Ortiz

I need to say a couple things in regards to David Ortiz. Having heard the story about testing positive for steroids, I have to say I’m taking issue with it. Not Dave, no, the story itself.

First of all, I need to say that as a RedSox fan, I’m going to try and be impartial in my opinions. I would say the same things I’m about to about any player, on any team. Even Jeter.

To start with, these “name drop” stories are getting out of hand. The actual tests, supposedly anonymous, unbinding and private, per an agreement by the Players Union, have been SEALED by the courts. SEALED, which means no one can see them, talk about them or reference them. Yet somehow, “anonymous” lawyers “familiar” with the tests seem to drop a name just about every month.

Since when do we trust ANONYMOUS LAWYERS.

I’ll let you read that sentence again. The best part about being anonymous is that you can’t get in trouble if you’re proven wrong, and the best part about these tests are that they’re sealed and no one can prove them wrong either.

Anonymous sources speaking about a private, sealed test.

If the commissioner of baseball, tomorrow, holds a press conference and says “these are the test results, they are true, these people test positive” then I would believe it as a fact. A story, in the New York Times, sighting anonymous sources about a test no one can see doesn’t cut it as “fact” in my book. I’m sorry, it just doesn’t.

Second, even if this story is true, these are tests from 2003, when the specific drug that they were testing for was still LEGAL. I fail to see how a legal substance in 2003 can be held against someone in 2009 when it suddenly becomes illegal.

If someone told me that Gatorade was now illegal, fully knowing I drink a lot of it, I would say “Gee, that sucks” and stop drinking it. I wouldn’t expect to be punished for drinking Gatorade 6 years ago!

The ONLY important question that should be asked is does he test positive now? Right now. Have him take a drug test this afternoon. If he’s clean, he’s clean, and that’s the end of it. If it tests positive then punish him accordingly.

All these people that have been mentioned in this “report” haven’t tested positive in at least their past 5 seasons. If they had they would have been suspended accordingly.

Baseball made something illegal. Players stopped taking it. What exactly is the problem?

If you’re worried about how stereoids have “tainted the game” then I almost agree with you. It’s a shame all of this has happened, it really is. It tarnishes the whole era but you have to use the entire era as your perspective point. In that era, hundreds of players tested positive. Divide 100 players by 30 and you’re looking at atleast 3 or 4 players per team. Add to that hundreds of players in the minor league system and you get an entire sport that had a problem. Not a specific player, not a specific team, it affected everyone. So, at least in my mind, the playing field was pretty even. Is Mark Macguire, Sammy Sosa, A Rod, Manny, or any of the rest any better or worse than each other? No, not really. Actually, the era had a lot of really great baseball. I don’t feel cheated as a fan at all. I saw some really awesome baseball over the past 10 years.

What it does do however is separate the current players from classical players, at least in the history books. You can’t really compare Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds. You can’t. It was a different time, a different set of circumstances, a different way of playing, all sort of variables.

Steroids separate the current major league stars and records from the classical stars and records in the same way playing with aluminum bats would if they were allowed. It’s a factor that changed that game.

I don’t pretend to know what that means for history, for Cooperstown, for records that have been broken, but I do know that I’m sure it’ll be argued about it for years to come, long after these current players are done. It’ll be up to the writers and fans to decide, years from now, if these players are allowed into the Hall of Fame.

This is a problem that’s been dealt with right now (by making those substances illegal) but will continue to crop up for probably the next 20 years.

We, as fans, either need to decide to accept the entire era as unfortunate but continue on or as earth shattering and hault the baseball world as we know it. I love this sport too much to let a couple years and a couple guys change my opinion on the game.

Punish those who test positive today and from this day forward and let’s move on and try and enjoy the game.