Daily Zoot - 6/8/09 - Zoot Papi

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-Am I really going to be the one that has to say this? Why hasn't anybody who gets paid to do this kind of thing said this already; so that I, somebody who does this hard-hitting sports journalism thing (don't laugh) for fun has to do it? Why do I have to be the first one to acknowledge that David Ortiz was on steroids up until the last two seasons? 

In the 5 years before the 2008 season, his first five in Bean Town, Papi hit 208 home runs. Last year he was plagued by injuries, and this season, despite claiming to be fully healthy, has hit a remarkable (and not in a good way, but in a, "well I'm forced to remark on this" kinda way) 2 home runs, in 198 at-bats. 

Papi dodged a lot of the steroid questions because his body type is not consistent with those who traditionally get caught up in those type of allegations. Its easy to question guys like Marky-Mark and A-Rod (What the hell is that picture by the way? I'm starting to think that he's just asking for it at this point) whose arms look like thighs. But a guy like Papi can fly under the radar because when he rounds third base on his home-run trot he starts to run out of breath. He's not a very good athlete (as a 1st baseman, he makes an excellent DH) and because of that nobody ever questioned him. But if you take HGH, and don't work out, thats what happens. You can get stronger, but at the same time, you don't get cut. It's like spending a lot of time reading about something nobody cares about; yeah you get smarter, but its not really in a way that people can recognize. 

He's only 33, so he should still have a few years left of power. Now the alternative (and don't get it twisted; this is what I am rooting/hoping for) is that without steroids, this is actually what happens to a player; but because everyone else has been taking them, our perception of the length of a players prime has been distorted. That would be great for Papi, but would be terrible for everyone else; so I'm not really sure which is the better option. All I'm saying is that the circumstances, and the time-frame certainly make it a possibility, and his lack of power recently is too glaring not to ask any questions at all.