07/31: Damon: Sox' 2004 Title Not Tainted
Posted by: Seamus
Via Peter Abraham:
As much as I want to yell "Told you so!" to all my fellow Sox fan friends (it's true, I regret to admit there are some), I have to agree with Damon here. It would be unfair to try to take that title away from the players who were clean, especially considering most if not all of the teams they played against likely had players who were using PED's as well. I don't think there's any way we can point at the Sox and try to discredit them without acknowledging that the Yankees' championship teams of the 90's and in 2000 had players that were linked to 'roids as well, and I think that goes without saying. I'd imagine that goes for just about any team that's won a title in the last 20 years or so. And as Ken Davidoff rightly pointed out a few days ago, you can't discredit these guys without discrediting all the players who played before Jackie Robinson entered Major League Baseball. Numbers and championships have been tainted in one way or another almost since the game's inception, and they are what they are. We can't go back in time and say the games didn't happen.
Damon defended the 2004 Red Sox, saying the team was more than two players
"I know the '04 year was special and I know we could not have won without a bunch of the players we had there," he said. "David and Manny were great, but I had probably the best year of my career hitting in the clutch. We had Derek Lowe pitch well, Pedro (Martinez) pitch well, added (Curt) Schilling. I would have to see if there's more names and then I'd be able to comment on that."
"I know the '04 year was special and I know we could not have won without a bunch of the players we had there," he said. "David and Manny were great, but I had probably the best year of my career hitting in the clutch. We had Derek Lowe pitch well, Pedro (Martinez) pitch well, added (Curt) Schilling. I would have to see if there's more names and then I'd be able to comment on that."
As much as I want to yell "Told you so!" to all my fellow Sox fan friends (it's true, I regret to admit there are some), I have to agree with Damon here. It would be unfair to try to take that title away from the players who were clean, especially considering most if not all of the teams they played against likely had players who were using PED's as well. I don't think there's any way we can point at the Sox and try to discredit them without acknowledging that the Yankees' championship teams of the 90's and in 2000 had players that were linked to 'roids as well, and I think that goes without saying. I'd imagine that goes for just about any team that's won a title in the last 20 years or so. And as Ken Davidoff rightly pointed out a few days ago, you can't discredit these guys without discrediting all the players who played before Jackie Robinson entered Major League Baseball. Numbers and championships have been tainted in one way or another almost since the game's inception, and they are what they are. We can't go back in time and say the games didn't happen.
