David Ortiz: PED's or no PED's

I hate to ask this question, but I have to.

Its not because I am a Yankees fan. I respect, and even love, David Ortiz. Big Papi's love for the game and the fact that he is a fun-loving and genuine good guy, are what draws people to him.

But the question has to be asked. Bill Simmons, a love-all-that-is-Boston sports writer for ESPN wrote about ita couple of weeks ago. Simmons wants to believe that Ortiz is just older than he claims to be. Now, that is possible given the fact that Miguel Tejada lied about his age.

There is also the possibility that his wrist is not fully healed. That would not shock me, either. But let me ask the question that no one wants to seriously talk about: Did Big Papi take steroids?

Manny got busted not even a month ago for taking banned substances.

Seriously, you do not have that kind of production drop without having been on something. Ortiz was never a guy that was going to hit for average. But he went from hitting barely 20 home runs a year with the Twins to blasting 40 or more with the Red Sox.

Now he can't even hit a 89 MPH fastball. His batting average is .198 and has only two home runs. The second one was a barely-out-shot of short porch at Fenway.

MLB has started to crack down on PED's, and if you are cheating you are going to get caught. So, maybe Ortiz decided to get clean before he got caught.

It's a sad world when we think the worst without any type of proof. But thanks to Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Brian McNamme, and Jose Conseco, we do.