Ortiz suspicions vindicated

by Travis G on Jul 30, 2009 2:16 PM EDT in New York Yankees News

Forgive me for tooting my own horn a bit. I predicted a few months ago that we would find out David Ortiz was a 'juicer'. And before that, I wrote a fairly lengthy article explaining why I suspected him (back on my own 'lil blog):

May 11, 2009:

...if there was anyone from Boston that I suspected, it's Ortiz - but I'm expecting that news to come in time).

May 21, 2007:

So why do I believe Ortiz has/is juicing? Several reasons:

1. Injuries
Ortiz had many injury problems during his tenure in Minnesota - he never had more than 415 at-bats in any season there (his last). All of a sudden, he's been healthy for four straight years (hasn't had less than 448 ab in his Boston tenure). Roids increase recuperation time, so it doesn't seem like much of a stretch to presume that Ortiz began taking roids to help himself recover from his various injuries (to increase muscle and bone rebuilding) around his last year with Minnesota or his first year with Boston. But a negative side effect can be...

2. The heart
Look at last year's heart problems. And as we know (again here), heart problems can be a sign of steroid use, "steroids do make your muscles grow more (that's the good part), but they affect ALL the body's muscle growth (including the heart of course, and thats the bad part). The heart is a muscle that is also affected by steroids..."

3. His OPS+ was never more than 122 (his last year in Minnesota). Since joining Boston, it's never been below 144. He was merely a good hitter with Minnesota (and never even an All-Star), now he's a perennial MVP candidate. He never slugged over .500, now he slugs .600+ every year. He never hit more than 20 HR in Minnesota; with Boston he's never hit less than 31. And this was all after his 'peak' years of 26-27 (peak years determined by Bill James and Baseball Prospectus if you're wondering). It's not damning by itself, but how often to players jump that much? Say what you will about Bonds, Giambi and McGwire, but at least they had precedents of great hitting; not so for Ortiz.

4. And who said he's had the same body type his whole career? I beg to differ.

Looks remarkably similar to this, except it happened during an even shorter timespan than Bonds:

None of this, of course, is hard irrefutable evidence that he did/does juice, but it does seem to point in that direction.

Ahh, now I feel better.

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Comments

Nice

I had called that one too,especially after this year.

by ReggieARodJeter on Jul 30, 2009 2:20 PM EDT reply actions

This screws the Red Sox on so many levels.............hilarious!!!!!!!!

by ReggieARodJeter on Jul 30, 2009 2:21 PM EDT reply actions

The headline picture

is glorious

by jmappelbaum on Jul 30, 2009 2:24 PM EDT reply actions

HAH

watching Sportcenter and Phillips says many Red Sox fans on the network (read: everyone) is devastated. I cannot WAIT to see what former Boston Globe writer Gammons has to say on this.

FIrst those idiots and the wordwide leader in bad reporting has a glum mood after Farve decides to not come back (and of course they make it clear that they will speculated un til Nov. 1 when the Vikings play the Packers.)

by FreeBradshaw on Jul 30, 2009 2:25 PM EDT reply actions

As a member of Yankee Nation living behind enemy lines,

I say, GOOD. They and their insufferably smug attitude and their quickness to screech “A-ROID” for the past few years can twist in the wind for all I care. Let the curse of the IED begin, and may it last as long as its predecessor.

by mrljdavid on Jul 30, 2009 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions

UNIVERSE

by Brian5517209 on Jul 30, 2009 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, but I'm in the lonely outpost of the most foul and degraded part of the universe...

by mrljdavid on Jul 30, 2009 2:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Maine?

by Brian5517209 on Jul 30, 2009 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions

a small boston suburb.

But at least I have a buddy at work from NY who’s a Yankees fan who I can hang with.

by mrljdavid on Jul 30, 2009 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions

I think I called this one, oh, about five years ago.

Middling part time DH goes to monster hitter and got significantly larger? Roids? No kidding…I’m shocked, shocked….

The best thing about this – I can tell Sox fans to go Fahk themselves – can’t wait to hear about Mueller, Millar, Lowell, Nomar, and the cadre of others who mysteriously suddenly became power hitters and just as mysteriously disappeared from the ranks of the top hitters within the last two years (ie, when testing tightened up).

by mrljdavid on Jul 30, 2009 2:26 PM EDT reply actions

Mr. Clutch*

My dad and I were chatting about this 2 months ago. He was saying that he drafted him years ago in his fantasy baseball league because the scouting report at the time said he was a “good singles hitter.”

by JustinTuckRule on Jul 30, 2009 2:27 PM EDT reply actions

ha

good article, very valid points

by dyanks10 on Jul 30, 2009 2:39 PM EDT reply actions

Good call, Travis

I think it has always been obvious that Ortiz has been a juicer while in Boston. Look at his body, and the difference in his numbers. That’s enough evidence right there.

by Ed Valentine on Jul 30, 2009 2:50 PM EDT reply actions

not hard to figure out

especially after Fatty McFatass fell off a cliff this year.

