Ortiz and steroids?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4385699

NEW YORK -- David Ortiz believes then-legal supplements and vitamins likely caused him to land on a 2003 list of alleged drug users seized by the federal government, and Major League Baseball and the players' association said some of the players on the list never tested positive for performance-enhancing substances.

MLB said in a statement Saturday that 96 urine samples, at most, tested positive in the 2003 survey -- and the players' association said 13 of those were in dispute.


I definitely was a little bit careless back in those days when I was buying supplements and vitamins over the counter -- legal supplements, legal vitamins over the counter -- but I never buy steroids or use steroids," Ortiz said during a news conference that began about 3½ hours before his Boston Red Sox played the New York Yankees.

"I never thought that buying supplements and vitamins, it was going to hurt anybody's feelings."

The New York Times reported last month that Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were on the 2003 list and said earlier that Sammy Sosa was on it. In February, Sports Illustrated reported Alex Rodriguez was on it, and Rodriguez later admitted he had used performance-enhancing substances from 2001 to 2003.


[+] EnlargeAP Photo/Frank Franklin II
Union general counsel Michael Weiner, left, said the MLBPA couldn't tell Ortiz if he had tested positive, only that he was on the 2003 list.
Ortiz said when he met with union lawyer Michael Weiner in 2004, he wasn't told he tested positive for steroids. Weiner, who has been designated to succeed union head Donald Fehr, said that because the list is under court seal, the union couldn't confirm to Ortiz that he tested positive, only that he was on the list.

"I want to apologize to fans for the distraction, my teammates, our manager," Ortiz said, flanked by Weiner, with Boston manager Terry Francona standing behind and to the side. "This past week has been a nightmare to me."

Some players past and present -- notably Hall of Famer Hank Aaron -- have called for the entire list to be released.

"Sure, there are some people who say 'Why don't we just get this story over with and get the list out?'" Weiner said. "I think to do that would one, be illegal, and two, be wrong. It's illegal because it's covered by court order, and it would be wrong because a promise was made by the commissioner's office and the union to every player who was tested in 2003 that the results would be anonymous."

Ortiz is against the list becoming public.

"I don't think that I would really like to see another player going through what I've been through this past week," he said.