NY Times Reports Manny & Big Papi Tested Positive For Steroids in '03

According to The New York Times, both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz tested positive for steroids in 2003 when Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association engaged in anonymous drug testing.

They are allegedly on the same list of 104 players that also included Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa.

The presence of Manny on the list is not a bombshell given that he tested positive for HGH earlier this season was suspended for 50 games. But this is the first time David Ortiz has been linked to steroids. It is worth noting that Ortiz's career took off during the 2003 season.

So needless to say Yankees fans will chant "Steroids!!! Steroids!!!" the next time Big Papi bats at Yankee Stadium in the same way Red Sox fans chanted "Steroids!!! Steroids!!!" at A-Rod during the Yankees last visit to Fenway Park.

Speaking of Fenway, one wonders what the reaction Ortiz will receive when he steps up to the plate during this afternoon's game against the Oakland Athletics. For his part Ortiz has said, "I'm not talking about that anymore. I have no comment."

I think all of this is very unfair to Ortiz. Of course, Yankees fans are chiming in, "Yeah, you're a Red Sox fan." Well, I thought this was unfair to A-Rod as well and said so when the story broke last February.

MLB and the MLBPA did this testing which was to be kept anonymous. This list was supposed be destroyed but was seized by the federal government. The MLBPA has taken the feds to court over this matter. Little by little the names of players are being released. It violates both the letter and spirit of the agreement under which the testing was done. Either keep it confidential or make it public. Right now we have a situation where it is OK to violate the privacy of some elite players but are prepared to respect the privacy of others until they want to grab some more headlines. Privacy belongs to all of us and this is something about which Red Sox and Yankees fans ought to agree.