David Ortiz was the most valuable player for the Red Sox in the 2004 American League Championship Series. Manny Ramirez was the M.V.P. of the World Series. Both on Thursday were revealed to have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, and guilt by association may stick to that merry band of self-described idiots.
“I’m sure that’s what people are saying,” Damon said. “When and if that list comes out, I’ll be able to determine what that championship means to me.”
Damon now bats behind Derek Jeter, a cornerstone of Yankees championship teams that also included players said to have used performance-enhancing drugs. If any fans naïvely believe their teams were pure while the Yankees were tainted, Thursday brought a new reality.
“I’m pretty sure this wasn’t the only organization that had somebody doing it, you know?” Jeter said. “What does that mean?”
Perhaps it means that if an asterisk sticks to one group of champions, it could also apply to all. And if every great team of an era has an asterisk, what is the point of the asterisk, anyway?