Ortiz 1997-2002: 455 games, 1,477 AB, 58 HR, 238 RBI, 169 XBH, .461 SLG
Ortiz 2003-05: 437 games, 1,631 AB, 119 HR, 251 XBH, .600 SLG

silly me. i thought a 17 HR/70 RBI guy turned into a 35 HR/130 RBI guy overnight because of the Red Sox “magic”…

by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on Jul 30, 2009 2:52 PM EDT reply actions

Distraction

I hope this serves as a big time distraction to the already sputtering sox.

by Nine Inch Nails on Jul 30, 2009 2:58 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Good point.

And here they come one week from 2day…this is gonna be fantastic….wish i had tix……i could always ditch my rent and hit up stubhub!!!!

by ReggieARodJeter on Jul 30, 2009 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Looks bad for the whole game

I feel bad for the sport. I sometimes think the only great player not on steroids might be Ichiro, however is asian herbs or acupuncture on the list of banned substances? Ortiz is a likable guy. It just cast doubt on everybody else like Pujols, that is how the mind works unfortunately.

by bcw420 on Jul 30, 2009 3:08 PM EDT reply actions

Do we have

any good nicknames for this??
If Ortiz took the same stuff as Manny did earlier this year, get ready for Big Mami

by jmappelbaum on Jul 30, 2009 3:11 PM EDT reply actions

Almost stuck in the middle....

….but not quite. I agree, it looks bad for the sport, but to KNOW that a considerable factor in the Red Sox finally playing out of a 3-0 hole against the vaunted Yankees of 2004 was steroids taken by their two flagship offensive players…..it damn near invalidates their two championships. It reminds me of a picture I’ve seen on noMaas.org where there is a huddle of Red Sox players after winning, covered by a huge red asterisk.

I feel fantastic. I’m going to rub it in the face of my Red Sox friends immediately.

by ROCNation on Jul 30, 2009 3:19 PM EDT reply actions

that's the best part about it

Sox fans always crowed about how their title teams were clean and the Yankees with guys like Justice, Clemens, Pettite, etc. weren’t.

guess that’s donezo now.

by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on Jul 30, 2009 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions

invalidating the two championships

I say the curse still lives…. 91 years and counting

by justinxyankeesfan on Jul 30, 2009 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Look at this pitiful excange between two Red Sox fans from OTM folks:

Sad Indeed Though I can take solace knowing that it takes a team to win a championship and I can still justify our two this decade even if they were both juicing
I just wanted to think that Papi was clean, he always came out strong against steroid use. Hard to think my favorite player on the team is tainted.

I can’t and won’t root for a player who cheats.

“We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us.” – Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
by Rogue Nine on Jul 30, 2009 12:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
.
Take solace how? You mean to tell me you think Mueller, Millar, and Bellhorn weren’t all on the juice in ‘04? You’re deluding yourself at this point. Sad.
by msford88 on Jul 30, 2009 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

.If they were… I quit life.
“We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us.” – Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
by Rogue Nine on Jul 30, 2009 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
***********************************************************************************************

I feel like I’m at a gotdam Comedy Club….HA HA HA….lemme slap the table!

by ReggieARodJeter on Jul 30, 2009 3:28 PM EDT reply actions

This is vindication indeed

Good call, Travis. It’s hard to dispute the pre-Boston/post-Boston improvements.

http://bostonroidsox.com/ <— A Yankee friend showed me this site. EPIC!

But this further embarrasses the sport. The shock value is definitely gone, though. It’s just real nice to give Pink Sux Nation a nice STFU!

by Hood on Jul 30, 2009 3:37 PM EDT reply actions

This is great news

I was actually of the opinion that Ortiz was an underated player when he was with the Twins, but nothing could have prepared me for what he wound up becoming. There is no doubt that the better lineup around him in Beantown helped too so it’s not right to say it’s ALL because of the juice. But since most Sox fans are so fuckin stupid and full of blind Yankee hatred that they actually believe that A-ROD was a great player ONLY because he was aided by roids there is no reason for us Yankees fans to temper our gloating. Plus Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are Sox fans and that’s reason enough to find them nauseating. The Sox fans are still mostly all miserable cocksuckers with negative attitudes who until recent successes actually revelled in their status as perennial second fiddles to the Bombers. They almost had a “the meek shall inherit the earth” kind of attitude that smacked of them trying to depict themselves as Jesus while the Yanks were Satan. Fuck them. Fuck them where they breathe. Fuck them all in the fuckin ass. They can all suck my big fat Italian dick.

by chambliss76 on Jul 30, 2009 4:04 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Jimmy Kimmel already f---ed Ben Affleck ...

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Jul 30, 2009 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions

wow.

ok, i know you’re happy but that’s taking it a bit far.

i dont mind Matt Damon, but Affleck’s a douchebag.

by Travis G on Jul 30, 2009 7:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Big Juice-y

by CCArvin on Jul 30, 2009 4:05 PM EDT reply actions

It's nice but...

We already knew about Manny from earlier this year and Ortiz all-but admitted that he was on this list after the A-Rod revelation when he made comments to “we take all kinds of stuff from the Dominican Republic and we don’t know if it’s legal.” It’s nice that the Red Sox fans with their holier than thou attitude and their fairy-land belief that all Boston athletes are wonderful human beings can never again have anything to say about the Yankees’ titles being tainted – ever.

