Steve Buckley of The Boston Herald thinks that fans will just have to deal with the fact that some of these players may not have known what substances they were actually taking in the past. Since the players might have been in the dark, the fans will never get answers.

In what continues to be a complicated issue in which facts and innuendo collide, creating an awkward, interpretative truth, it comes down to this: Anybody with an interest in baseball, from fans and media to industry employees and the players themselves, is forced, in the end, to make a judgment call about all this.

It’s a little like viewing an abstract painting: What you see, what you feel, may be far different from what the person standing next to you is seeing, feeling.

And so it is with David Ortiz.

But perhaps some Yankees – and some of Big Papi’s teammates – viewed the entire scene from afar, wondering if their name will be the next released.

It’s the world in which the players now live.

It’s the world in which anyone who follows baseball now lives.

I hate all this pussyfooting. If a player took a supplement that “may or may not have contained steroids,” I view the issue in the same light as just doing the real drugs. It’s like finding a paper bag full of money hidden in a bush. You know that money is there under shaky circumstances, but you might take it anyway and walk away with an unexpected payday. Still, it’s not kosher. These players knew they were getting into some risky business when they walked into these “stores” or “doctor’s offices” and are willing to feign ignorance.

Find a picture of David Ortiz from the height of his career. Now look at Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez from theirs. Now go find a photo of Hank Aaron from any point of his career. Case closed.

If guys like David Ortiz really cared about “keeping it clean,” they would have made sure the substance didn’t contain a steroid. Whatever he was taking, it allowed him to put up bloated numbers that he’ll never again be able to replicate. To me, that’s evidence enough. I hope I’m proven wrong. Then again, like most real baseball fans, I take the last 15 years of the game with a grain of salt.

Hank Aaron never hit over 50 home runs in a season. However, he did hit 755 in his career, but none of them went over 500 ft. into impossible territory. I don’t think too much about the suspicion surrounding Ortiz because I already know the answer. None of those guys were for real.

David Ortiz addressed the media about his positive PED test from 2003 on Saturday and stated that he never buys or uses steroids.

From ESPN.com:

“I definitely was a little bit careless back in those days when I was buying supplements and vitamins over the counter — legal supplements, legal vitamins over the counter — but I never buy steroids or use steroids,” Ortiz said during a news conference that began about 3½ hours before his Boston Red Sox played the New York Yankees.

“I never thought that buying supplements and vitamins, it was going to hurt anybody’s feelings.”

If you replace “vitamins and supplements” with “flax seed oil,” then Ortiz essentially did the same thing Bonds did in that he attributed the positive test results to over-the-counter supplements and not anabolic steroids.

This may sound like I’m defending Big Papi, but maybe he really did take an over-the-counter supplement or something like Androstenedione, which is banned now, but wasn’t in 2003. Some people like to group supplements like testosterone boosters in with anabolic steroids and there is a massive difference between the two in terms of the effect they can have on your body. We don’t know what Ortiz took, so it’s not really fair to speculate until more details come out (if they ever do, that is).

It’s not surprising that Ortiz didn’t reveal much in the press conference. Don’t forget that these test results were supposed to be confidential and therefore Ortiz was probably legally bound from providing too much detail.

That said, it would have been nice if he admitted what he took, especially if he’s telling the truth about never taking steroids. He could have gotten on the podium and said, “I took Supplement X, Y and Z” and at least gained a little respect from his detractors. But since he didn’t reveal anything, many fans will go onto believe that he disgraced the game by cheating.

The sad part is that we may never know what these guys took.

According to an article by the Boston Globe, Red Sox DH David Ortiz (along with MLB Players Association director Michael Weiner) is expected to address the media over the weekend about testing positive for PEDs in 2003.

“We’re going to, like I said, we’re trying to figure things out and move on,’’ Ortiz said. “I’m not going to keep this in my head my whole career. It’s not like I have 10 years left. It’s the kind of situation that you get frustration.

“I’m gonna let you guys know what I’ve got. Period.’’

