Sports Redux: Tainted Love

Is it?

Do we have to reexamine every shred of love and happiness that David Ortiz has brought us over the last six years? (We're assuming we've all already been through this with Manny here.) Is yesterday's revelation enough to make us want to throw it all away? Do we say, screw it, our cheating team beat their cheating team[s]? Or do we cling to the fact that the accusation is vague enough that we don't have to decide yet?

Dan Shaughnessy (sit down for this shocking news) thinks he's a liar. Bob Ryan says you can't trust these Caribbean types. Gerry Callahan says basically the same thing. Bruce at BSMW has a complete list if reading more clucking and scolding from the local press is really what you're up for today.

Inside the clubhouse, there was a lot less clucking and scolding. "The organization supports him. His teammates support him," said Theo Epstein. "I don't feel bad about winning the World Series, and I'm not going to give any of the rings back," said Mike Lowell. The man in the spotlight himself said he felt "blindsided" by the news, adding, "I will not hide and I will not make excuses...I'm going to get to the bottom of this." You may remember this spring, when Papi said that anyone using steroids should be suspended for a year. That isn't something somebody would say if they knew they were covering up...not somebody smart, anyway. It wasn't Manny, remember.

We're not going to try to tell you how you feel. We'll just note that San Francisco fans came to terms with this long ago when it came to Barry Bonds. Ditto for St. Louis fans and McGwire, Chicago fans and Sosa, and even New York fans with Clemens, Pettitte, Sheffield, Giambi, and A-Rod. And it's probably best to wait for all the dust to settle, and to find out exactly what it is Papi did and when he did it, before erecting the gallows just yet. And by the way, baseball, can we just finally see the whole list? We can take it. It will be easier than doling out a couple names at a time through the media.

As long as we're dealing with difficulty in rooting for certain guys, we should probably note that there are rumors heating up that the Patriots might be after Michael Vick, who you may recall just got out of jail for organizing dogfights. We're not sure how to interpret Bill Belichick's cryptic comments, but please don't, Patriots.

Back to baseball, where the distractions didn't keep Ortiz from hitting a 3-run homer to beat Oakland and salvage a series split and an over-.500 homestand against two of the worst teams in the American League. You can get excited about that if you want.

Photo by Elise Amendola/Associated Press.