Bob Nightengale is apparently a fan of the “red” flavored
Kool-Aid that is being passed around by Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz
because with his latest piece for the USA Today he went way off course.
Nightengale didn’t beat around the bush in his article, SEEN HERE, either he
got straight to the point making his case for Ortiz to be sent to Cooperstown,
New York four years after his playing career is over. His opinion is his
opinion and I respect him for it but sometimes a writer tends to dig his own
hole, jump in it and begin to cover himself without even knowing it and
Nightengale did just that in my opinion with this piece.
Here is a direct quote from the linked article above:
The man has 498 home runs, just two shy of the magical 500 mark that gains automatic entrance into the Hall of Fame, with the exception of those who have been caught, or linked to performance-enhancing drugs.
“With the exception of those who have been caught or linked
to performance-enhancing drugs.” Oh you mean like the Mitchell Report in 2007
that showed Ortiz had a failed drug test? That same Mitchell Report that is
keeping Roger Clemens, Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and
will likely keep Gary Sheffield out of the Hall of Fame this season despite him
hitting that “magical 500 mark that gains automatic entrance into the Hall of
Fame?”
Bob, you can talk about the decline in home run hitting
since drug testing was implemented and you can mention that Ortiz was not
mentioned in either the BALCO scandal or the Biogenesis clinic fallout but that
does not and should not erase his failed drug test from back in 2003, whether
he bought “the damn pills from the mall” or not. His postseason resume means
squat unless you’re willing to look past Andy Pettitte’s HGH use and willing to
consider him for the Hall based on his playing career and postseason stats, but
they won’t. You respect Ortiz, and so do I as a player, but he’s not in the
Hall of Fame unless everyone is in the Hall of Fame. Bottom line. You’re better
than that.
