Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz and MLBPA general counsel Michael Weiner met the media this afternoon in New York to address the report about Ortiz being on the “list” of players that tested positive for steroids and/or performance-enhancing drugs.
Ortiz came right out during his opening statement saying that he “never used or bought steroids” and blamed his positive test on supplements. He stated that he was he was “careless when he was buying supplements and vitamins over the counter.” He said they were legal supplements and vitamins. He said he got more educated about the situation once the list came out.
Most importantly, he said that he was never notified by the MLBPA association that he tested positive for steroids. This statement was backed up by Weiner when he made his statement.
Ortiz said that this was a “major distraction” this week and offered apologies to the fans, his Red Sox teammates, Terry Francona and the Red Sox ownership group.
The media hammered Ortiz on the fact that he waited 10 days to come out but he said he wanted to gather information before making a statement. Weiner added, “if it was simply up to David he would have been up there a lot sooner than he was today.”
The most compelling information to come out of the press conference though was something that Weiner said. He stated that there was 83 positive results during the testing. Not 83 players that tested positive but rather 83 results. He did say that a maximum of 96 players could have tested positive but that would include the players who tested positive for supplements.
This brings into question “the list” and that 104 names were on it. Is there really 104 names or is the union right when it says there is 83 positive results? We’ll never know though because the list under a court seal and cannot be disclosed right now. The way this is going it probably won’t ever be revealed.
So now that we’ve heard Big Papi speak, the question is do you believe him when he said that he didn’t take steroids?
My initial gut feeling tells me to believe him. He didn’t look comfortable up there talking to the media and we all know how he is when it comes to things. He’s always the jovial, happy-go-lucky guy and he was far from it.
He’s always been up front with the fans and the media so that gives us reason to believe him. I’m sure there will be naysayers out there and that’s fully to be expected in this situation. Many will use the fact that he waited 10 days to address this but the union did back him up in telling him to wait.
Hopefully with him talking today, it will break him out of the funk he is currently in at the plate.
Please take a moment to vote in the poll on the left sidebar at the top about whether you believe Big Papi or not.
