Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
The Lasting Hangover of Baseball’s Steroid Era
Today’s report by the New York Times revealed David Ortiz to be the latest in an ever-growing list of Major League Baseball players guilty of using illegal performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Ortiz’s name is now included on what has become an overhyped and mysterious list of names that tested positive back in 2003, before mandatory testing was put into place.
It was confirmed that Ortiz’s 2003 Boston Red Sox teammate Manny Ramirez is also present on the list, confirming lingering suspicion surrounding him ever since Ramirez was suspended 50 games this season for using an estrogen-based drug that acts as a masking agent for PEDs.
The testing in 2003 was agreed to by the MLB Player’s Union in order to determine if mandatory testing (and thus punishments) would be incorporated the following year. Players were aware this testing would occur and were under the impression that the results would remain confidential. Years have passed, but some of the 100 names continue to leak to the media. Many have argued that each leak prevents the sport from healing and that all names on the list should be released once and for all, even despite the confidentiality given to the results.
Well said. I think our nation’s sport needs to move on. Let the cat out of the bag once and for all, so that baseball can regain the prestige that it once had. We need baseball!