Señor David "Big Papi" Aramis (now Ortiz)

As I was typing yesterday's post, SPECIFICALLY as I was saying that at this point, a week after the allegation "leaked" that he is named on "The List", Papi really needs to hold a BIG press conference clearing up the situation, it was announced on NESN that Papi will hold a press conference tomorrow afternoon in front of a national audience, as the Sox and Yankees play on national TV. To some degree, I guess my "plea" was answered as I was making it. ESP ???

So as I ponder this perplexing situation, I have some thoughts and opinions regarding it - GO FIGURE !!!!

I will start by re-iterating a "brief" history... "The List" is the list of players that tested positive for using Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) in a survey performed by MLB in 2003.... a survey that was supposed to be anonymous in order to determine if a drug policy needed to be implemented. It is the same list that Alex Roderigues confirmed that he is named on... and a list that was supposed to have never existed - so the players were told....

So why was this list created in the first place ??? Did MLB double-cross it's athletes and "order" the testing company to secretly create this list unannounced to the players ??? Did the US Government order this list be created to help their investigation into the illegal steroid problem in America as a whole ??? Steroid use was not "illegal" in baseball in 2003.... although surely it was illegal in our country.... so, only the government would actually benefit from knowing the names of those tested positive.. HMMMM....Does ANYONE know the answer ??? Will WE ever know ???

None the less... this list of actual names WAS created BUT was supposed to be destroyed shortly after the testing... leading me to believe that it's creation had something to do with MLB. So, why wasn't it destroyed ??? Perhaps it's creation indeed WAS at the hand of our government, and they also ordered that it not be destroyed... and subsequently seized possession of the list during the Balco investigation. And now the list is part of the evidence of said investigation and is SUPPOSED to be sealed...

So HOW are these names getting out ??? Who is ILLEGALLY slowly leaking information and constantly casting black clouds on our beloved pass-time ??? Why are they leaking the names that they have ??? 4 out of the 7 names made public to date are of Dominican decent... Is there a coalition between the US and Dominican governments against illegal steroids ??? Is there a prejudice against Dominican players ??? and by whom ??? MLB ??? the government ??? and for what reason ??? The Dominican Republic has produced some very famous MLB players... Juan Marichal, Cesar Geronimo, the Alou boys, to name a few. So why prejudge players that have added so much to the game ??? and in the process discredit our national pass-time as a whole...

A-Rod publicly denied the use of PEDs... Papi denounced it (and Manny? he's just Manny)... is there a conspiracy to discredit players that speak out against the use of steroids ??? and why ??? it just continues to discredit the game in general...

Does any of this matter ??? Are we not all in "acceptance" that steroids was (is?) a major part of the game for some time ??? and in other sports as well ??? Personally, I AM... I accepted it year's ago so ???.... I still like to taunt players I'm not fond of for it tho !!! HA !!!

So, as I await Big Papi's press conference, more confusion envelopes my thought pattern.. if all of the players listed were supposed to have been informed (and interviewed by the government) why was Papi "shocked" at the news of his inclusion on said list ??? is he TRULY named on the list or is someone purguring themselves ??? is Papi guilty of drinking those Dominican "supplement" shakes and they actually contain PED's, making Big Papi guilty by "association" ??? but wait, if he tested positive because of the shakes, wasn't he already informed ??? were those on the list ACTUALLY informed of their status ????

Did Papi even TAKE the test ??? (as apparently many players opted not to in order to register a "positive" result to "pad" the survey in an effort to force MLB to institute mandatory drug testing). Would this explain his "confusion" at allegedly being named ??? Would this explain the length of time taken to "find the truth" ??? (or did it take this long so he could formulate an excuse ???) It WOULD, however, confirm his denouncing of the use of PED's - himself not taking the test in an effort to raise the positive result....

Whereas this revelation hits close to home for me, I urge the MLB (or the government) to simply publish said list publically, deal with it all at once and be done with it !!! It doesn't seem like rocket science to do that - unless an aforementioned ulterior motive is involved. The game will be much better for everyone then......

In all honesty, whether or not Papi (or ANYONE else in MLB, for that matter) has done or does steroids and/or PED's is a mute point for me (but I could argue both sides for hours). If you did Papi, I'll respect you more for just admitting it so we can all move on and put that mistake behind us. But he certainly doesn't bolster what one wonder think of as a "juicer's physique". HMMMMM...

I'm pretty sure that around the time of Mark McGwire's "discovery" I simply assumed that most (if not all) of them did it anyway - that it was just part of the game... Although that doesn't make it legal or an example to follow, it also does NOT taint the championships and awards won by the teams and players themselves. It has been estimated that actually up to 30% of the league were "users" at times - that pretty much makes it a level playing field in my book.

By the same token, I'm even more on the fence about Hall of Fame induction for "Steroid Era" players. The players shouldn't necessarily be punished for playing during a particular era, especially since the wide-spread use did INDEED benefit all teams, but maybe the era itself should carry an asterisk.... I may never be sure ............. Good thing it isn't up to me to decide !!!!

-Nuf Ced