Juiced

So now it has finally come to taint someone closer to home. Up until now every name that has surfaced in the steroid allegations has either been someone that you have not been surprised about (Bonds & Sosa), someone no one cares about (Jason Grimsley), or someone it was easy to vilify (A-Rod, Clemens). Now its David Ortiz. The lovable slugger that is have been the face of the Red Sox since 2003 with his big hits, big smile, and big presence he has been a major factor in the Red Sox phenomenon these past 7 years. Now that's tainted.

Or is it? The longer this drags on the longer it seems as though Canseco was right and that 80 percent or more of the league was using performance enhancers. Does that means its OK? Of course not, but I think to some degree many of us who have followed this story over the years since Canseco's book came out have come to accept that maybe - in actuality - "everybody" was using. And if the entire league was doing it (or the vast majority) can you really fault the individuals who have been the unlucky ones to have their actual names outed?

I hate to admit that I agree with Jose Canseco, but he's right that this is more MLB's fault than the individual players. As long as MLB promoted home runs and 14-10 box scores, guys were going to do whatever it took to make sure they were a part of that and to get paid like all their contemporaries were.

Not only that, but if everyone is using does that mean that you can't penalize McGuire, Bonds, Clemens, A-Rod, and Manny by preventing them from entering the Hall of Fame. They no longer look like the guys that cheated just the guys that cheated with better results than they other guys that cheated. If PEDs do leave the game, we may not see too much change in the way of statistics (beyond the fewer home runs) as the level of players on both sides of the ball will decrease without the PED's. Pitchers, batters, and fielders will all see a decline which in the long run could mean an actual break even in many categories. No one knows.

This is not an endorsement of the steroid use, it's simply a change in perspective. Maybe it's because I do love Big Papi and all he has done for the Red Sox, maybe not. All I know is that I don't look at this as tainting anything. These men accomplished what they did against others that were on a level playing field with them. I'm going to keep my happy memories of 2004 intact whether it was juiced or not.