What does the Robinson Cano suspension mean for Phillies history?
Baseball was shocked at the news that Seattle Mariners star and former Yankee Robinson Cano tested positive for a drug designed to mask performance-enhancing drugs. Robinson carries a deep connection to the Phillies, in particular, the 2009 World Series.
Philadelphia dropped their opportunity to win back-to-back World Series championships in a six-game series against the Yankees. The series carried historic implications, including the first National League team to go back-to-back since the Reds in 1974-75, and the potential of Charlie Manuel being a Hall of Fame manager.
Robinson is the fifth player on the 2009 World Series squad linked to performance-enhancing substances, the others being Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Jerry Hairston Jr., and Andy Pettitte who have either admitted to taking an illegal substance, were suspended by Major League Baseball, or were named in the 2007 Mitchell Report.
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While the names are sketchy, the times and terms of each situation are not fully known, and that includes Cano.
In terms of the 2009 World Series, Cano and Rodriguez didn’t have a series to remember aside from coming away with rings. Cano went 3-22 with one RBI, while Rodriguez was slightly more productive going 5-20 with a two-run home run in game three.
Cano finished 17th in the American League MVP voting that season and had his highest batting average when playing at least 150 games at .320 with 25 home runs and 48 doubles.
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Whether or not performance-enhancing drugs had an effect on the Yankees season, or the 2009 Worlds Series as a whole, will never be known. It certainly leaves some wonder as to what could have been for Philadelphia with Lee, Raul Ibanez, and Pedro Martinez picking up rings.