The fallout from the Juiced Ball Era continues. Now Boston fans have another name to gasp over: David "Big Papi" Ortiz. Ortiz was a career .266 hitter with the Minnesota Twins before being signed by the Boston Red Sox before the 2003 season. He helped the Red Sox to their first World Championship in 86 years in 2004 when Boston defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. During that season, He and Manny Ramirez combined for 84 home runs and 269 RBI. In 2007, The Red Sox won the World Series again, defeating the Colorado Rockies.
Earlier this summer, reports came out that Ramirez would be serving a 50-game suspension for failing MLB's drug policy. The whispers started to come out and I was one of those whispers. I remember hearing the news and saying, "I hope he wasn't doing this in 2004." One member of the Red Sox was bad enough. Now there are two names being implicated.
I can remeber the news of steroids going as far back as 1988. Jose Canseco, then a left fielder for the Oakland Athletics, was on his way to being the first player in history to have 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same season. Wherever he went, fans would chant, "Steroids!" whenever he was on the field.
Ten years later, Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hit 70 home runs in a season, breaking what is believed to be one of the most sacred single-season sports records: Roger Maris' 61 home runs. Not long after that, there were the inquiries. The hearings. Congress demanded to know what was going on. What were athletes putting in their bodies and when did they do it? I am still fascinated by this. People without jobs and health insurance. National debt is climbing and Congress is investigating professional athletes and what they may or may not be doing to themselves.
Major League Baseball has a new policy that was implemented during the current collective bargaining agreement. The Baseball Writers Association of America is wondering whether to hold the peformance enhancing against players when they become eligible for the Hall of Fame. Does any of this really matter?
Should it stop at steroids? Why are we all of a sudden concerned with what a player does to himself? When did this idea of being pillars of the community come about? Ty Cobb was a Hall of Famer. He was notorious for playing dirty and committing other acts, including attacking a handicapped fan who was heckling him. Wade Boggs was elected to the Hall in 2005. As a player, Boggs made headlines off the field with his affair with Margo Adams.
These are not the only two. You can go on and on. Former Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey didn't allow black players on his team. Babe Ruth did anything and everything. Not only was he known for his off-field antics but he was also known for his charity.
After all this, how do you judge a player? Do you ignore the off-field capers and focus on what happens on the field? Do you shrug your shoulders when you learn he has a little help with his numbers? Do you shun him? Cheer him? Boo him? Yes, there are players who got a little help from their friends but its not like a World Series was cancelled. Members of the infamous "Black Sox" were banned for life for conspiring to throw the 1919 World Series but its hard to lump certain players (George "Buck" Weaver and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson) into that group.
Additional players will become eligible for the Hall of Fame with each year. Debate will continue for or against him as it always has. Unfortunately, not all debate will deal with the numbers.
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