The Other Fifteen

I’m sure that’s the title of the (soon to be defunct) Boston Globe this morning.  I don’t even have to google it to check.  I just know that’s what it is.  But either way, David Ortiz finally hit his first homer of the season.  This is a guy who hit 54 HR three years ago.  I know Big Papi is an extremely likable guy, so nobody wants to say this (especially in Boston), and I know I’m going to get a ton of flack for this, but with everything else that’s gone on in baseball it would be irresponsible not to say it: steroids.

That’s right, I think Big Papi did steroids.  And anyone who claims that there’s no way is just turning a blind eye to the obvious.  All the signs are there: a career that never got going, suddenly gets traded and starts hitting homers AT AGE 28, starts breaking club records at age 30 despite a lackluster career until a year or two prior, steep decline once baseball starts testing for PEDs, sudden injuries, sudden loss of his power that came out of nowhere in the first place, then decline into oblivion.  I honestly don’t understand how anyone can look at the sudden jump  and steep decline of his numbers over the last eight or nine years and think that there is absolutely no way that this guy was juicing.  I’m not saying he did it for sure, but his numbers make him look like the poster boy for the steroid era.  How is his sudden power surge and subsequent lack thereof any different than Bradey Anderson?  Or Louis Gonzalez?  Or pretty much anyone else who has already been found out, or will be, or will always be suspected but never proven?  Sorry Boston fans, but it’s time to face the facts.