Writing the Pine

Last week it was revealed that David Ortiz was on that infamous list of 104 players that tested positive for steroids back in 2003.  Of course normally that would be a bombshell but really, was anyone surprised?  Or let’s take it a step further; did anyone really care?  I mean, it seemed pretty obvious that Big Papi was taking steroids given his dramatic increase in production in Boston after coming from Minnesota.  But it’s funny that Ortiz was so adamant about punishing steroid users when asked about the issue back in spring training.  I guess he, like all the other players, had full trust in the Player’s Union that the “anonymous” list would indeed be kept confidential.  Luckily for us baseball followers, there are snakes out there who want the world to know the identity of the cheaters (or at least the cheaters who are stars).

I wouldn’t single out Boston’s 2004 and 2007 championships and say they are tainted because these past couple of decades are tainted as a whole.  I guarantee that each World Series winner of the past 15-20 years had a handful of steroid users on the roster.  I’m not really making a groundbreaking statement by saying that because that’s what baseball has become and, unbeknownst to us, was for quite a while.  It’s clear baseball was hurting in 1994 after the lockout and was desperate for something that would help restore it to prominence among the major professional sports in America (and also so all the big wigs including Bud Selig could get richer).  It lucked out in 1998 with the whole McGwire/Sosa home run chase.  The show those two artificially-enhanced hulks put on that year captivated an entire nation because chicks aren’t the only ones that dig the long ball – we all do.  I have to think that baseball insiders knew players were taking steroids back then but obviously did not care.  There was no steroids policy back then and why would there be?  Baseball revenues were at all-time highs and no one’s going to say anything when everybody is getting rich.  As always, everything was money driven.  It seems like baseball, more than any other sport, is concerned about money and prying every nickel it can from its fans.  Ticket prices are absurd and so are concession prices.  Even something as minor as allowing people to embed MLB videos, we can’t do.  Why?  MLB is trying so hard to protect what is legally theirs.  Do a YouTube search for anything MLB related and you won’t be able to find anything.  They do everything they can to make sure their media isn’t being used by anyone they haven’t given permission to.  I suppose it’s in their legal right but look at the NBA.  They are great when it comes to allowing its fans to watch and share media.  Maybe baseball should’ve paid more attention to cleaning up its sport as opposed to scouring the Internet to make sure none of its copyright protections were violated.

I digress though.  My point is it’s sad that baseball has come to the point where we are not shocked or surprised when we hear a player took steroids.  (Though to be perfectly honest, there are still a few players who, if outed, would surprise me personally.)  But since that’s the way it is now, I don’t see why any guys who took steroids don’t just come out and say he took them.  Why wait to be backstabbed by someone else and just look bad in the public’s eyes for denying it for so long?  It would benefit the player, the fans, and most importantly the sport that we all love.