"Lot of big guys from the Yankees were being caught and no one from Boston" - HOFer David Ortiz once condemned New York Times for linking his name to the MLB 2009 PED scandal, hinting at regional bias

Former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz once hit out at The New York Times after his name was embroiled in the 2009 MLB PED scandal.

In an interview with WEEI, Ortiz admitted that he was stunned after a report published his name on a confidential list of 104 players:

"What happened in 2009, when they threw my name out there. I always sit down and think about what was the reason for them to come out with something like that? The only thing that I can think of, a lot of the guys from the Yankees were getting caught."

Ortiz said that the act was a way of diverting the public's attention:

"No one from Boston. Who was the big guy in Boston? It was me. A newspaper coming out of New York with that news, I guess they were just trying to do what they did — call the attention somewhere else."

David Ortiz was inducted into the Hall of Fame earlier this year after a glittering career with the Boston Red Sox.

The Hall of Famer added that he was careless with buying legal supplements and vitamins at the start of his career, but always stayed away from steroid use. The 2009 scandal saw MLB suspend 13 players, including New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez.

David Ortiz weighs in on recent suspension of Fernando Tatis Jr.

San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. was handed a 80-game ban after testing positive for Clostebol, a prohibited substance, in August this year. David Ortiz weighed in on the news of the young star's ban:

"MLB needs to have some regulations before they made public news like the one that happened to Tatis Jr. I think they haven’t handled this situation the right way. We can’t kill our product, we're talking about an amazing player."

The comments were not taken too kindly, with many suggesting that Ortiz was supporting a better system to avoid leaking information to the media. Tatis Jr. accepted his suspension and apologized for his actions, but will only be able to make a return in mid-2023.

Steroid scandals have been a huge burden for the league since the start of the 21st century. However, now with stricter drug policies and doping agencies, baseball has managed to eradicate this wrongdoing on a larger scale over the past few years.