Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
May 08, 2007
Ortiz Supports Bonds

David Ortiz comes out in defense of Barry Bonds:

Ortiz has an almost willful naivete about both Bonds and steroids. He still does not believe in his heart or his head that Bonds took steroids. And even if it were proven to him, Ortiz still would not link it to what Bonds does with a baseball bat. "To hit the frickin' ball, the guy makes it look easy, but it ain't. I don't know how you can have that swing, consistently. I don't know how steroids can do that," Ortiz said. "There are supposed to be guys using steroids in the game, and there's nobody close to Barry Bonds. What's that mean? He was using the best (expletive)? Know what I'm saying?"

He also believes Selig should be at the game if and when Bonds breaks the record. I personally don't care about Selig being there. He seems to sap the excitement out of the moment when he speaks at these milestones, so let the Giants handle it.


Posted by David Pinto at 12:21 PM | Cheating | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I agree with Ortiz. If Bonds' success is due to steroids, then why isn't everyone else hitting like Bonds? Call it willful naiveté, but I just don't care to denigrate the man and hold him up as the scapegoat for what is wrong with baseball today, all the while pining for the good 'ol days. Bonds may be a jerk, but so are most athletes. They are hyper-competitive high-testosterone meglomaniacal freaks, for the most part, and this is not a recent development. From Honus Wagner to Ty Cobb to Pete Rose. Oh no! humans have flaws! Think of the children! Please... ok I guess I'm going to have to blog this

Posted by: Blastings Thrilledge at May 8, 2007 12:59 PM

C'mon, this is a silly argument. You may or may not choose to believe Bonds deserves an asterisk, and there remains much we don't know about who, what, when, where, and how steroids have influenced, and continue to influence, MLB. But the notion that if Bonds hits like an all-time great because he's on steroids, anyone on steroids should be hitting like an all-time great is (a) silly and (b) fallacious. You can let me have all the steroids and HGH I want and I still won't be able to beat Justin Gatlin in the 100 meters.

Posted by: cwp at May 8, 2007 01:07 PM

I hate to break it to you, David, but you are the only one who is still saying "if and when" when referring to Bonds breaking the record. Selig should go. Selig should go and he should go BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Posted by: chris at May 8, 2007 01:59 PM

Blastings said: "If Bonds' success is due to steroids, then why isn't everyone else hitting like Bonds?"

Besides McGwire, Sosa, Giambi, Pudge, Canseco, etc., right? Of course, those guys are either out of the game or off of the juice by now, which might be your point.

But the fact is, Bonds' success with the stuff isn't limited only to Bonds.

Posted by: Andy at May 8, 2007 02:50 PM

Well, since Bonds was all ready a HOFer before he took whatever he did, it's kind of tough to say that Matt Lawton should have the same career because he took PEDs. If one were to rate players on a sacle of 1-10 with 10 being the best and PEDs improve the player by 2, then a player who is all ready a nine is still going to be that much better than a player who was but a three to begin with.

Posted by: Nick at May 8, 2007 03:37 PM

I am obviously in the small minority on the subject but I have never been able to understand why Bonds has to be the poster boy for steroids and their alleged destruction of baseball. Bonds has more than likely used illegal performance enhancing substances, as apparently many other players have used. How do you explain the season he is having this year? He just uses better stuff that is not tested for? As I see it, Bonds played on a level field that everyone else did and performed better than they did. Apparently, he is a major league a_hole so therefore everything he does is bad. The fact is, steroids or not, he is one of the best players ever and should be acknowledged as such.

And why does Clemens get off virtually scott free from any questions? He is from many accounts an A_hole; there are alleged links to shady drug guys; he is huge; and he is performing well at an age beyond when most players perform well. All these things are items Bonds is accused of. In addition, it seems that pitchers are getting caught with steroids more than position players. By that logic shouldn't we be questioning Clemens stats and puting asterisks by them?

