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> Sports > Sports News > Thoughts on David Ortiz, 2004 World Series and ESPN analysts
Thoughts on David Ortiz, 2004 World Series and ESPN analysts |
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By Rick Sobey
Staff Intern
Is the news about David Ortiz using performance-enhancing drugs really that shocking? If someone has been living under a rock for the past seven years and is also unfamiliar with Ortiz's past, then the news might be a bit surprising.
However, most Red Sox fans are well educated about baseball so they should not have made excuses when the positive steroid test was revealed. Several fans e-mailed the Red Sox radio station concerning this big news, and the announcer said a good portion of the e-mails were giving "Big Papi" the benefit of the doubt.
Fans were saying that he had never taken steroids intentionally. Someone had either slipped the steroids in his drink or his trainer had given Ortiz steroids without explaining what these drugs would do to his body. Give me a break!
Red Sox fans stop acting na ve and start thinking about the situation logically. Ortiz was dropped by the Minnesota Twins in 2002 and signed by the Red Sox during that off-season. Entering the 2003 campaign, he understood that as a 27-year-old, he would play behind veterans such as Kevin Millar and Jeremy Giambi.
Ortiz was not happy about sitting on the bench and decided to take shortcuts like all of the other star players in the league. These All-Star players who took steroids included Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens and many more.
Ortiz knew exactly what he was putting into his body and the steroids worked as his statistics improved tremendously. He was selected to his first All-Star game in 2004, played a significant role in the team's first World Series title since 1918 (collecting two crucial game winning hits against the Yankees in the playoffs) and in 2006, he set a new Red Sox record for home runs in a single season.
It wasn't a matter of accidentally taking drugs; everything a professional athlete puts into their body is closely monitored. It's as simple as this: he used performance-enhancing drugs to become a daily member of the Red Sox lineup and help them win a World Championship. Red Sox fans should stop looking for excuses and accept the fact that their beloved Big Papi cheated like every other super athlete.
Now, Yankee fans stop acting like poor losers and admit that 2004 was a legitimate championship for the Red Sox. These fans continue to call into the Red Sox radio station and state that the 2004 World Series title was tainted.
They simply cannot get over the American League Championship Series when the Red Sox came back from three games to zero and defeated the Yankees in their home stadium. The Yankee fans say that the Red Sox only won because they used steroids (as mentioned before, Ortiz had two decisive hits in the playoff series against the Yankees).
However, this claim about the Red Sox only winning because of using performance-enhancing drugs is almost comical. Let's take a trip down memory lane to the year 2003. It was the final game of the American League Championship Series between the Red Sox and Yankees. The game went into extra innings and the Yankees won on an Aaron Boone walk-off homer.
But why was this game even in extra innings? The box score shows that Yankees' first baseman Jason Giambi had two home runs during the early part of the game. It was learned a few years after this game that Giambi had taken steroids in 2003.
The Yankees had as many steroid users as the Red Sox; therefore, the Red Sox breaking the Babe Ruth curse is not tainted. The Yankees had many cheaters, including Giambi, A-Rod, Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Gary Sheffield. All major league ball clubs had their share of steroid users in the early 2000s, so the Red Sox did not have a significant advantage over the rest of the league.
Finally, I have a few words to a couple analysts at ESPN. Tim Kurkjian and Buster Olney are two of the most respected and established baseball journalists in America; however, they have been hurting their reputations during these steroid investigations.
On the ESPN program "Baseball Tonight," Kurkjian and Olney have been asked if the steroid users should be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and these analysts continue to say the cheaters should be voted in. Whenever they say this, it makes me quite irritated and I want to turn off the television.
I understand that these players were great when they did not take the illegal substances (Barry Bonds was hitting 30 to 40 home runs a year as a slender Pittsburgh Pirate and Roger Clemens was striking out 20 batters in a game without much muscle), but these superstars should not be voted in to the Hall of Fame.
First of all, these cheaters would be standing alongside Hall of Fame greats who played the game the right way. These pure players include Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, Carlton Fisk and Bob Gibson. It would be wrong if the fraudulent players were associated with these clean legends.
But more importantly, if the steroid users were inducted into the Hall of Fame, what would that tell our youth?
It might tell our kids that cheating will get you far in life. Children are going to think that you can make it to the highest honors if you cheat.
Kurkjian, Olney and anyone else who wants these steroid users in the Hall of Fame please rethink that costly opinion.
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