Shots in the Dark

He sat again as the Sox beat Seattle, 5-3.

Meanwhile, a commenter below says that I am “the only person in America pushing the Ortiz-steroids story,” which this commenter calls “confirmation of Ortiz’s innocence.”

Hmmmm.

And in today’s Globe, Nick Carfano writes about Otiz’s power struggles and gently mentions the subject of steroids, which for the Globe is practically a full-page ad accusing Ortiz of steroid use.

In this day and age, the question of steroid use is asked about great producers who suddenly falter. Ortiz has vehemently denied that he was ever on anything, even though he had an association with Angel Presinal, the Dominican personal trainer banned from major league clubhouses because he was suspected of distributing steroids to Dominican players.

In fact, it’s not entirely true that Ortiz has “vehemently denied that he was ever on anything.”

As the Boston Herald reported a couple years ago, Ortiz admitted that he wasn’t sure if he’d ever taken steroids.

“I tell you, I don’t know too much about steroids, but I started listening about steroids when they started to bring that (expletive) up, and I started realizing and getting to know a little bit about it,” Ortiz said Sunday. “You’ve got to be careful. . . . I used to buy a protein shake in my country. I don’t do that any more because they don’t have the approval for that here, so I know that, so I’m off of buying things at the GNC back in the Dominican (Republic). But it can happen anytime, it can happen. I don’t know. I don’t know if I drank something in my youth, not knowing it.”

In baseball today, that’s tantamount to a confession—and a preemptive excuse. If I’ve ever failed a drug test, it’s because of those darn protein shakes!

(In fairness, Ortiz got ticked off about the Herald story, but in a kind of protest-too-much way.)

Red Sox fans might think less of me for pushing this theory—and trust me, I like Ortiz as much as it’s possible for a Yankee fan to like a Red Sox—but here’s why they shouldn’t: Baseball teams have to come to terms with the steroid use in their past before they can really move on; the karma catches up to you, just as it has with David Ortiz now.

The Yankees have gone through a lot of pain in dealing with their steroid use, from Jason Giambi to Andy Pettitte to Roger Clemens to A-Rod. They haven’t really dealt with it very well—a clumsy process of half-truths, bogus denials, aw-shucks caveats, and vague apologies. But at least the air has been somewhat cleared.

(By the way, the one player who, if it were found he took steroids, would really devastate New York: Derek Jeter. It’s one of the reasons we love him so. You just can’t imagine Jeter juicing.)

The Sox haven’t gone through this process, and it will be harder for them to do, as it’s probably the case that the team’s two World Series wins this decade are tainted, whereas (by Yankee standards) New York hasn’t had any success this decade.

As an ESPN columnist puts it,

The Nation has grown silent, perhaps resigned that all of it — yes, even the great glories of 2004, the comebacks, the Yankees series, Ramirez as the MVP of the World Series — might have been a steroids-related sham.

Here’s a proposition: While the Red Sox’s steroid use seems to have helped the team, the Yankees’ steroid users hurt New York. (Two words: Kevin Brown.)

Discuss.

But the truth will out sooner or later, and it’s best to get in front of it.

Meanwhile, the Yankees won a thriller yesterday, beating Minnesota 6-4 in 11 innings. Joba pitched well, Mark Texeira went 4-4 with a walk, and A-Rod hit a rocket walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th. He looked ecstatic as he ran the bases, actually tossing his batting helmet in joy. Nice to see A-Rod doing something that didn’t look entirely rehearsed. It would be terrific if he responded to all the crap he’s gone through in the past year by putting together a great season.

That’s the debate happening now. Pretty interesting. Dan Duquette doesn’t exactly deny it….

Ortiz was benched last night. But here’s how Mike Lowell explained Ortiz’s lack of production:

“I think we all still have a lot of confidence in David. I don’t buy the bat speed’s slow, I don’t believe in four months you lose bat speed. I don’t buy the Manny[Ramírez] deal. I just think he’s maybe not seeing the ball well.”

“I don’t buy the Manny Ramirez deal?”

That is the closest I’ve seen anyone in a Boston newspaper come to raising the question of steroid use.

(Then again, Lowell might mean that without Manny in the lineup, Ortiz doesn’t see as many good pitches to hit. It’s probably that.)

Meanwhile, the Sox lost another one-run game last night, another game in which a productive Ortiz could have made a difference. Another big problem for the Sox: Their pitching is uncharacteristically lousy.

Also: The Globe offers man-on-the-street advice to Ortiz. It’s not very good. The real concern? Ortiz will grow so desperate, he’ll get back on the juice…and fail a drug test!

(I jest, but not entirely.)

It strikes me that it’d actually be a pretty interesting newspaper story to look at the statistics and physical routines of players who have admitted to using or are thought to have used steroids. How does the body change back once the drugs are gone? Is it the same as pre-steroids, or worse? How much of a productivity drop can players expect? And is there any precedent for a player just crashing and burning, like Ortiz—someone for whom steroids made not just a marginal or major difference, but all the difference?

Sportswriters, you are welcome to run with that.

