Do You Believe Him?
The most recent chapter in the baseball steroid scandal has produced a rare flat denial. David Ortiz has told us he did not take steroids. Do you believe him?
It is true that Roger Clemens also denied taking injections, but his denial runs up against an accuser and apparently some demonstrative evidence -- conveniently stored syringes with the potential of a DNA fingerprint. That soap opera has apparently gone on summer hiatus, but Big Papi's time of trial is now and, unlike the Rocket, he is still on the active roster. (Some Red Sox fans may question whether Papi is still active. He is having a dreadful season. As the Sox swoon in August, Papi has done nothing to take the fans minds off the accusation.)
Many folks have already made up their minds about Ortiz and the other sluggers of the game. He is just another cheater whose perfidy is now disclosed for all to see. Others are equally certain that the greatest modern clutch hitter with the terrific smile and pleasant demeanor must have been falsely accused. Both cannot be right, but neither cares.
How do you decide whether he is telling the truth? The information about the 2003 testing has become more unreliable with time. The Players Association's Mike Weiner explained this past weekend that not everyone on the list actually tested positive. False-positive results are not unusual in the drug-testing business. Unlike some attorneys connected to the BALCO case, Weiner says that the union will abide by the court order to keep these matters confidential. To release the names would be a violation of law. The union is in a box. It cannot say anything more in a situation where the failure to say more creates a negative inference that its members are guilty even before being charged!
Finding out what actually happened in 2003 is difficult. When Ortiz told us he used all kinds of supplements with unknown ingredients, he was just trying to offer his public a possible explanation. A simple "I didn't do it, period," would require those inclined to wait for some proof to rely on simple faith in the big left-handed hitter. The admitted behavior of some his fellow Major Leaguers shows that blind faith only goes so far.
Ortiz brings to this controversy years of accumulated good will. While Alex Rodriquez had prior discrepant events (Madonna?), Big Papi was just a big teddy bear, beloved by The Red Sox Nation. Reputation can only go far, however. It cannot disprove allegations. Is it possible Ortiz could have used "the stuff?" Sure. Is it likely? Hard to say.
The thing that is most frustrating about this entire over-long controversy is that except for a few admissions of guilt, we have nothing. The Mitchell Report was more allegation than proof. No court or arbitrator has actually adjudicated these matters. No one has been proven guilty by even a preponderance of evidence, let alone beyond a reasonable doubt.
Baseball has always served as a mirror of American life. That does not excuse its imperfections, only explain them. While the steroid era has consumed commentators, bloggers and the media, the game has gone on virtually unchanged, except the players have to regularly pee in a cup. Some will never be satisfied that the game is clean, but they will still go out to the ballpark. If America only needed to worry about baseball cheaters and not unemployment, wars, and health care, this would be an easier life.
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Major Leage Baseball is no longer real and I am no longer a fan.
For those among us who are wondering.
Yes, he's lying. They are all lying.
Not just the ballplayers. But the commissioner. The owners, And the sports writers.
Anybody who works around athletes can see when a body goes through a chemically induced transformation.
A sports writer friend walked into the Houston locker room in the mid-nineties and was stunned by the obviously roided culture he found. When I asked why he didn't write about it, he said baseball and the public did not want to hear it. They were still hurting from the recent cancelation of the World Series.
Baseball was aching for good press. And the power surge that toppled Roger Maris' home run record brought enthusiasm that the sport desperately needed.
David Ortiz is a perfect example of an athlete whose career was languishing in mediocrity. Cut loose by the Twins and in one off-season magically transformed into a god among men.
Everybody wanted the game to be wonderful again and the home run barrage made it so. Until the most obvious and loathed of all the steroid users (Barry Bonds) brought the ugliness back.
Now, we have feigned ignorance and righteous indignation at being duped. Like the corrupt police official in Casablance who was shocked to find gambling going on as the croupier handed him his winnings.
