Ken Rosenthal cares about David Ortiz.
I suppose it’s good that someone does. He really needs somebody to tell him to lay off the fried Twinkies and to go work out once in a while.
No Yankees are actually mentioned in this article. However, it’s stuffed so full of stupidity that I couldn’t help myself. I also doubt that it would’ve been written at all if the A-Rod story had never come out, which is how I’m justifying this. It looks to me like Ken just couldn’t bear to hear any more of his fellow Sox fans ragging on Big Popup.
I know I’m going to sound old here, and I don’t care.
Ten years ago, no self-respecting journalist would have speculated that a player was using performance-enhancing drugs without some form of proof.
Now, in blogs and chat rooms and other Internet vehicles, people blithely suggest that players such as the Red Sox’s David Ortiz are in decline because they no longer take PEDs.
Even respected mainstream journalists such as the Chicago Sun-Times’ Rick Telander are stretching previous boundaries. Telander began a recent column by saying, “Sorry, Ryan Theriot, you are a suspect,” and ended with the line, “When you plant cheating, Major League Baseball, cynicism will be the crop.”
Fair enough, but such finger-pointing forces players into a corner.
It’s irresponsible. It’s unfair. It needs to stop.
Baseless accusations are an affront not just to journalistic standards, which evolve with new technology, but also an affront to standards of decency.For all I know, Ortiz might have been a user; the Steroid Era, sadly, has taught us to view all players skeptically. But there is a significant difference between holding such a view privately and accusing a player publicly without any factual basis for such an opinion.Ten years ago, no reporter would have dared make such a leap, fearing, at minimum, a stern rebuke from an editor and, at worst, a lawsuit.
Several times in recent weeks, radio talk-show hosts have asked me what I thought of the possibility that Ortiz was using PEDs.
The rationale for such questions?
The talk is “out there.”
Yes. Are you unfamiliar with radio? That’s pretty much how it works.
Well, I have no idea if David Ortiz used PEDs; probably no journalist does. I could not even make an educated guess, and it would be unprofessional of me to do so.
Here’s my educated guess, which I am totally within my rights to make as an amateur: Fuck yeah he did steroids. In fact, that’s my guess for every player who played higher than AA since 1995. This is based on the unquestionable fact that not using them when so many other players were would be incredibly stupid. And anyone who says that they would actually trade ridiculous piles of cash for self-respect is a liar. Dan Naulty is just a bitch.
Of particular note in this instance: Lou Merloni’s claims of steroid use safety classes during Red Sox spring training.
Here’s one thing I do know: Before steroids, players actually declined as they got older. Ortiz is 33. Maybe he is losing his skills. Maybe he just stinks.
But who wants to talk about that?
Ooh, I know! Every Yankees fan on Earth, that’s who. So let’s talk about that. For the sake of this argument we’ll assume that Shrek really is 33 and not 36 like I suspect. (See? That’s speculation again.)
The last big name slugger who dropped off a cliff like Ortiz was Jason Giambi, known steroid user. This happened at age 33, and only happened because he had to stop using. The next best example I can think of is Mo Vaughn, and he was 35. Albert Belle was done by 34, but he had hip arthritis. The next names that spring to mind for me are Rob Deer, Kent Hrbek and Dave Kingman, and they all sucked.
I understand — this is the world we live in. Anyone can have a forum. Anyone can say anything. In some ways, it’s the ultimate freedom of the press. In other ways, it’s a new form of tyranny.
Wow. Just wow.
If I were an innocent player, I would fight back. But I wouldn’t even know where to start.
If you were an innocent player, you’d be on the Long Island Ducks.