Disappointment
by Mike
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posted Jul 31 2009 8:01AM
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It's the overall feeling. It's what hit my gut when I read the New York Times article reporting that the Red Sox most clutch hitter tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003. I hate to use this often invoked classic, but....say it ain't so. It's hard to swallow the fact that David Ortiz will be included with notorious assholes like Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and to some extent, Roger Clemens and Jose Conseco(who is laughing the hardy validation laugh right now and will be for some time) and Manny Ramirez. Big Papi never slapped the ball out of someone's glove running to first or whored it up with strippers and that harbor for schlong known as Madonna.(A-Rod) Never wasted a great career by hitting the juice and being arrogant about it(Bonds, Sosa) Never acted like a complete asshole(Clemens) never held his team hostage(Ramirez). He's Big Papi, lovable gentle Giant that makes salsa and never says boo to anyone. All those clutch hits during the 2004 season, the amazing 54 HR's and 137 RBI's in 2006. That hit in game 4 aginst the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS that sent the winning run home.....I'm tearing up as I remember all this. There's no crying in Baseball.
Disappointment.
Like when you found out wrestling was fake. There is no Santa Clause. Milli Vanilli was lip syncing. It hurts to me because I hold professional athletes to a standard of physical excellence. The wonder of a player being able to set a  record on athleticism and grit alone. Being inspired by teammates, fans, and the urgency of the moment. Being in the zone. Yes, I'm an idealist. To me Baseball is an escape for a few hours from reality. Now some of my heroes are acting like elected officials. Now we have to take all that bullshit from obnoxious Yankees fans. Even THEY couldn't win a World series on steroids...that doesn't really help. It especially hurts because of the bold stements he made during spring training this year, saying that anyone caught using PED's should be banned for the season. How could a guy who is alleged to use PED's say something so audacious?
Disappointment.
I would like to think good players felt compelled to use PED's lest they get left behind by those cheaters using them. Fear of losing their spot and years of hard work to a guy who is taking the big short cut. That they really didn't know what they were taking. That protien shake contained banned elements uknown to the consumer. That doesn't work for me either. Please just release the infamous "list". Let's get it out of the way so Baseball can move to the next era. I hope whoever is slowly leaking these names from these "Sealed" documents is using that money to feed the hungry.
I'll still root for Papi when he steps up to the plate. I'll just have to add a * to my rooting.
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