David Ortiz, Steroids, and Red Sox Nation

When I was six years old growing up in the wilds of Vermont, I knew three basic truths about the world I lived in. One, that Scooby Doo would always foil the plans of some evil do-er. Two, that my Atari was my most prized possession. Three, that the Red Sox were always good and, conversely, that the Yankees were always evil. Then I grew up and became more jaded and apathetic.

While I am still a Red Sox fan, I can’t get up the shock and outrage about the David Ortiz PED revelation. Not because I’m some boot-licking homer, but because I kind of expected it. The problem was that there was no real Barry Bonds-esque change where you were like “well, he’s definitely on something”. Every number, every thing he did could be attributed to some non-chemical explanation.

The problem is that you can play the guessing game with everyone. My buddy D.B. (a Yankee fan) and I went back and forth yesterday on whom we thought on the 2004 Red Sox was also on the juice. I ended it when I told him that the whole team could have tested positive and I wouldn’t be surprised, but also that they could all be clean and I would have the same reaction. Everyone is suspect. The clean players are going to have live with the fact that there will be people who think they cheated and the dirty players are going to have live with the fact that they are cheaters.

The only good part of this whole thing is the idiocy displayed by the pink-hatted members of “Red Sox Nation”. They are backtracking so fast, it is downright hilarious. They were so fast to demonize the Yankees when A-Rod, Giambi, or Pettitte made a list, but now have to play defense.

The most common excuse is that “everyone did it”. The attempt here is to quash any notion that the titles in 2004 and 2007 are in some way “tainted”. But are they? Without comprehensive testing of all players, on all team, for all substances, no teams championships are tainted, be it the Yankees, the Red Sox, or anyone else. This was my contention when Yankees’ players were being named and it’s my contention now.

The most ludicrous (and I still laugh when I hear it) is the “somebody slipped him something” defense. It goes hand in hand with the “bad batch defense”. Basically, either somebody slipped something into a drink of his or he got a sketchy batch of Andro or some supplement from GNC. The point being that this would exonerate Big Papi while still being able to demonize the Yankees. It’s a pathetic excuse.

You need to put it into the realm of possibility that the easiest answer is probably the right one. He saw his career on the razors edge and needed something, anything to keep it alive. He talked to a “trainer”, got his hands on some performance enhancing substance, and took it to save his career. Is it really that far out of the realm of possibility?

So here’s a note to all the apologists. Just stop. He did it and got caught. You can still root for him and this doesn’t change what happened in 2004 and 2007. You just can’t demonize anyone else who got caught. You can’t cackle with glee the next time someone like Clemens or A-Rod gets caught. You have to sit there, take it, and keep your mouth shut. You know, its times like this that it’s fun to be a sane Red Sox fan.