David Ortiz Proves Lying About Performance Enhancers Never Pays Off

The process has become an assembly line of destruction, crafted out of naivety and fear.

Time after time we've seen them fall, like a bad movie that keeps coming out with sequels. Mark McGwire. Sammy Sosa. Rafael Palmeiro. Barry Bonds. (The list could go on.) Each pledged their absolute innocence. Each were found guilty.

Lying solves nothing. It just delays the inevitable.

Spiritual books like the Bible ensure your sins will be revealed. David Ortiz knows this all too well.

In case you've been living under a rock this month, Ortiz's name turned up on the infamous list of performance-enhancing users of 2003.

Surprise. Surprise.

It's like finding out Santa Claus isn't real (apologies to all readers nine and younger). Or that the Easter Bunny doesn't leave behind eggs. (... Wait, the rabbit isn't real either?) Could anything have caught us less off guard than David Ortiz testing positive for steroids? Helio Castroneves has a better chance of proving he pays taxes. (Oh, that one actually did turn out true ... allegedly.)

Thing is, it would've been bad enough had Ortiz simply been found guilty. The worst part of this whole deal is the extensive effort he took to separate his name from performance enhancing allegations.

Ortiz denied any wrongdoing as adamantly as former Giants slugger Barry Bonds did on his way to being indicted on perjury charges. He shouted his innocence like Rafael Palmeiro wagging his index finger at Congress. He even encouraged more rigorous testing

It sounded good. Ortiz built himself up, presenting a believable case. But the higher you're built up, the harder you fall.

Be sure your sins will find you out.

Numbers are the ultimate lie detector in sports. They can prove one player is better than the other. They can confirm an athlete's hall of fame status. But they can also expose a cheater.

Take Ortiz's in 2006 as an example. He was 30 that season, a year in which he hit a career-high 54 home runs. Three years before, at the age of 27, Ortiz had what was then a career-high 31 home runs. Two years later, at the age of 32, his total fell off to 23. His RBI totals peaked the same way.

Hmmm. Can anybody say "power surge"?

The point is, we should've seen this coming. Ortiz knew it was a matter of time. Why tell the public a lie when you know it's going to catch up to you?

A professional athlete knows what he puts in his body, right down to the number of calories in his pre-game meal. A baseball player I today's game realizes which substances are legal and which are banned. If he doesn't, he deserves to be suspended or publicly embarrassed on a count of negligence.

If you take steroids, just admit it. Not saying the media won't criminalize you. So what if you break the hearts of the majority of your fan base. You're a whole lot better off than becoming a joke.

To anybody who watched or heard Ortiz's brief interview after his name was revealed on the infamous 2003 list, that's exactly what Ortiz is - a joke. A week later, Ortiz said he doesn't know what substance prompted his failed test in 2003. Ortiz swore never took steroids.

He needs us to believe he's telling the truth. We want to believe he's trustworthy.

It's just too damn hard when we already know how this movie ends.