David Ortiz penned an essay in The Players Tribune this week opening up about PED testing in baseball and the suspicions that have constantly surrounded him throughout his career. Ortiz talks about the idea that his legacy may be tarnished by his alleged failed test from 2003, which he claims he didn’t even know about until 2009, and saying the stigma that has attached itself to him is unfair.
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.
It was a refreshingly open and honest discussion about the shadows that have been cast upon him, and it’s definitely worth a read. One of the more interesting parts of the essay, though, is when Ortiz brings up Dan Shaughnessy, who asked the slugger about fitting “the profile of a steroid user” just a few years ago.
In 2013, I came off the DL and started hot. My first 20 games I was hitting like .400. And the reporter with the red jheri curl from The Boston Globe comes into the locker room says, “You’re from the Dominican. You’re older. You fit the profile of a steroid user. Don’t you think you’re a prime suspect?”
He’s saying this with a straight face. I had taken like 70 at-bats. Anybody can get hot and hit .400 with 70 at-bats. I was stunned. I’m like, I’m Dominican? I fit the profile? Are you kidding me?
I wanted to kill this guy. But you can’t react. That’s what they want. They want you to get angry so they can bury you. So I just smiled at him and asked for his address.
“Why do you want my address?” he said.
“Because I just got tested two days ago.” I said. “I’ll mail you the f****ing results.”
This is a reporter from my own city coming to my locker and telling me I’m too good, that I must be on some shit. I’m sitting there thinking, Man, I get tested 10 times a year and I’ve helped win this town two World Series titles in 2004 and 2007 and this guy who has never played a game of professional baseball in his life is telling me I’m a suspect.
Shaughnessy is one of the most polarizing writers in the Boston media, and I guess we know what side Ortiz falls on now. Although I will say that Papi was quite kind to call Shaughnessy’s rug red, as it’s pretty clear those curls are mostly gray these days.
About Pete Blackburn