The Yanks, who are actually starting to play like a good team, beat Minnesota 5-4. Rookie Brett Gardner had a single, a triple, and an inside-the-park home run. Johnny Damon didn’t get an extra-base hit; he was thrown out of the game after arguing a third-strike call, the second one he’d received in the game’s first three innings.

I saw the replays; Damon was right both times. The pitches weren’t even close. Irritating when umpires don’t have the grace to admit they’re wrong, which this one could have done by letting Damon argue a bit, rather than ejecting him.

Here’s a little Friday levity: A colleague sent me this piece about New Zealand hosting a penguin sports tournament. At first, my animal rights radar went off. But, well, once you watch the video….

Or to a Yale secret society, anyway. Here are the pics.

Larger sections. Fewer TAs TFs. This one hurts.

So…I have an idea for how the university could save money and improve the educational experience at the same time. It’s pretty radical, so brace yourselves:

Harvard could require professors to teach undergraduate sections.

No-brainer, right? Better education for the students, and you save a bunch of money. And you create a sense of, hey, we’re all in this together. In tough times, everyone chips in.

In other words, to paraphrase Rahm Emanuel, Harvard shouldn’t let this opportunity go unexploited. In a crisis, professors will find it hard to say no to this change. (If they do, start talking layoffs.)

And in this way, you effect a paradigm shift in one of the great weaknesses of Harvard College. When the crisis is over, the cultural change stays: Professors teach sections.

Dollars to donuts it’ll never happen…

As the Globe headline puts it, yesterday was “a new low” for Ortiz, who went 0 for 7 and stranded 12 men.

And how’s this for a Freudian slip [emphasis added] from Globe reporter Adam Kilgore:

Ortiz, for several seasons and countless playoff games, has injected Red Sox games with drama and fans with elation…..

Or is Kilgore actually trying to tell us something?

The Angels won, 5-4, so Ortiz pretty much cost the Sox the game. Which is a good thing in general, but even better when the Yankees win, as they did yesterday, beating Toronto 3-2. CC Sabathia went eight and gave up two runs, after pitching a complete game shutout his last start. It’s starting to come together for him.

The Yankees are back at .500 and have won their last two series, which is, I think, a first for the season. Johnny Damon was 1-4 with a double, the tenth straight game in which he’s hit an extra base hit…

“At the meeting, I was attempting to explain that unlike Sen. Schumer, I believe in traditional values, like we used to see on ‘The Andy Griffith Show. I made the mistake of referring to Sen. Schumer as ‘that Jew’ and I should not have put it that way as this took away from what I was trying to say.”

—Arkansas Republican senate candidate Kim Hendren explaining how he really feels about New York senator Chuck Schumer.

Ah—the old “I don’t use a Teleprompter” excuse….

Speaking to the Arkansas Gazette, Hendren clarified his remarks.

“I don’t have any issue with Jews or Jewish people or whatever the politically correct term they wish to be identified as,” he said. “I very much respect Senator Joe Lieberman.”

Or whatever the politically correct name he wants to call himself is…..

After 34 games, still no homers. He was 1-4 last night with a single and no RBIs, but his average actually improved to .220.

Also! Dustin Pedroia homered in his first at-bat of the season, but not in 127 at-bats since. A great player, but for a right-handed hitter to have just one home run playing in Fenway Park—that’s weird.

Hmmmm…..

The Yanks won a solid one last night, beating the Jays 8-2. Since I am giving Ortiz a hard time, I should in fairness mention that Mark Texeira’s two hits brought his average up to a whopping .202. Yankee rookie Brett Gardner hit his first career home run, which gives him one more this season than…David Ortiz.

Meanwhile, one of the Yanks’ more interesting stories this season is Johnny Damon, who is hitting like he was back in 2004. He has eight more home runs than David Ortiz—at this rate, Ortiz will catch up to him…never!—his average is .323, and his OBP of .392 and slugging percentage of .630 are the highest of his career (the latter by far).

He’ll never keep this up, but it’s been fun to watch, and it’s helped, slightly, to compensate for injuries to Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, A-Rod and Hideki Matsui, and a glacial start for Mark Texeira.

They look kind of nice, actually. Assuming that you like that Gothic look—there’s no Eero Saarinen here.

Meanwhile—and I’m not teasing—will Harvard ever be able to afford to renovate its declining houses?

It has been 25 years since Harvard embarked on a renovation of the Houses, and they show their age. Perennial overcrowding concerns and complaints about malfunctioning facilities were brought to the fore this year when Winthrop House ended the de facto practice of promising singles to seniors and, later, when basements in that house flooded with human waste and sewage. Add these to a laundry list of complaints about the River Houses–everything from inoperable faucets and dysfunctional heaters to overflowing toilets, leaks, and massive cockroach infestations.

After all, they can’t even serve hot food in the current houses….

(Blogger’s prediction: Harvard will get so much bad press over the ketchup-is-a-vegetable cut—who will be the first undergraduate, face smudged with dirt and tears, to ask a soon-to-be-laid-off worker, “Please, sir, I want some more?“—that it will restore hot breakfasts.)