Speaking of "playing fast and loose with the truth," the author wrote "David Ortiz's name was on a list of 104 players who failed a PED test in 2003, the same year he went from a marginal player approaching age 30 to launching the legend of Big Papi.
1. He was a very good hitter in 2000 and 2002, marginal and injured in 2001. The Twins let him go because they had Morneau, Ortiz was about to get expensive through arbitration, and he didn't mesh well with their (stupid and somewhat dated) organizational hitting philosophy.
2. I guess he was "approaching 30" the same way I am, at age 51, approaching 75. In 2003, he was 27, which is eons from 30 in a baseball player's career. I know it's only 3 seasons, but on average, those three season are the best three of a hitter's career.
Yep, late twenties is usually a ballplayer’s prime.
He was so bad in 2001 that he spent most of the year in AAA. He was a whole different guy when he came back: bigger and suddenly more of a power hitter.