Black Sox.

It pains me to say this, but perhaps we should just negate that Series victory....as if it never happened.  ¶ 4:03 PM