BOSTON -- Deadline Detroit's crack marketing research team asked 38,000 Boston fans for similarities between Tigers shortstop/left fielder Jhonny Peralta and David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and several other members of the 2004 world champion Red Sox. They all came up with the same answer. It may surprise you . . .
This is a phenomenon that takes place in pretty much every ballpark in every Major League city. Fans notice when their opponents have partaken in a performance enhancing drug regimen. Yet they seem blissfully ignorant of their own squad's transgressions.
The delicate sensibilities of the Red Sox faithful were shattered by news that Peralta tested positive was on a list of names of people who may or may not have purchased performance enhancing drugs from a Florida clinic. These cheaters are ruining the integrity of the game!
Boston, however, felt no such moral dilemma cheering for David Ortiz's grand slam a few innings later, even though the Mitchell Report said Ortiz was a juicer as well. I mean, come on, look at his numbers in Minnesota and look at his numbers in Boston. Are we really supposed to believe he went from just OK to elite hitter at age 27 because he figured some things out by magic?
You also don't see Boston ripping down their 2004 and 2007 World Series flags simply because several other key Red Sox players from that era (Ramirez, Trot Nixon, Jason Varitek, etc.) were believed to be juicing. When Red Sox cheat, apparently, it doesn't destroy the integrity of the game like Peralta's sins against the church of baseball.
Make no mistake, if the tables were turned and a recently suspended Red Sox was at the plate in Detroit, we'd be just as vocal with the steroid chant while basically accepting whatever our guys do or have done to get an edge.
We haven't seen hypocritical, stupid moralizing since a perpetually drunk Warren Harding backed prohibition.
Frankly, as a Tiger fan, if Peralta was using the Clear to hit .300 this season, he should add the Cream to his regimen. We need all the extra hitting we can get right now. Boston probably feels the same way about their guys.
Baseball fans everywhere, can we get over our fauxtrage over steroids and performance enhancing drugs? And maybe direct our energy to something constructive and which we can all agree on, like hating the Yankees.
