The bad guys invariably wore pinstripes - Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez - or some other uniform. Red Sox fans could take pride in the fact that, beyond the two recent world championships, their franchise was not besmirched by the steroid plague.

When the Mitchell Report was made public, other teams quaked in fear as player after player was exposed.

The Sox ? They were represented by an internal e-mail correspondence between general manager Theo Epstein and scout Mark Delpiano, both of whom fretted about relief pitcher Eric Gagne's rumored link to past steroid use.

Even some of the most notorious users, or suspected users, seemed to dirty themselves after their association with the Red Sox was over. The Sox may have motivated some players to dabble on the dark side post-Boston. Roger Clemens, in an apparent effort to prove former GM Dan Duquette wrong (for trading him), allegedly began using PEDs in Toronto, but never on the Sox watch.

A few times, the Red Sox got plain lucky. They dealt off Nomar Garciaparra, who given his buff physique, spike in performance and history of nagging injuries, was at least something of a suspect, months after the current testing program was implemented.

And just as the testing was about to go into effect, the Sox tried but failed to land A-Rod. Given the events of the past five-plus seasons, I'd say Sox owner John Henry owes union leader Gene Orza a steak dinner, at the very least.

Thursday, however, the Sox were drawn a little closer to the circle. Manny Ramirez' failed drug test, suspension and subsequent tortured explanation are all, nominally, problems for the Los Angeles Dodgers, not the Red Sox .

But Ramirez' involvement with PEDs is likely to prompt Watergate-like questions: What did the outfielder take, and when did he start taking it?

If the paper trail takes us back to his stay with the Red Sox , then the failed drug test will serve as Manny's final act of revenge.

For now, there's no direct evidence linking Ramirez to any PED use during his 7 1/2 seasons in Boston. But the nature of Ramirez' offense - stimulating testosterone growth, a common practice for dopers coming off a steroid cycle - would suggest that this was not done on a lark.

And further, like the busted drunk driver who swears that, really, this was the first time he had too much and got behind the wheel, the credibility is strained.

Perhaps, like Clemens, Ramirez was overcome by a need to continue his high level of play past Boston, to show that the Red Sox' unwillingness to commit to him beyond last season was a massive miscalculation. Or perhaps he was using all along and somehow avoided detection while wearing a Red Sox uniform. With Ramirez, you never know.

Either way, it seems only a matter of time before the Sox' vaunted luck runs out. If PED use was as widespread during the past decade as we have learned, in retrospect, it was the height of naivete to think that the Red Sox would forever be untouched by scandal.

The only surprise was that it took this long for them to suffer from guilt-by-association.

- smcadam@bostonherald.com