And here's another clue for you all. Albert Pujols. Look at the way his body changed. Then lie to yourself, because he is a wonderful ball player.
One of the problems with the beat writers is that they consider working in MLB to almost be a holy grail. I have had writers personally tell me that it was "a privlege" to be in an MLB locker room. The problem is that it isn't a privilege, it is just another workplace. Police beat reporters don't consider it a privilege to be working at police stations. War correspondents don't consider it a privilege to be covering what is going on at the battlefield. They are just guys doing a job.
So with that attitude, MLB beat writers are basically compromised from the outset. That is made worse by the attitude among media organizations that "sports is the toybox of the news business." So that gives tacit permission to just be a glorified groupie who is basking in the backwash of their on field idols.
Therefore, are sportswriters journalists? Not with the outlook they have. They are little more than paid hobbyists and undercover MLB publicists. I mean, let's call them for what they are.
Do I believe any of them? Uh...noooooo.
The problem with Ortiz' claim is twofold:
One, steroid use among Dominican players has been a plague over the years, with many aspiring pro ballplayers even resorting to veterinary level steroids in an attempt to get stronger and quicker on impoverished incomes. Therefore, it is hard for me to believe that Ortiz has never at least talked about the juice with fellow Dominicans or from personal trainers hanging around with his fellow players.
Two, too many other players have just flat out lied (and Gene Orza was even allegedly tipping players off as to when they would be tested) and so it makes Ortiz' protestations hard to believe, especially as most of those found to be guilty of having failed screening tests have been Latin American players.
Mind you, all of this is speculation, but Ortiz' inability to come up with just what he was guilty of taking only further fuels suspicions that he is in deeper than he is letting on (as A-Rod and Palmeiro were) and the secretive behavior by the MLBPA only worsens things for EVERY player. Transparency MLBPA, look into it, will ya?
Of course I don't believe him.
Do I care?
Who cares if players use steroids. I mean who really gives a flying rat's ass. It's called competition, getting a leg up. Every segment of society uses drugs, why not baseball players. In a libertarian world it wouldn't be an issue.
Libertarians? Oh yeah, those guys who vote republican, then when the ship sinks they are ALL Libertarians.
What I believe is that these poor guys, with no education and in no position to say no to anything their employers decided they should have - especially when they were young and hungry - had absolutely no idea of what they were given. I think the responsibility falls almost entirely on the people that managed them and decided to give them steroids or any other drugs. They are the true culprits in all this mess.
Nearly every player in the last 20 years has been on steroids.
The difference is that people like Ortiz and not Clemens.
There are many millions of dollars of incentive for players to use of performance enhancing drugs and team owners to look the other way. Until massive fines or other financial penalites are imposed for the use of PED's, they will continue. The 2003 tests were to measure how much PED's were being used, not to go after users. Anyone leaking out this info is violating medical and other privacy laws and should be punished under law. I wonder if the disclosures of Yankee and Red Sox players is more by preverse fans rather than by those that want the 'truth' out.
The "Curse of the Babe" is still alive.
Those World's Series wins have an asterisk as the whole team was juicing. Manny, Papi, Johnny and everyone else on the Roster was willing to do anything to beat the slightly-less-juiced Yankees.
The juice is loose.
ortiz is an obvious prevaricator.
Just look at his stats, they tell a classic roid story.......
I am just tired of whoever is allowing these "leaks" about that supposedly anonymous 2003 drug test. Bud Selig should immediately be ousted for letting this information reach the public. The players agreed to the test because it was supposed to only give the commissioner's office an idea about what was being used, to what amounts, and in what combinations, with the results secret and disposed of afterward. What part of secret don't they get?
Do I believe Ortiz? Where is any real proof that he used anything illegal? And that can be said for a lot of the names being put out there. Maybe Selig is using this to keep players or owners in line.
The bigger question, I think, is how is this, six years later, helping the game?
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