Big Papi (and what it means to a Jays fan)

In another time and place, there was a young reporter who knew "here it comes" when an editor peered at him and said, "Question for you ..."

Would that George Mitchell could be held to account. As Jason Rosenberg pointed out, the question for him is how is that the much-ballyhood Mitchell Report failed to make mention of David Ortiz and Manny Ramírez and it now it's alleged the Red Sox's erstwhile slugging tandem apparently testing positive for steroids? How could that be when Mitchell, the former U.S. Senate majority leader, is employed by the Red Sox. (You also know the same media outlet which broke this also owns a stake in that baseball franchise, right?)

That's about it. With respect to Ortiz, you can't convict based on an anonymous survey test, which is what it was in 2003.

Releasing all the names at once just to stop this slow drip is a no-go since there is that troublesome due process, although Rosenblog suggested, tongue-in-cheek, "(Commissioner Bud) Selig sells Fox the rights to the names that get released as part of a one-hour special."

People certainly do care. Ortiz is the top trending topic on Twitter at this moment, with the 3-4 slots occupied by "Manny Ramirez" and "Big Papi," just like Boston's batting order during their championship years (well, actually Ortiz hit third and Manny hit cleanup). It's just that they're not necessarily angry.

Really, though, everyone is compromised and anyone who says they are "done with baseball" due to steroids, well, in Bill Daly's phrasing, you have to question their bona fides as fans.

The schadenfreude of it all, speaking as a Blue Jays fan whose team which isn't the darling of the U.S. media, is that MLB's symbiotic relationship with ESPN and FOX Sports means there is less incentive to expose a Toronto player. It is far-fetched to think the Jays would not have someone among the 104 names.

In other words, praise Buddha the U.S. media is only interested in uncovering positive tests by players on big-market teams, with bonus points if the player is a visible minority.

It (turn on your sarcasm detector) means the Jays are safe since 2003 was their White Jays phase. They don't have anyone who put up big numbers in 2003 and has seen his stats fall down the side of a cliff like Ortiz did for the first part of this season. That doesn't sound like anyone on the Jays, least of all their starting centrefielder. Carry on.