Boston's slugging duo turns up dirty two rings later

by Sean Heffernan

The use of steroids taints everything baseball has achieved in recent history: The Sosa/McGwire home run race in 1998, Roger Clemens winning the CY Young in 2001, Barry Bonds hitting 73 the same year, Alex Rodriguez record breaking contract with the Yankees, and even the Boston Red Sox’s two World Series championships. When news broke that Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were on the supposed list of MLB players who tested positive for banned substances in 2003 no one was surprised. ...Ramirez and Ortiz joined the handful of others who have been made public leaving the majority of the list still unknown. Baseball needs to face its sins and just release the rest of the list and deal with consequences. You would think the players who've been clean their entire career would unite in anger over steroids, but that just hasn't been the case. I guess no likes a snitch. Still I think it’s better to deal with everything out in the open than having a few names trickle out every year. Baseball needs to bottom out before it can begin to rebuild itself again.

I hate to say it, but Jose Canseco has been pretty dead on. When you have such a large number of baseball players using steroids you would have to think that the league was aware of it and just turned a blind eye making millions upon millions. The steroid induced Sosa/McGwire race galvanized baseball after the 1994 strike. It made people care about baseball beyond their local teams. And it was a complete farce. Baseball fans were had. Gone are the larger than life ghosts of baseball past that our parents and grandparents talk about. Who will we talk about when we’re old? For today’s baseball fan, it’s not worth investing emotion in a star player when it seems the majority of them took steroids at one time or another. "The Steroids Era" will probably go down as the darkest period in the history of the game. Like those greedy souls who slowly pushed America’s economy over the falls, Major League Baseball soiled our country’s national pastime for the love of money. We’ve learned this decade, be it in our bank accounts or our sports sections, that capitalism if left to its own devise we’ll begin to eat at itself like a snake devouring its own tail. All that is left for baseball-loving Americans to cling to is their hopeful prayers that their team finds a way into October. Lord knows what the baseball Gods are thinking above.

Will the Northside and the Southside come alive?

The All-Star Break. No, not that 4-day set depriving us of action on the diamond. No, that 4-day set allowing us to take inventory on whether or not it's time to start looking to football season.

After the All-Star Break and a weekend series' worth of baseball, let's have a look at how each division is shaping up and who the big players are in each division...

Fighting out of the Windy City...

It's a rare occasion when Chicago's two baseball fan-bases can get excited about what lies ahead in August & September.

Fighting out of the blue corner, the Cubs look like a new team coming out for the dog days of summer. Did Rammy's coming off the DL mean that much? When did this turn of events happen? The team went from Ryan Dempster's broken toe and a "Oh, no, not again," to a four game winning streak out of the break? Everything about the Cubs organization is straight from Bizarro World.

Think about it like this: the Cubs next series are against the mightily struggling Phillies, the Dusty Baker led Reds, the Astros, and the hot/cold Marlins while the Cards take to the road against the Astros, one game against the Nationals, and the cream of the 1st half's crop Dodgers.

2 weeks ago this team was utterly depressing and just about out of it as the Taste of Chicago was taking over Grant Park. Now? This is the National League's most exciting prospect. A lot could happen here.

So typical Chicago... Cardinals win the Division. Cubs miss the Wild Card, but barely.

On the South Side, things are looking up--Jose Contreras' loss of control Sunday aside.

Alexei Ramirez, Konerko, Dye, Thome, Podsednik, and AJ are firing on all cylinders. And how bout them young guns? Gordon Beckham shows he's an everday player while Josh Fields' potential withers away on the bench; and Chris Getz is letting his bat catch up to his always impressive defense. The Sox are set on offense. The front office won't work to acquire anybody either: Carlos Quentin is coming back and he's going to show he's not just a one season fluke.

On the mound, Buerhle has been spot on all season (minus the misstep in Minnesota going into the All-Star Break), John Danks and Gavin Floyd have returned to form from last season's breakouts after a rough first month and a half. Clayton Richard is a growing concern, though. He's looked terrible for two solid months. After a self-reassignment to Triple-A, Jose Contreras is back. When he's on point, he's untouchable.

The only glaring concern that I can see lies in the bullpen. There's not one arm I'm comfortable with on that back end. Bobby Jenks almost gave away 2 games in the last month. Saturday's game to Batlimore (a 4-1 lead became a 4-3 win) and another to Minnesota (the only game the Sox won in that series). Scott Linebrink and Octavio Dotel aren't scaring anybody either. Matt Thornton's solid against left-handed hitting, but he's very hittable from the right side of the plate.

All that considered, though, it doesn't matter whether it's the bullpen or the starting rotation because Kenny Williams is already working. Do not be surprised if the White Sox are one of the teams that are offering final bids to the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay. Will Halladay end up a Good Guy? Probably not, but Kenny Williams is going to fight tooth and nail to be involved in that conversation.