If Ortiz thinks he can’t tarnish his image more than he already has, he’s wrong. When he eventually talks to the media, he should be honest and forthright about what he took or at the very least, admit that he did take a banned substance and that he was wrong. If he denies anything or tries to act like he was unaware of what he was taking, then the public is going to crucify him.

Fans aren’t going to forget that he tested positive for PEDs, but they would probably be more willing to forgive him if he admitted that he did take something and threw himself at the mercy of the public. He should take a page out of Andy Pettitte and Jason Giami’s book and just be honest about the entire situation because after all, he’s already been caught.

Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe throws out an intriguing question about Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and what his next step is after reports surfaced that he tested positive for PEDs in 2003.

Here are the questions we all need to ask: Will anything short of a full admission from Ortiz be enough to satisfy those of us who generally are cursed with cynicism? Or is he simply doomed, regardless of what happened, because there are certain things we need to hear?

Fans don’t appreciate being lied to, so there will still be a ton of people who will forever be upset with Big Papi no matter what he does or doesn’t admit to. But fans are also forgiving in nature as long as an athlete is honest and completely upfront with his omission.

Take Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi and to a lesser extent, Bronson Arroyo (who recently admitted to using androstenedione and amphetamines before they were both banned in 2006) for example. All three of those players admitted that they had taken PEDs in the past, apologized for it and immediately showed regret for what they had done. Do you hear any of their names being mentioned with the likes of Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Ortiz or Ramirez? Nope.

If Big Papi comes out and completely admits to what he did, then fans will be less forgiving. Granted, we’re not going to just forget that he ever took PEDs, but we’ll certainly be more forgiving of him when we throw stones at the players who did cheat.

When asked recently about his opinions regarding former Boston teammates David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez testing positive for steroids in 2003, Phillies’ pitcher Pedro Martinez shared some interesting answers.

“I’m not going to say anything, because I don’t agree with it. I believe the game should be played clean. They’ve got my total support. They weren’t the only ones. There were a lot of guys.”

“There’s no crying in baseball,” Martinez said. “We won in 2004. That’s it. Are you going to tell me that the other guys, who used it on other teams are now whining? They used it, too. One thing that’s really caught my attention is — why is it all Dominicans? What’s going on? Why is it all Dominicans that all of a sudden come out positive? The last one standing might be me.

“That’s a big question to ask. What’s going on here? Why is it I’m the only one who might be left standing? All of a sudden, they’re going to come up and say: ‘Pedro [did it], too.’ That’s when I’m going to start stripping my clothes off and showing everybody I’ve never had acne on my back. If I did use it, it didn’t help me. They need to give my money back. It didn’t work.”

Martinez raises a great question that most media outlets are afraid to touch: Why are there more Dominican players testing positive for PEDs?

Granted, we don’t know what percentage of the 104 is Dominican and we may never know. But of the seven players whose names have been linked to the media, four are of Dominican descent: Ramirez, Ortiz, Sammy Sosa and Alex Rodriguez. Barry Bonds, Jason Grimsley and David Segui (who was born in the U.S., but his father is Cuban) were the other three names.

It’s an interesting topic and surely something that will gain further attention if the names of more Dominican players are released from that ’03 list.

After news broke yesterday that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, I got to thinking, “What’s Curt Schilling’s take on all of this?”

Schilling was part of the 2004 Boston Red Sox team that Ortiz and ManRam helped win a World Series and is a close friend of Big Papi. He was also the one that absolutely lambasted Barry Bonds in a 2007 radio interview when the slugger was on the verge of breaking Hank Aaron’s record with the obvious aid of performance-enhancing drugs.

Schilling said he thinks that Bonds’s achievements during his period of alleged steroid use — as detailed in the book “Game of Shadows” — should be “wiped out.”

“If you get caught using steroids, you should have everything you’ve done in this game wiped out for any period of time that you used it,” Schilling said at the time of the book’s release.” A lot of players, I think, have said as much because it is cheating.”

Now, Schilling did apologize for what he said about Bonds in the interview. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t mean what he said. And if he truly feels that way, I find it interesting that he wasn’t as harsh on Ortiz as he was on Bonds back in ’07.

