But before shedding too many tears, think of the message he or any pro athlete sends kids by defending his use of a performance-enhancing supplement - whether his sport says that particular supplement is OK or not.

Romero has been suspended for 50 games of the next baseball season for testing positive for taking a steroid. His defense is that he didn't know the steroid was one of the substances in 6-OXO, an over-the-counter supplement he bought that is supposed to boost testosterone.

Testosterone is an androgenic hormone primarily responsible for normal growth and development of male reproductive organs, but it also facilitates the development of muscle and bone mass. In other words, it can make you stronger.

Romero was looking for an edge, a boost beyond his natural physical strength, to stay competitive in a grueling 160-game schedule, plus the playoffs. Whether 6-OXO or anything else had anything to do with it, Romero had a good season, winning two games in relief, including the clincher in the World Series.

But now we know he was performing under a cloud. Random tests had revealed the steroid in his system before the playoffs began.

Major League Baseball offered him an immediate 25-game suspension if he would admit his guilt. Romero wouldn't, arguing that the banned steroid wasn't listed in 6-OXO's ingredients, and that he had been advised by his team's strength coach and a personal nutritionist that the supplement was kosher. He appealed, but an independent arbitrator also ruled against him.

You feel sympathy for Romero because his treatment is another example of the disparate ways Major League Baseball seems to mete out punishment in substance-abuse cases. For years, it acted as if it were blind to the obvious use of performance enhancers. Then it treated a few high-profile culprits as if, but for them, baseball would be clean.

MLB is praying that home-run king Barry Bonds, who underwent hip surgery recently, will just retire and not try to make a team's roster for next season. It knows every time Bonds bats it is a reminder that he still faces trial for allegedly lying to a federal grand jury about using performance-enhancing drugs.

But the Romero case shows that with all Bonds has gone through - all the boos, being virtually blacklisted last season, still facing a possible prison term - there are still ballplayers who will take risks to get an edge. Romero did. He may not have meant to take a banned substance, but he wanted a boost.

Maybe Romero will win his case in the end. Players union general counsel Michael Weiner says, "J.C. is being unfairly punished because a supplement he purchased in a retail store contained a minute trace of a banned substance." When you put it like that, maybe a 50-game suspension is too harsh.

But keep in mind that more than Romero's livelihood is at stake here. This is about more than the Phillies being down to one lefthanded relief pitcher as they plan for this season. This is also about the message being sent to young ballplayers who want to know how they, too, can get an edge beyond their natural physical attributes and hard work.

Romero says he bought his edge at a vitamin shop in Cherry Hill. It's that simple, and it shouldn't be.