David Ortiz is the latest in a fearsome lineup of would-be hall of famers to be dragged under the worn tarmac of performance-enhancing drug speculation. In keeping with the overall theme from my previous, related posts, I would advocate for the lifetime ban of this once-proud slugger (if proven guilty), as I would for any player caught cheating the national pastime. One day, when the smoke finally clears (whenever that day may be), Major League Baseball could be faced with a cold reality: maybe 90% of ballplayers juiced. Maybe Cal Ripken, Ken Griffey Jr., Albert Pujols, Greg Maddux, Rickey Henderson-maybe they all were cheaters.
If Bud Selig had the testicular fortitude to draw a line in the sand, he would have done so by now. Pete Rose is banished from the game for betting on his team to win games. And yet we slap blatant, omnipresent cheaters with 50 game suspensions? Manny Ramirez returns to Mannywood and is marketed just as feverishly as before his suspension? There is no consistency in Major League Baseball.
While it pains me to have to call into question the first Red Sox championship in 86 years, we now must do so, irregardless of the fact that probably every other team was cheating as well. This defense (the "he stole, so why shouldn't I?" line of reasoning) is as immature as it is short-sighted.
If tomorrow we exposed each and every current ballplayer that at one point had used steroids and we expelled all these players from the game, MLB would be faced with a serious predicament. My guess is we’d lose half our beloved hometown heroes. Selig would have to dip beyond the farm system, probably into D3 community college baseball, maybe Babe Ruth, who knows? The caliber of play would go down the crapper but just imagine the joy and innocence derived from watching honest baseball.
Keywords: Albert Pujols, Bud Selig, Cal Ripken, David Ortiz, Greg Maddux, Ken Griffey Jr., Rickey Henderson
