Here in the Boston area, the stunning retirement of Manny Ramirez is getting surprisingly little media play.

Maybe everyone is worried about the Red Sox' slow start, but I'm thinking that maybe low-keying Manny's drug-induced retirement helps everyone continue to avoid an uncomfortable reckoning -- namely, that Boston's only World Series titles since 1918 are tainted.

Ramirez was balls to the wall in the 2004 Series, going 7-for-17 with a home run. He won the Series MVP as the Sox offed the Cardinals in four straight games, ending an 86-year drought and finally shutting up Yankee fans 250 miles to the south and west.

Manny wasn't as effective three years later when Boston crushed Colorado in four straight, possibly because he was exhausted after hitting .409 (with 9 walks) and driving in 10 runs against the Indians in the ALCS.

David Ortiz, as close to a BFF as Manny had in the Sox locker room, wouldn't say much when he got the news that Ramirez was quitting rather than face a 100-game suspension, saying only, "It's sad, man."

Understandable, since Ortiz has unresolved drug issues of his own after being named as one of the players on the infamous 2003 list. Before he was outed, Ortiz said that players caught juicing should be suspended for an entire season. After his name surfaced, he said, "I'm not talking about that anymore," then a few days later pulled out the vitamins-and-supplments excuse. With a straight face, no less.

[For the record, Ortiz went from 20 home runs in 2002 to 31 (2003), 41 (2004), 47 (2005) and 54 (Red Sox record, 2006). In spring of 2007 all heck broke loose on the steroids front. Ortiz's home run output plummeted that season, to 35. Since then he's averaged about 28 a season.] 

None of that matters a whole lot to Red Sox Nation, or the team owners who fill Fenway every night. There are no plans to give back either World Series trophy, or even hint that the championships won in 2004 and 2007 were due at least in part to chemicals.