Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz and Hall of Fame
Nov 23, 2021 21:59:37 GMT -5
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Post by rizzuto on Nov 23, 2021 21:59:37 GMT -5
Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz shall be newly listed among those players now eligible for the MLB Hall of Fame. Does either get your vote? Why or why not?
For me, the answer is a simple no to both.
Alex Rodriguez lied on national television in an interview with Katie Couric on 60 Minutes, saying he never touched the stuff and never felt "overmatched" on a baseball field. Eventually, ARod would fall from grace for PEDs not once, but twice. Now, many believe Rodriguez began using PEDs in high school.
bleacherreport.com/articles/1714251-complete-timeline-of-alex-rodriguezs-rise-and-fall
Much like Barry Bonds, David Ortiz has continued to maintain that he never failed a drug test in MLB, even though his name did show up on the leaked Mitchell Report before HGH and PEDs were officially declared illegal. While it is true that Ortiz never officially failed an MLB drug test, neither has Barry Bonds; however, during the BALCO investigation, evidence was discovered that Bonds did indeed test positive for PEDs:
www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=3112982
Moreover, Gary Sheffield "told the BALCO grand jury that at Bonds' instruction, he used BALCO steroids after the 2003 season, when he was about to join the Yankees. He said he didn't know the substances were steroids until later."
If Bonds could elude the early drug testing of MLB, why couldn't Ortiz?
Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were the most frightening back to back hitters I ever saw in my lifetime. If you look at their numbers, for a period of several years they were otherworldly. We know that Ramirez passed many, many drug tests, too, but he was also caught at least twice in 2009 with the Dodgers and 2011 with Tampa Bay at a time when his numbers were no longer what they were in Cleveland and Boston.
So, are we to believe that he was just lucky during his MVP caliber years or that he only used PEDs after his best seasons? I believe there is a third option: Ramirez and Ortiz passed during those years of gaudy numbers because the MLB testing program had not yet caught up in sophistication with the filtering and masking drugs at that time. The same probable reason Roger Clemens never failed a drug test and has also continued to maintain his innocence, although federal authorities for the BALCO investigations believe it "indisputable" for both Clemens and Bonds.
www.forbes.com/sites/christianred/2020/12/03/former-feds-say-barry-bonds-and-roger-clemens-steroid-evidence-indisputable/?sh=2faecb597baa
For me, the answer is a simple no to both.
Alex Rodriguez lied on national television in an interview with Katie Couric on 60 Minutes, saying he never touched the stuff and never felt "overmatched" on a baseball field. Eventually, ARod would fall from grace for PEDs not once, but twice. Now, many believe Rodriguez began using PEDs in high school.
bleacherreport.com/articles/1714251-complete-timeline-of-alex-rodriguezs-rise-and-fall
Much like Barry Bonds, David Ortiz has continued to maintain that he never failed a drug test in MLB, even though his name did show up on the leaked Mitchell Report before HGH and PEDs were officially declared illegal. While it is true that Ortiz never officially failed an MLB drug test, neither has Barry Bonds; however, during the BALCO investigation, evidence was discovered that Bonds did indeed test positive for PEDs:
www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=3112982
Moreover, Gary Sheffield "told the BALCO grand jury that at Bonds' instruction, he used BALCO steroids after the 2003 season, when he was about to join the Yankees. He said he didn't know the substances were steroids until later."
If Bonds could elude the early drug testing of MLB, why couldn't Ortiz?
Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were the most frightening back to back hitters I ever saw in my lifetime. If you look at their numbers, for a period of several years they were otherworldly. We know that Ramirez passed many, many drug tests, too, but he was also caught at least twice in 2009 with the Dodgers and 2011 with Tampa Bay at a time when his numbers were no longer what they were in Cleveland and Boston.
So, are we to believe that he was just lucky during his MVP caliber years or that he only used PEDs after his best seasons? I believe there is a third option: Ramirez and Ortiz passed during those years of gaudy numbers because the MLB testing program had not yet caught up in sophistication with the filtering and masking drugs at that time. The same probable reason Roger Clemens never failed a drug test and has also continued to maintain his innocence, although federal authorities for the BALCO investigations believe it "indisputable" for both Clemens and Bonds.
www.forbes.com/sites/christianred/2020/12/03/former-feds-say-barry-bonds-and-roger-clemens-steroid-evidence-indisputable/?sh=2faecb597baa