This is from Schilling’s blog 38pitiches.com (which was posted yesterday) in reaction to Big Papi’s positive test in ’03:

Should any of David’s subsequent accomplishments be judged by this?
That’s for you to decide. It seems to be an area of immense debate, but I am not sure how this could/should/will be resolved. Whatever you do you need to do it for anyone now, and if you do do something, make sure there is some detriment for anyone caught going forward. Given that so many people live on their accomplishments or stats, taking one or both away would be a decent way to deter some guys, I think.

Should any of the Sox’ accomplishments in ‘04 or ‘07 be judged differently because of this?
This makes me laugh. I have already seen the bandwagon fans start the *04 and *07 threads and remarks, people with teams who are far deeper into this than most other teams — as if this makes it all OK. Every team going back 10-15 years needs an * if you want to consider giving it to anyone. The hard part is that it’s turning into a situation where we are seeing every single GREAT player in the past 10 years caught, and they’re dragging what we thought were the majority, and are now turning into the minority, down with them.

Well that’s certainly a more diplomatic approach now isn’t it, Curt?

Look, I get it – Schilling isn’t going to blast his buddy like he did Bonds, nor is he going to say that anything he and the Red Sox accomplished this decade should be stricken from the record books because Big Papi and Manny were on PEDs.

But I’m just wondering what happens if Big Papi says that he didn’t know what he was taking a la Bonds. Will Schilling come out and say the same things as he did in ‘07? If he truly feels that (and I’m using his words here) if you get caught using steroids, you should have everything you’ve done in this game wiped out for any period of time that you used it, then he should say that Big Papi and Manny’s accomplishments should be wiped out as well. (That is, for whatever years they were doping, which of course couldn’t have been in ‘04 when they won a championship right??)

Granted, neither Ortiz nor Ramirez broke a sacred record like Bonds did. But still, wouldn’t it be a little hypocritical of Schilling to voice so boisterously against Bonds and not do it against Ortiz? If Schilling wants to be known as someone who isn’t afraid to speak his mind about steroids in baseball, then he can’t pick and choose whom he blasts. He can’t attack Bonds one year and then essentially give Ortiz a free pass two years later because the two were teammates and friends.

Maybe Schilling is waiting for more details to emerge or for Ortiz to release another statement before he comments further. That’s certainly fair. I’ll wait too. I’ll wait for more details, and I’ll certainly wait for more from Schilling, because more should be coming.

Following the Red Sox win over the A’s on Thursday, David Ortiz addressed the media about a New York Times report that stated he tested positive for performance-enhancing dugs in 2003, although didn’t say much.

“Today I was informed by a reporter that I was on the 2003 list of MLB players to test positive for performance-enhancing substances. This happened right before our game, and the news blindsided me. I said I had no comment because I wanted to get to the bottom of this.

“I want to talk about this situation and I will as soon as I have more answers. In the meantime I want to let you know how I am approaching this situation. One, I have already contacted the Players Association to confirm if this report is true. I have just been told that the report is true. Based on the way I have lived my life, I am surprised to learn I tested positive. Two, I will find out what I tested positive for. And, three, based on whatever I learn, I will share this information with my club and the public. You know me – I will not hide and I will not make excuses.

“I want to thank my family, the Red Sox, my teammates, and the fans for their patience and support.”

So essentially he’s getting ready for the ol’ “spin-a-roo” routine, where he’ll admit to taking “something,” but didn’t know it was a performance-enhancing drug.

“Somebody at sometime in some juncture under some circumstance might have probably given me something at some point,” Ortiz will say.

Big Papi, do us all a favor and just come clean. Say you messed up, you shouldn’t have done it and you’re ashamed. You’ll still be a cheater, but at least some of us will respect you for coming forward. If you sidestep the situation, you’re no better than Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Manny and all the other ass clowns that think they can pull the sheets over our eyes.

Related Stories:

- Report: Big Papi, Manny test positive for PEDs in 2003

Reds starter Bronson Arroyo told the Boston Herald that he used both androstenedione before they were banned in 2004, and amphetamines before they were banned in 2006.

