Tainted Love

Red Sox and BOTN fans alike, I write this blog with a heavy heart. Our beloved slugger, David Ortiz, has tested positive for Performance enhancing drugs. Can we say this is a surprise? No. Can anyone say that you were completely unsuspicious? If you do you're lying. But can anyone honestly say you don't feel for him.

If I have ever said anything bad about Alex Rodriguez with regards to him taking PED's than I not only apologize but I now understand what it feels like as a fan to have an enamored slugger/role model thrust into the pit of despair. That being said I still am not a fan of A-Rod, or the way he goes about playing baseball, but I feel for the guy.

David Ortiz was not only the best clutch hitter in Red Sox history but was the cornerstone of this franchise for a solid 4 year span. He led baseball in Runs batted in and was 3^rd or higher in every other major offensive category. His smile brought hope to Red Sox Nation. And his presence in the lineup gave you a sense of: "Wow, we're probably going to win tonight."

But the "rags-to-riches" story that we all came to know and love is in fact a mistruth. He didn't become a superstar on his own accord. The reason that everyone loved "Big Papi" wasn't just because he put us on his back en-route to 2 Championships; the reason is he was the guy that everyone rooted for. In Minnesota, he rarely got playing time and was a mediocre player, AT BEST. When Boston gave him a chance he didn't waste it. In a way it makes sense; which is why I no longer have a distaste for A-Rod in this regard.

He is in a big market and needed to make his presence known, hitting behind Jeremy Giambi wasn't going to help him or his family. So he decided to build success artificially. The rest, as they say, is history.

So what does this change? Well for starters (Sox Fans in particular) you almost have to lay off the Yankee players that were caught doping. They were not the only ones. And I'm not sure if "taint" is the right word for describing our championships, but rather enhanced. The numbers, to me, would seem that there would be at least 1 player per team if there are 104 names and 30 or so teams. Maybe the Pirates and Rays were so bad because they didn't have any dopers? Any takers?

I still love David Ortiz. But the mystique surrounding his alter ego Big Papi, is in a word "tainted."

Stay Tuned

Ryan