Ortiz Talks Steroids and Hall of Fame

Red Sox DH David Ortiz

David Ortiz has taken to The Players' Tribune, website of former New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter. Ortiz sounds off about a variety of topics and as usual he is never boring.

In 2009 it came out that Ortiz tested positive in the 2003 allegedly anonymous PED test, It did not list what Oritz tested positive for. Since 2009 Ortiz has vehemently denied that he has knowingly taken any PEDs.

Quotes from Ortiz in The Players Tribune:




“Let me tell you something, the only thing you’re going to find in my blood is rice and beans.”


“In some people’s minds, I will always be considered a cheater. And that’s bullshit. Mark my words: Nobody in MLB history has been tested for PEDs more than me. You know how many times I’ve been tested since 2004? More than 80. They say these tests are random. If it’s really random, I should start playing the damn lottery. Some people still think the testing is a joke. It’s no joke. Ten times a season these guys come into the clubhouse or my home with their briefcases. I have never failed a single one of those tests and I never will.”


“But that doesn’t matter to some people. Some people still look at me like I’m a cheater because my name was on a list of players who got flagged for PEDs in 2003. Let me tell you something about that test. Most guys were taking over-the-counter supplements then. Most guys are still taking over-the-counter supplements. If it’s legal, ballplayers take it. Why? Because if you make it to the World Series, you play 180 games. Really think about that for a second. 180 games. Your kids could be sick, your wife could be yelling at you, your dad could be dying — nobody cares. Nobody cares if you have a bone bruise in your wrist or if you have a pulled groin. You’re an entertainer. The people want to see you hit a 95-mile-an-hour fastball over a damn 37-foot wall.”


“Okay, sure, I’ll take that. I’m buying an over-the-f***ing-counter supplement in the United States of America. I’m buying this stuff in line next to doctors and lawyers. Now all of a sudden MLB comes out and says there’s some ingredient in GNC pills that have a form of steroid in them. I don’t know anything about it.”


“If you think I’m full of it, go to your kitchen cabinet right now and read the back of a supplement bottle and honestly tell me you know what all of that stuff is. I’m not driving across the border to Mexico buying some shady pills from a drug dealer. I’m in a strip mall across from the Dunkin’ Donuts, bro.”







Ortiz would appear to be campaigning for a possible future Baseball Hall of Fame induction. To be be clear, I am a huge Ortiz fan and It sucks that he has this cloud of doubt hanging over him. As Red sox fans we can only hope that more information comes out proving Ortiz was not on the list for any anabolic steroids or any of the other "serious" PEDs.

If I am being honest with myself, I don't think that I believe him.