David Ortiz Dismisses Steroid Suspicion, Says He Belongs in Hall of Fame - East Idaho News
News

David Ortiz Dismisses Steroid Suspicion, Says He Belongs in Hall of Fame

  Published at

11 5 12%20Ortiz%20A?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1427464097862G. Fiume/Getty Images(FORT MYERS, Fla.) — Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz still believes he is a future Hall of Famer, despite testing positive for a banned substance by the MLB.

“Let me tell you something. Say whatever you want about me — love me, hate me. But I’m no bulls——. I never knowingly took any steroids,” Ortiz wrote on The Players’ Tribune website. “If I tested positive for anything, it was for something in pills I bought at the damn mall. If you think that ruins everything I have done in this game, there is nothing I can say to convince you different.”

“In some people’s minds, I will always be considered a cheater,” Ortiz continued. “And that’s bulls—. Mark my words: Nobody in MLB history has been tested for PEDs more than me. You know how many times I’ve been tested since 2004? More than 80.”

“They say these tests are random. If it’s really random, I should start playing the damn lottery. Some people still think the testing is a joke. It’s no joke,” he clarified. “Ten times a season these guys come into the clubhouse or my home with their briefcases. I have never failed a single one of those tests and I never will.'”

Ortiz was one of the players listed in the Mitchell report that was released in 2007 and has been under the microscope since then.

“Some people still look at me like I’m a cheater because my name was on a list of players who got flagged for PEDs in 2003,” Ortiz wrote. “Let me tell you something about that test. Most guys were taking over-the-counter supplements then. Most guys are still taking over-the-counter supplements. If it’s legal, ballplayers take it. Why? Because if you make it to the World Series, you play 180 games. Really think about that for a second. One-hundred-and-eighty games.”

“Your kids could be sick, your wife could be yelling at you, your dad could be dying — nobody cares. Nobody cares if you have a bone bruise in your wrist or if you have a pulled groin. You’re an entertainer. The people want to see you hit a 95-mile-an-hour fastball over a damn 37-foot wall,” he explained.

The nine-time All-Star has .285 batting average with 466 career home runs in his career and believes he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

“Hell yes I deserve to be in the Hall of Fame,” Ortiz wrote. “I’ve won three World Series since MLB introduced comprehensive drug testing. I’ve performed year after year after year. But if a bunch of writers who have never swung a bat want to tell me it’s all for nothing, OK. Why do they write my legacy?”


Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

SUBMIT A CORRECTION