Red Sox: David Ortiz blames Yankees for leaked 2003 PED test
By Sean Penney
Retired Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz continues to defend his reputation against PED allegations that he blames the New York Yankees for.
David Ortiz may be retired from baseball but the Boston Red Sox icon’s crusade to defend his legacy will never rest.
The shadow of the steroid era lingers over every power hitter who thrived during that tainted period, casting doubt on certain players even in the absence of any hard evidence to warrant those suspicions. Ortiz is no exception, while scrutiny only intensified when his name was among those leaked to the New York Times in 2009, identifying him as one of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during a preliminary test in 2003.
Ortiz has remained steadfast in his insistence that he has never used PEDs and vowed to get to the bottom of this misinformed report. While Ortiz has yet to prove his innocence to a society that instinctively assumes every home run hitter from that era should be viewed with skepticism, he has come to a conclusion as to why his name was dragged into the mud.
It was those damn Yankees!
During an interview on the Dale & Holley show on WEEI, Ortiz accused the New York Yankees of leaking his name to the press.
"“What was the reason for them to come out with something like that?” he asked. “The only thing that I can think of, to be honest with you, a lot of big guys from the Yankees were being caught. And no one from Boston. This was just something that leaked out of New York, and they had zero explanation about it.”"
The Yankees have had more than their fair share of high profile names linked to steroids. Alex Rodriguez was also named in the Times report. While his inclusion indicated he allegedly failed a test in 2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers, A-Rod was with the Yankees at the time of the report and later served a suspension during his time in the Bronx. Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi are among the other former Yankees with strong ties to the PED scandal.