Another big hit

Ortiz’s positive test latest sorry chapter

By Bob Ryan, Boston Globe Columnist
http://www.boston.com/sports/
July 31, 2009

Et tu, Papi?

Big Papi, lovable Big Papi, was on the juice. And only the terminally naive could be shocked.

He was a slugger who had a dramatic increase in production, and he is one of many big-name, Caribbean-based stars (Juan Gonzalez, Vladimir Guerrero, Miguel Tejada, Adrian Beltre, Jose Guillen, Ruben Sierra, Bartolo Colon, and even Pedro Martinez) who had an association with Angel Presinal, the notorious trainer who was banned from major league clubhouses in 2001. Once I found that out, I pretty much figured it was just a matter of when, not if, we’d have Big Papi with a performance-enhancing drug (PED) on his résumé.

The New York Times has now reported that the name of David Ortiz is on that infamous list of 104 players who tested positive back in 2003.

OK, so what do we make of his strident spring training outburst regarding outed PED users? To refresh your memory, on Feb. 16, Ortiz identified himself as a hard-liner. He said that a 50-game suspension was not enough for someone who tests positive for steroids.

“Ban ’em for the whole year,’’ he declared.

He also said he’d be happy to be tested three or four times a year, whatever it would take. “I think you clean up the game by testing,’’ he said. “I know that if I test positive for using any kind of substance, I know that I’m going to disrespect my family, the game, the fans, and everybody. I don’t want to be facing that situation.’’

He didn’t wag his index finger, a la Rafael Palmeiro, but it was close.

Oops, almost forgot. Manny Ramirez is also on that list. Not exactly a shocker, huh?

Ortiz should be given the benefit of the doubt that he is nowhere near as stupid as Manny, who, despite all the attention focused on PEDs nowadays, as opposed to six years ago, was caught being a bad boy this year. Papi’s Feb. 16 rant was delivered, quite obviously, with Papi knowing he was clean. Now.

But the topic of Boston’s World Series victories in 2004 and 2007 is going to be on the table. And this, of course, is what has always been the aspect of PED usage that people have never chosen to discuss. The issue of PED usage is almost always turned into an extended dissertation on someone’s Hall of Fame chances. The subject of wins and losses is seldom discussed.

Yet nothing in baseball is more important than wins and losses. This is the great harm caused by PEDs. Hall of Fame arguments are irresolvable at any time, even if PEDs are not included. But wins and losses have always, with the exception of the 1919 World Series (mind if we hold off on the many other conspiracy theories for a day or two?), been taken at face value. With PEDs in the equation, our trust has been violated. Now what?

Well, good luck. Let’s get serious. We simply cannot undo the results from the past 15 years, which doesn’t mean the damage hasn’t been done. Imaginations are free to run wild. We all must face up to the fact that plenty of results are now fair game for discussion.

Here’s something else subject to discussion: the Mitchell Report.

When the Mitchell Report was issued, many people were either angered or, at the very least, intrigued by the absence of Red Sox names. There may not have been a single raised eyebrow were it not for the fact that George Mitchell is more than a little associated with the Red Sox. His name is high on the team masthead as a “Director.’’

It was very foolish of commissioner Bud Selig to have Mitchell conduct that investigation. That’s a given.

Here’s another question: What exactly is going on with the leaking of these names?

The names of the 104 who tested positive were supposed to remain confidential. For reasons I’ve never understood, the Players Association did not destroy the list, and now here it is, teasing us with four big, sexy names, three of whom, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, and Ramirez, are drop-dead Hall of Famers, while the fourth, Ortiz, is both a major contemporary star and a regional folk hero.

Why them? Who’s leaking in these dribs and drabs, and why?

That bit of toothpaste is out of the tube, so let’s have it all. Simply in the interest of fairness, we need all the names. Why should the others be protected?

An even more important reason for us to have all the names is that we need to have as complete an understanding as possible as to what went on in order that we can make whatever amends are necessary before we all move on. These periodic doses of bad and/or uncomfortable news are extremely annoying. We can’t have this water torture approach continuing for years. We need to know all the bad news today, so we can get on with the healing.

This news concerning Big Papi is sad, but let’s not get excessively melodramatic and call it “tragic.’’ It’s still sports, and in this day and age all of us who patronize sports must enter into it with a sense of caveat emptor. Drugs permeate our sports, and we must always be on 24/7/365 alert for disturbing revelations such as this.

But the story is certainly troubling. This has been a glorious age of Red Sox baseball, and Ortiz has been its epicenter with his big bat, bigger smile, and impeccable flair for the dramatic, yesterday’s (presumably) non-juiced, game-changing three-run bomb on this crackling news day serving as a rather emphatic Exhibit A.

