Ortiz and Ramirez Said to Be on 2003 Baseball Doping List

[RandySF]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/sports/baseball/31doping.html?_r=1&hp

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the sluggers who propelled the Boston Red Sox to end an 86-year World Series championship drought and to capture another title three years later, were among the roughly 100 Major League Baseball players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the results.

Some of baseball’s most cherished storylines of the past decade have been tainted by performance-enhancing drugs, including the accomplishments of record-setting home run hitters and dominating pitchers. Now, players with Boston’s championship teams of 2004 and 2007 have also been linked to doping.

[inthebrain]

1. Well, the Mets got screwed in 2000

out of a WS because of Clemens and Petite's Roiding.

I suppose we can add St Louis and Colorado to that list as well.

[sharp_stick]

3. Yeah cause you know none of the Mets

were juicing were they.... I think I recall a guy, he was a catcher, used to play for the Mets hmmmmm.

The way this thing has been handled by MLB is a disgrace, I personally think that every team had at least one and probably one hell of a lot more people taking stuff.

[inthebrain]

10. On the 2000 Mets?

Don't think so.

I doubt Piazza was a juicer. His career took a natural arc from the beginning to the end.

[sharp_stick]

11. He's as implicated as Ortiz

and because MLB hasn't done anything to clear it up, it seems that being implicated is as bad as being convicted in this league.

http://thesteroidera.blogspot.com/2009/03/mike-piazza-steroids-allegations.html

http://www.baseballssteroidera.com/bse-list-steroid-hgh-users-baseball.html

[BlooInBloo]

2. (shrug) They all did it...

So the playing field was even. No biggie.

[edbermac]

4. So why are we hearing about this 5 years after the fact?

Why does baseball have drug tests if they take no action if a player comes up positive? Why aren't the results announced immediately? I'm disappointed by the players and even more so by the powers that be of MLB.

[Southpaw07]

7. These results were supposed to be destroyed.

At the time, there was no ban on Performance Enhancing Drugs in MLB. The union and league came to an agreement the test a large number of players and if a certain percentage came back positive (can't remember but I think it was 5%), the union would agree to a policy banning the use of these drugs and enforcing penalties. The union had fought this for many years. As part of this deal, the testing was supposed to be anonymous and the results destroyed once the testing was complete. The results were much higher than the threshold set and the policy was enacted banning the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs. But Management never lived up to the agreement to destroy the results and obviously the testing was not anonymous.

I am torn on this one. Part of me wants to know the results and all that tested positive dealt with, but I also see the frustration of the Union. They agreed to let the league test to determine the need for a policy and were assured that these results would never go public. Now the league seems to be slowly releasing names every so often. I am surprised the union has not filed a law suit but that would probably be a PR nightmare.

[brendan120678]

5. I'm shocked....

Not.

[metapunditedgy]

6. I think these drug test leaks are being used by the owners to bust the players' union.

No love lost between those groups.

It's a disgrace for baseball. If the owners really cared, they'd make all the tests public, random, and transparent. They help players to cheat the system for years and then use the tests to bust the players afterward.

No sympathy for the cheaters/players here, just making sure the team owners get their fair share of blame.

[Southpaw07]

8. I think you are correct

The results from the 2003 testing were supposed to be anonymous and destroyed but obviously were not. I find it odd that we hear about a few more every year or so. The players testing positive after the policy was instituted are identified and suspended right away, though.

[joeybee12]

9. The results were not destoryed, hence they were able to be seized as evidence

for the Bondds trial...I question the slow leaking...why only certain names being leaked?