“Before 2004, none of us paid any attention to anything we took,” said the Reds starter. “Now they don’t want us to take anything unless it’s approved. But back then, who knows what was in stuff? The FDA wasn’t regulating stuff, not unless it was killing people or people were dying from it.”
“Andro made me feel great, I felt like a monster. I felt like I could jump and hit my head on the basketball rim,” Arroyo said of the substance that became infamous after it was discovered in the locker of slugger Mark McGwire during his historic 1998 home run chase.
Arroyo said he had no idea about what Ortiz and Ramirez were taking, if anything, in 2003. He said he observed teammates then who were obsessive about taking nutritional supplements and others who never had a protein shake. His knowledge of what others did stopped when he left the ballpark.
“Everyone has their own lives, nobody knows what anybody does at night,” said Arroyo. “Nobody knew Ken Caminiti was smoking crack. At the end of the day, we all have our own lives. It’s not a frat house in the big leagues where you go back to the dorm at night and everybody knows what everyone’s doing.”

Wow, honesty in baseball – what a refreshing concept.

This is what baseball needs more of. Arroyo doesn’t seem to be hiding anything and I actually believe him when he says that players weren’t paying attention to what they took. It’s not far-fetched to believe that players would go up to teammates saying, “Hey, I’m talking this stuff called andro, which makes me feel like a freaking bull. You’ve got to try this stuff!” and then those teammates taking the advice to heart and trying it without fully knowing everything about the substance.

One would think that professional athletes would know everything that they’re putting into their bodies. But if something like andro is being passed off as a “supplement” and not a “performance-enhancing drug,” then I’m sure more players used it without reading every last detail on the label.

That said, I’d have to be pretty naïve to believe that all players didn’t know what they were doing to their bodies. Guys like Big Mac and Bonds were juicing because they knew performance-enhancers would allow them to extend their careers and break records. And those guys were on more than andro and amphetamines, or else Arroyo would look like the Jolly Green Giant as well, and not the bean poll he is today.

Either way, I applaud Arroyo coming out and admitting that he was on something. More guys should follow his and Andy Pettitte’s lead and just be truthful about what they took and when.

According to a report by the New York Times, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the sluggers who propelled the Boston Red Sox to end an 86-year World Series championship drought and to capture another title three years later, were among the roughly 100 Major League Baseball players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the results.

The information about Ramirez and Ortiz emerged through interviews with multiple lawyers and others connected to the pending litigation. The lawyers spoke anonymously because the testing information is under seal by a court order. The lawyers did not identify which drugs were detected.

Unlike Ramirez, who recently served a 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy, Ortiz had not previously been linked to performance-enhancing substances.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone who has followed baseball over the past decade. When Manny was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a woman’s fertility drug often used to mask the use of steroids, you would have had to been naive to think that he wasn’t on something. And considering Big Papi admitted back in February that he works out at the gym of suspected steroids supplier Angel Presinal, nobody should be surprised that his name is on the ’03 list either.

Bud Selig needs to get with the player’s union immediately and discuss releasing the rest of the names on that list. Ramirez, Ortiz, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa have already been outed and baseball should just do itself a favor by releasing the rest of the names. Because guess what? The names will come out, whether it’s one at a time, two at a time, etc.

But the union will never allow it. They’ll continue to believe that this situation will eventually go away and that the fans will someday rejoice and call baseball “America’s Game” again. But we won’t. We know the game was tainted for over a decade and the accomplishments of Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Ramirez and Ortiz mean very little because they had help. The union, the owners, the players and everyone else in Major League Baseball is fooling themselves if they believe more names aren’t going to come out.

Related Stories:

- Ortiz issues statement about positive ’03 test

- AOL FANHOUSE writes that vision isn’t why David Ortiz is struggling at the plate, even though he’s determined to get his eyes checked out.

- As SPORTSbyBROOKS.COM points out, Andre Rison is the best wide receiver of all time – just ask him.

- THE BIG LEAD has the story of the ornery Rob Dibble, who took a couple shots recently at ESPN’s Keith Law and Rob Neyer on Twitter.

- DEADSPIN writes that Matt Leinart is taking his offseason work quite seriously. (For real this time.)

- YARDBARKER reports that Brent Sutter is out as head coach of the New Jersey Devils.