Dope
| Game 101: July 30, 2009 | |||
| Athletics | 5 | H: Russ Springer (5) H: Michael Wuertz (12) BS, L: Craig Breslow (1, 4-5) | 43-58, 1 game losing streak |
 Red Sox | 8 | W: Manny Delcarmen (3-2) H: Daniel Bard (5) S: Jonathan Papelbon (26) | 59-42, 1 game winning streak |
| Highlights: David Ortiz authored his first late inning pressure situation triumph of 2009 with a three-run blast to the short bleachers in the seventh. The score went from 5-3 in favor of the visitors to 6-3 for the local nine. The designated hitter came out for a curtain call. I wonder how many of them knew about The New York Times report that named Ortiz as one of the 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. | |||
I’ve started and stopped and restarted this column as many times as David Ortiz homered in 2006. I was there on September 21, 2006 when he broke Jimmie Foxx’s team record for home runs in a season. This is the best I could do.
BOSTON — Red Sox blogger Joanna Hicks issued the following statement today:
Today I was informed by several friends via text and instant messenger that one of my favorite players was on the 2003 list of MLB players to test positive for performance-enhancing substances. This happened right before the game, and the news blindsided me. No one sought me out for my comments, but here they are anyway.
I want to talk about David Ortiz, how he was the backbone of the team in 2007, that he was one of the few bright spots in the 2006 season, and when he wrested victory from the clutches of defeat in 2004. But it is difficult because I am at times a starry-eyed idealist who pitched a tent on the moral high ground only to have it crumple with the overall collapse of the terrain known as Baseball Purity.
In the meantime I want to let you know how I am approaching this situation. One, I will contact the Players Association and point out that they were fully complicit in the Steroid Era and although they fattened their members’ wallets they did so at the risk of their members’ health and turned a blind eye to the use of flat-out illegal drugs. Two, I will mention that Bud Selig shouldn’t be applauded as the initiator of the clean-up crew when he was the enabler who held the decades-long PED party in his sport. And, three, don’t forget the owners who passed out the big contracts in pursuit of greater revenue. I will not hide those people who made excuses about illegal substances in baseball.
I want to thank my family, the Red Sox, and my readers for their patience and support.
