Yet another major star - actually two in this case - were named as being on the infamous 2003 list of players testing positive for PEDs.  Manny Ramirez?  No surprise there; he tested positive for a hiding agent this year.  He's not quit.  Ortiz?  This should have surprised NO ONE.  Not a single person.  Nor should anyone actually think that other Red Sox players weren't on the juice in 2003.  To think that is to be incredibly naive, or merely dumb.  Take your pick - I don't care.  The honest person will look at that team, and look at the majors in general, and say: "They juiced."  Simple as that.

What does this do for Ortiz and Manny?  In Ortiz's case, it simply emphasizes his incredible jump in his slugging percentage.  In Minnesota, in the 4 years in which he played in over 1/2 of the games, he earned an average slugging percentage of .467.  That's not all that great.  But in Boston he suddenly has an average of .593?  That's nearly a 30% increase - and that basically started just in one year.  It wasn't like Ortiz had years in the mid .400s and then a couple in the mid .500s and then trending upwards like you'd expect to see as a young power hitter hit a stride.  Instead, Ortiz is like jumping off up a cliff - one year he averages .467; the next .593.  In professional sports - at the elite levels of professional athletics - that simply isn't possible.  No one does it.  By the way, in a year in which Ortiz can't juice he's back down to .409.  What's that tell you? 

Here's what is so frustrating.  No one wants to accept the truth, that virtually every major player in baseball used steriods or other PEDs at some time or another.  There was too much pressure, and far too much money.  What's a little dose of HGH going to hurt if it means you can come back sooner from an injury, win that extra game or two, posting a 20 win season instead of an 18 win one, and demand an extra $5 million in salary?  YOU ARE A TOTAL FOOL IF YOU THINK ALL BASEBALL PLAYERS DIDN'T SEE AND THINK THAT.  Or you're dumb.  Take your pick.  Their AGENTS certainly knew it.  Don't think they are without guilt here.  They knew it, and probably dripped just enough poison into their ears to make sure their message was received loud and clear. 

Baseball used to pride itself on being able to hold up over 100 years of stats and claim statistical validity for all of them.  Can't do that now, can they? 

Or maybe, given the news here in Pittsburgh, I'm just yelling sour grapes.  The last two remaining actually good players here were traded.  I'm not venting steam at the owners for this; I think that it's a good idea, frankly.  It's not like the Pirates were going to win games with the players that they had!  But how can one be a fan of a team when...well, it's like watching the movie Major League.  "This guy is dead!  Well, cross him off, then!" 

Long live the Pirates.