The Sox are overtaking the Tigers before the month's over, winning the division, and headed to the playoffs. Mark it down.

The Powerhouse Division

The AL East.

Who's in: Boston (currently in first ahead of the Yankees by 1 game entering Monday), New York, and Tampa (4.5 games off the lead)

All signs point to Boston on this one. The starting pitching is endless. In fact, they have too much with Brad Penny dusting off his jersey once in a while. Big Papi's not back, but it's amazing what some eye drops can do for a portly Dominican. The rest of the lineup, excluding Varitek, is dirty. Theo Epstein seems to have an answer within the organization for everything. Julio Lugo, you suck? No, problem... enter Jed Lowrie and Nick Green.

The Yankees have too many questions in their bullpen and on the lower third of its lineup. Nick Swisher is hitting a miniscule .236, but, in fairness, does have an OBP around .370. Johnny Damon looks decrepit anytime he plays. A-Rod's gonna fade--again. And does anybody know how Mark Teixeira is going to hold up in August and September with the New York media begging him to throw somebody--ANYBODY--under the bus? I think he cracks. Tino Martinez he's not. (Sidebar: At Yankee Stadium on Sunday, I saw people wearing "Teixecutioner" t-shirts. Really? Too soon. I can't respect a play on a man's name to dub him a cold blooded killer when that man takes a bored billionaire's Twitter personally. Contribute in a win against Boston and post all the 75 character messages you like. Until then, you're just another Yankee free agent signing that hasn't contributed to one of those 26 championships. Live in the Now!)

So there's all that, and then there's the sidebar mentioned winless streak this season against Boston. If this keeps up, two or three most series against Boston and the Bronx Bombers quickly become Brown Bombers.

The Tampa Bay Rays are a different beast altogether. The team's youth has worked against it this year whereas last year it was its biggest asset. Not to worry though, the Rays will put it together and make it close in the weening weeks of September. And there's a team nobody's talking about in the running for the Roy Halladay Sweepstakes. Quick: name another team in the American League with more tradeable assets up and down the organization other than the Rays? You... in the back... Who just said the Royals. Leave the room and good day, sir. I Said Good Day, Sir!

Boston wins the division, Yanks miss the playoffs (GASP!), and so do the Rays.

The Sleeper Division

The AL West.

Mainly, it's The Sleeper Division because two-thirds of the country is sleeping by the time these games are played. But, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the AL West shifted the playoff balance and had 2 teams in the post-season this year.

Angels win the division, Rangers win the Wild Card.

Mark my words, Rangers in the playoffs. AND MORE JOSH HAMILTON STORIES! (Here's hoping for the Rays to really have a strong second half.)

Quadruple-A

The National League. Is there a less interesting half of a league in sports? Jeez this half of the big leagues is mediocre.

Wanna know what ends up happening here? Dodgers get to the World Series and lose 2 games in the process of the post-season. That's it.

Phillies win the NL East, but big deal. The Braves' biggest pitching weapon is "Small Game" Javy Lopez and the Mets have officially mailed it in. (Paging David Wright: You're still hitting above .325, your team is the most frustrating in baseball, and your new stadium has taken away 7 home runs according to the New York Post's approximations. Might be time to find a home that's not so... crackpot.)

Giants win the Wild Card, but that team is Divisional Round and done.

So hold off on all your NFL talk, Chicago. Neither Chi team will end up winning the World Series, or even a playoff series for that matter, but we've got plenty to watch from our summer boys come fall. Keep your Cubs and Sox hats firmly positioned on your heads and keep your Jay Cutler jerseys in the wrapping for a few weeks more.

An interesting theory has been floating around the blogoshpere for the past few weeks regarding Papi's recent struggles at the plate. Has the curse of The Bambino been replaced by the curse of the Papi Jersey? We can write "Papi Stinks" all we want, but age and lack of steroids aside, I would submit that the sports gods who temporarily smiled on Boston have moved on. ...

It began with Spygate and the Patriots' embarrassing 18-1 finish and was confirmed with the Celtics' early departure from the playoffs this season, but Papi's current woes put a stamp on the end of BeanTown supremacy. The cause? Simple. Saux fans got too cocky when they tried to bury an Ortiz jersey in the new Yankee stadium. New building or not, that place is still baseball's cathedral - and you don't fuck with the baseball gods. The hubris of Red Sox Nation is to blame for Ortiz's trouble at the plate and may have competed the downfall of the 21st century's evil empire.

Face it Boston: Papi's old and off the juice, Brady's more concerned with banging the hottest woman alive than winning Superbowls (and who could blame him?) and the C's belong in a retirement community. That stunt you pulled at The Stadium broke the bubble. Now all we can do is sit back and wait to see which city the fates smile upon next.

-WildBill