The New York Times is reporting that Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and L.A. Dodger Manny Ramirez are both on the 2003 list of major league baseball players who tested pos
itive for performance enhancing drugs.
The tests performed in 2003 were exploratory tests based on an agreement betweeen MLB and the Player's Union, the results of which were never supposed to be made public.
In May, Ramirez was suspended for 50 games after MLB officials obtained evidence he had been given a prescription for a fertility drug known to be used to mask steroid use. That drug is on the MLB banned substances list. Ortiz has not previously been linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
Ortiz and Ramirez combined to form a formidable tandem in the Red Sox lineups that captured the 2004 and 2007 World Series titles. The 2004 title was Boston's first in 86 years. Ortiz had a game winning homerun and hit in the ALCS that year and was named that series' MVP. Ramirez took home World Series MVP honors after the Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals.
As a lifelong Red Sox fan, I'm disappointed but not incredibly surprised. Just looking at Ortiz' career path, including his injuries and steady decline the last couple years, he fits the steroid profile perfectly. Of course, now we in Boston are going to have to hear about how the Sox' two titles this decade are tainted, etc.
So far this "list" has produced several major superstars, and leads one to wonder - Who else is on this list? Is the entire list going to be made public at some point?
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