And don't get me started about the double standards of sports fans. Shawn Merriman from the San Diego Chargers gets caught, sits out 4 games, and makes the pro bowl with very little talk. Why is it almost ok for an NFL player to use illegal performance enhancers but the idea that a baseball player uses the same things enough to casue congressional hearings?

Posted by: Evan at May 8, 2007 04:52 PM

Bonds isn't just another hall of famer before he started taking PED's. He was one the 20 best players ever to play. We now know what an inner circle hall of famer looks like on PED's. Thank you Barry.

Does Ortiz think he's going to hit better after turns 36 like Bonds? I don't think so.

Being a Bonds apologist is not a good career move for Ortiz.

Posted by: geb4000 at May 8, 2007 05:33 PM

Is it coincidental that Ortiz is a cheating apologist?

*Look at a picture of the size of David Ortiz' head in 2001, and then look at a picture of it now.
*Then note his performance at age 27, and the curious trend line of his career in the years since.
*Then note the fact that he had a very serious heart problem last year, which is a side effect of HGH use.

I appreciate watching the greatness of Bonds, and I have nothing against Ortiz, and no axe to grind in general. But would you honestly be shocked if Ortiz has been taking HGH the last few years?

Of course he doesn't like it when Bonds is investigated exhaustively. He certainly wouldn't want the same scrutiny in his direction.

Posted by: notsellingjeans at May 8, 2007 06:14 PM

When I banged Bonds, he was taking a special cream called Oil of Olay. Is that a PED? He said it made him look and act like an angry black man, but it made him talk like a nice white guy. He's into some weird stuff.

Please sign my petition to keep me out of jail. I got a letter and a picture from some girl in prison named, Imagonna Lickurpussy, she was really fat and ugly, she kind of looked like a Big Papi. Please keep Paris free!!!!

Posted by: Paris Hilton at May 8, 2007 06:57 PM

selig, baseball, and the baseball media let this crap happen.

he should be there and be shamed for it just like bonds.

Posted by: Tim at May 8, 2007 07:29 PM

Great blog. Over at the OGS (www.oscargamblesociety.com) we couldn't help wondering what Big Papi's views are on the JFK assassination, or whether the moon landing was faked. But its not just Ortiz; there seems to be a lot of strange attitudes about Bonds bubbling to the surface these days. Its almost like the OJ verdict repeating itself a farce. Well, as a *different kind* of farce.

Posted by: Tank at May 8, 2007 11:19 PM

Barry is horrible, Barry is not a nice man. Most Americans hope he would not break the record of two all-time greats, Ruth and Aaron, because Bonds is a rude twit who no one likes. And because of the steroid issue, Barry will have to live with the fact that true baseball fans such as me will always perceive him as an unlikeable cheater who name stands first in the records of all time home runs in an era of 4.50 E.R.A.'s (do a study of earned run averages in all of Aaron's years and then compare it to the E.R.A.'s in all of Bonds' years; you'll see it's perhaps over one run higher per game) and in a time that allowed him to stand and watch his home runs at home plate unlike Aaron and Ruth, who would have not been able to stand up the next day if they stood and watched their home runs like bystanders.

Posted by: Gary at May 13, 2007 11:41 AM

Barry is horrible, Barry is not a nice man. Most Americans hope he would not break the record of two all-time greats, Ruth and Aaron, because Bonds is a rude twit who no one likes. And because of the steroid issue, Barry will have to live with the fact that true baseball fans such as me will always perceive him as an unlikeable cheater who name stands first in the records of all time home runs in an era of 4.50 E.R.A.'s (do a study of earned run averages in all of Aaron's years and then compare it to the E.R.A.'s in all of Bonds' years; you'll see it's perhaps over one run higher per game) and in a time that allowed him to stand and watch his home runs at home plate unlike Aaron and Ruth, who would have not been able to stand up the next day if they stood and watched their home runs like bystanders.

Posted by: Gary at May 13, 2007 11:41 AM
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