Still when a player gets busted now it’s more about trash talk ammunition for fans than anything else. I’m just irritated that this is going to be the topic on sports radio for the next few days when we should be talking about the trade deadline. I think most fans have accepted by now that just about every player in the late 90’s/early 2000’s was doing steroids and that most of them are at least doing HGH now, so it pretty much was a level playing field after all. I just wish the media would come to this realization as well and let it go.

by Let's Talk About Tex Baby on Jul 30, 2009 4:16 PM EDT reply actions

Been saying it for years...

Been saying it for years…

Mueller: .268, .295, .262, .266,.. BAM! .326 Batting Champion

Millar: 9 hr / 67 rbi, 14/42, 20/85, 16/57 …BAM! 25 HR 96 RBI

Nixon: 15 hr / 52 rbi, 12/60,…BAM! 27/88, 24/94, 28/87….6/23, 13/67, 8/52

Varitek: 10 hr / 65 rbi, 7/25, 10/61…BAM! 25/85, 18/73, 22/70…12/55, 17/68, 13/43

My conclusion: Ron Jackson was an EXCELLENT hitting coach

by ScottBrosiusWSMVP on Jul 30, 2009 4:33 PM EDT reply actions

CF

Don’t forget Damon on that list as well.

by JustinTuckRule on Jul 30, 2009 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions

But Damon still does it...

by ScottBrosiusWSMVP on Jul 30, 2009 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions

don't say that

awesome name though
SupercalifragilisticexpealiBrosius

by Brian5517209 on Jul 30, 2009 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions

HaHA!

Yes!! I can’t stand Ortiz.

by Fluke on Jul 30, 2009 5:08 PM EDT reply actions

evryone knew that ortiz juiced even the red sox fans had to know they just didnt wanna believe it i knew it wold come in time!!!

by nycdogg89 on Jul 30, 2009 6:36 PM EDT reply actions

That a$$hole owes a big apology to Mariano....

Still, We Believe: The Boston Red Sox Movie
Have you seen that documental?? It was about the 2003 Red Sox right from opening day up unitl the Aaron Boone homerun against Wakefield. In the movie, there’s cameras waiting in the red sox locker taping Wakefield crying like a child and being conforted by his teammates. Imagine what was going through their heads…they probably said f*ck it! we’re juicing, we’re not getting screwed in th a$$ like that again by the glorious Yankees and so on. Now it all becomes all so clear, everything is fallingn in place, cause now, well now they’re busted. 04 and 07 are tainted, period. Anyway you twist it and spin it is not gonna change anything. Remember 2004 ALCS Game 5, the Yanks had it in the bag already and Mo, the greatest closer of all times, was getting ready to close it, but he couldn’t and I wondered why, all this years…and now I know.

by spiritcrusher on Jul 30, 2009 7:58 PM EDT reply actions

I SAY THE RED SOX ONLY HAVE 1918

“Everyone’s doing it, so what” That’s been the sorry excuse of the red sux fans when it comes to roids…“Oh look at Arod and Clemens” well, Arod juiced in 03 but didn’t win a world series the very next year. The Red sux got busted and their ws are forever tainted. I can’t wait for the next weekend when they have play @ Yankee Stadium. Yankees fans would have their opinion and the red sux will have to listen. >:)

by spiritcrusher on Jul 30, 2009 8:07 PM EDT reply actions

I'm not going to apolgize for feeling good

after hearing all the crap about how with Clemens and Pettitte that some feel that the last few world series were “tainted”, I’m pretty damn happy. How many chants of Aroid were there at Fenway? While it’s another sad day for baseball (and more unfortunately will come), Yankee fans took our lumps with Clemens, Pettitte, Giambi and Arod. So with Manny, Ortiz, and recent claims by Lou Merloni that Red Sox trainers coached on steroids, it’s about time for someone else to take the heat.

I’m not going to say 2004 was tainted. I just don’t want to here the same about ‘96, ’98-’00. Many were on PED’s, so many are guilty. Not just Yankees.

by coops2001 on Jul 31, 2009 12:30 AM EDT reply actions

Big Papi is still my favorite player

Steroids are terrible, for the people that use them, for the kids that might be tempted to use them, for the game, etc.

If David took them, it was wrong. He may have. It has not been proved.

He is still my favorite player for two reasons. He is genuinely a nice guy; that is most important. Second, he is clutch. I admire a person who can concentrate, and still his nerves, under pressure. Lots of people have taken steroids who could not do that.

The reason I first disliked Clemans (while still playing for the Sox) had nothing to do with steroids. He was disloyal to Boston, and he got fat and lazy (disloyal in a different way). The reason I never wanted Arod was because I thought he was a head case.

The reasons that I have always had begrudging respect for Petitte (whether he took drugs or not) was because he was tough and sincere about his job. Ditto Jeter, and others.

Baseball, like all sports, is a soap opera for men. Dress it up anyway you like, that is why people watch.

Ortiz is one of the good guys.

by Frank Malzone on Jul 31, 2009 8:17 AM EDT reply actions