Projo Sports Blog

This is Major League Baseball in 2009: When a guy is having a really bad year, people speculate that he used to use steroids and got off of them. And when a guy is having a really good year, people speculate that the player has suddenly (after all these years) decided to start using steroids. In order not to be suspect, apparently, one has to do exactly what the fans expect that player to do.

I have no idea whether David Ortiz or Raul Ibanez ever used steroids. But I do know this: What has happened this year to each player gives me no more of an idea than I ever had about the guilt of either player. So Ortiz is having a really bad year? Well, he's in his mid-30s, which is exactly when players often began to dramatically decline before the steroid era. Remember George Scott, Jim Rice? What steroids have done to baseball is in many cases extend players' productive years -- enabling guys in some cases to hit more home runs in their mid- to late-30s than they had never hit before. That's the charge against Ibanez, which we'll get to soon.

If Ortiz had been using steroids, why would he have suddenly stopped now? Baseball toughened up its steroid policy a couple of years ago, did Ortiz only become spooked this season? And aren't there many substances that can still be taken without any fear of being caught by MLB? What we are seeing is a player who may be nearing the end of the road -- something that happens to all players, some sooner than others, and some more suddenly. It gives us absolutely zero indication of what David Ortiz may or may not have been doing in 2006.

Down in Philadelphia, Raul Ibanez is having the season of his life so far -- at age 37, he's second in the National League with 20 homers, after hitting 23 home runs all of last year, and 21 the year before that (he also hit 33 in 2006). Now he's finding himself responding to a blogger's speculation that he's on the juice.

In December, Raul Ibanez signed a three-year, $30-million contract to play for the Philadelphia Phillies. So the bloggers are charging that Ibanez began using steroids -- after getting all that money? Isn't getting paid the whole point of pumping up all those numbers? Or is Ibanez just suddenly hellbent on getting into the 300-home run club?

Just as I don't know whether or not Ortiz ever used steroids, I don't know whether or not Ibanez ever used them, or used them now. But I do know this: 12 of Ibanez's home runs this year have come at Citizens Bank Park (8), Great American Ballpark (2) and the new Yankee Stadium (2), all of which are ridiculous home-run parks. Four more came at Washington, against a pitching staff that has a 5.41 E.R.A. -- that's the worst in all of baseball. One has come at Coors Field, which used to be considered a great home-run park before they built those stadiums in Philly, Cincinnati and the Bronx. That's 17 out of 20 home runs.

Last year Ibanez played at Safeco Field in Seattle, one of the toughest home-run hitters' parks in baseball. So that seems like a logical explanation for a power surge. Unlike in the case of Ortiz, Ibanez's physical fitness has never been in question, so it stands to reason that he might remain a useful player at a later age. Yet Ibanez finds himself in the middle of a steroid controversy generated by someone who he has never met.

Baseball in 2009: Do well and you're a suspect, do poorly and you're a suspect.

 Tags  David Ortiz Raul Ibanez steroids

1 Comments

Gary Waltrich said:

Remember how Bonds *looked*? Sosa, McGwire, JGonzalez, Palmeiro? Heads the size of radial tires and necks thicker than their thighs?

Take a moment online today. Surf for pictures and *look* at Ibanez. *Look* at his chicken neck and Shaggy-like head.

Could it be that after years of being coached by losers in KC and Seattle, he finally has a coaching staff that's helped improve his game? Could it be that a bunch of games against the Nats have padded his stats? Could it be that playing in the Philly sandlot this year has turned a number of balls that would have been routine flyouts in the canyons in KC and Seattle into home runs?

If the guy flunks a drug test, I'll bury him. Until then, I'll trust my eyes.

Link | June 12, 2009 10:56 AM
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