Unfortunately, we are left to wonder about what went on a few years back. It’s like finding out that Santa Claus, instead of supervising a team of industrious elves in his workshop, actually had a deal with Walmart. It’s the same toy. You just feel crummy about how you got it.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist and host of Globe 10.0 on Boston.com. He can be reached at ryan@globe.com.


Suffering from 'roid rage'

By Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe Columnist
http://www.boston.com/sports/
July 31, 2009

David Ortiz lied to you. It seems safe to say that his entire Red Sox career is a lie.

And those life-changing Red Sox championships of 2004 and 2007? Are they forever tainted?

You bet.

A New York Times report yesterday disclosed that the names of Ortiz and Manny Ramírez appear on a list of players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. A few hours after the news broke, Ortiz hit a game-winning home run in an 8-5 victory over the Oakland A’s at Fenway Park. Then he confirmed that the news report is accurate, and said he was going to look into the matter and have more to say later.

Red Sox Nation is stunned and saddened. Boston fans have taken great pleasure in harpooning the Yankees and their fans since the Sox’ historic comeback against the Bronx Bombers in the 2004 American League Championship Series. It was tons of fun to ridicule 21st century Yankee steroid cheats Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, Andy Pettitte, and Jason Giambi. When Alex Rodriguez was outed last winter, it was a national holiday for Red Sox hubris.

Now this.

What can Sox fans say in the wake of this news? It reminds me of a scene in “The Sting’’ when con man Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) gets himself into a high-stakes poker game with a raft of rich guys, including big-time gangster Doyle Lonnegan. Demonstrating masterful sleight of hand, Gondorff makes off with the pot. After the carnage, a frustrated Lonnegan tells his associate, “What was I supposed to do? Call him for cheating better than me in front of the others?’’

That’s pretty much the best argument for Sox fans now.

Our cheaters were better than your cheaters.

Nothing else flies. For the longest time the Sox flew under the radar of the steroid cloud. Big names fell, but the BoSox remained clean. The infamous Mitchell Report, compiled by former Maine senator George Mitchell, who happens to be Red Sox team “Director’’ (fifth from the top on the team masthead), barely acknowledged the existence of the Boston ball club as an MLB franchise. When Ramírez was caught cheating this spring, it was easy for Sox fans to contend that Manny didn’t start juicing until he went to the Dodgers.

Now this. Big Papi, everybody’s favorite, is on the list of those who tested positive for PEDs in 2003 - which just happens to be the year that his career magically turned around.

Ortiz was an average player when the Sox picked him up before the 2003 season. He’d been a big strikeout guy with the Twins. He could hit an occasional homer, but had a big hole in his swing. He started the 2003 season on the bench, playing behind Jeremy Giambi.

Overnight he became a baseball Rambo. He was the Dominican Babe Ruth. He was the greatest clutch hitter in Sox history. He got all the big hits in 2004. In 2006, he hit 54 home runs, bouncing Jimmie Foxx from the Sox record book.

He wrote a book. He opened a restaurant. He kissed babies. He was the heart of the team. He was a gentleman and a gamer. We all loved him.

He was also outspoken about steroids.

This is what Ortiz said in Fort Myers, Fla., last Feb. 16: “I know that if I test positive for using any kind of substance, I know that I’m going to disrespect my family, the game, the fans, and everybody, and I don’t want to be facing that situation. So what would I do? I won’t use it . . . you test everybody three, four times a year and that’s about it. You do what you got to do. Yeah, whatever they say. Ban them for a whole year.’’

It got headlines. Ortiz says one-year ban for players who test positive. It played well to the masses.

And now David Ortiz looks like one of the television evangelists who gets caught in a seedy motel with a hooker.

How could he have been so stupid? Or bold? He must have known. Players who tested positive in 2003 must have been told by the players association. Certainly, the PA should have destroyed the results, just like Nixon should have burned the tapes, but there was never any assurance the names would not leak. And there are still 100 guys who should be nervous about tomorrow and the next day. Hopefully, none of them have made comments like Ortiz made in Florida.

The timing and the numbers are particularly damning for Big Papi. He was ordinary before 2003. Then he cheated. Then he was great. Now there is testing and he is less than ordinary. You don’t need Jose Canseco to connect the dots.

As for Manny, what is left to say? When he got caught this year, Sox fans wanted to believe he started cheating after he left Boston. Now his entire career is flushed down the toilet. Along with Ortiz.

It’s horrible.

No more innocence.

No more fairy tales.

The 2004 Red Sox really were Idiots. Just like the Yankees and everybody else.

Our cheaters were better than their cheaters.

Yahoo.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.