Fast forward to the fourth of November and all of the chatter early on that you can’t buy a championship has quieted. Yes, the Yankees do have many home grown components on the roster but without the addition of the big three free agents there would not have been a 27th World championship won.

After a rash of busts that have gone through Yankee Stadium since the last championship in 2000, the organization was meticulous in doing their home work. They needed to address the starting rotation and did so in astonishing fashion, inking lefthander CC Sabathia and righty A. J. Burnett. With Jason Giambi’s albatross of a contract finally expired, the Yankees had a hole at first base.

At the 11th hour, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman swooped in and signed Mark Teixiera right under Boston’s nose. This completed the trifecta of big name additions and immediately put the Yankees as favorites to win it all.

They not only dominated the regular season by finishing with the best overall record but easily dismissed the Twins and Angels in the playoffs. They then defeated the defending champions in six games. The Phillies were a formidable opponent but it was men versus boys. Even the biggest Yankee hater has to tip his or her hat to them following the 7-3 clincher at the new Yankee Stadium.

It is quite amazing when you sit back and ponder that not only have the Yankees captured 27 titles but also 40 American League pennants since they moved from Baltimore back in 1903. The next two teams on the list are the St. Louis Cardinals with 10 World Series championships and the Athletics franchise (Philadelphia, Kansas City and Oakland) is next with nine.

Even the staunches Yankee hater has to tip his or her hat to them. Come to think of it, a bigger story this year would have been if they didn’t win it all.

NEW YORK YANKEES WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIPS

1923, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009

Photo by Bill Menzel

What almost seemed like a case of ‘turnabout is fair play,’ the chants of “you took steroids” that Jason Giambi and, more recently, Alex Rodriguez heard at Fenway Park were thrown back into the Red Sox’s faces. With the news of Manny Ramirez (the current Dodger and long time Red Sox outfielder) being suspended for a banned substance and now Ortiz being named as one of the 104 players who tested positive back in 2003, it has taken some of the sting away from the Yankees’ reputation of the team most likely to test positive.

When asked during the pre-game press conference if he anticipated a rough reception for Ortiz from the Yankee faithful, Boston manager Terry Francona said, “That won’t make or break my night how the fans are going to treat one of our players.”

Already having a sub-par season, Ortiz has slumped of late, especially after the word leaked out that he was another on the so-called ‘anonymous’ list. “I haven’t noticed him being any different thatn he has in the past,” Francona said, also noting that Ortiz hit a home run in the first game after the news broke but then went on a 1-for-14 slide. “I see him handling things very well, but I can’t see inside him.”

In the Yankees’ 13-6 win in the opener of a four-game set in the Bronx, Ortiz had a rough night, going 0-for-5. The fans made sure to get their voices up for him as he made his way to the batter’s box and even more so as the public address announcer called his name. The chant of ‘steroids’ could be clearly heard from the press box, especially coming down from the upper deck.

Ortiz would not exactly have been getting any sort of cheer from this crowd, but the venom that spewed from the charged-up Yankee fans – who finally could enjoy a win over Boston after eight consecutive losses to their nemesis to start the season – was especially harsh on this night.

DAVID ORTIZ – 2009 STATS (not including 8/6/09)

Games – 89; At-Bats – 356; Runs – 42; Hits – 80; Doubles – 23; Triples – 1; Home Runs – 15; RBI – 61; Total Bases – 150; Walks – 44; Strike Outs – 89; Stolen Bases – 0; Caught Stealing – 2; On Base Pct. – .312; Slugging Pct. – .412, Batting Averge – .225

Photo by Bill Menzel

MuscleSport Mag has reached out to RotoInfo and is awaiting a response. The main question on everyone’s mind is who was the original source. None of the names will shock you and many of them appeared in the Mitchell Report.

There does not appear to be any significance in the order of the names, either. It is not listed alphabetically or by position, so it appears to be a general list. The accuracy of it remains to be seen. While it seems inevitable that this list will become publicized at some time, we will not know for sure until then if the one on RotoInfo was truthful or not.

David Ortiz, who has come under scrutiny during his prolonged slump to start the season, was on this list, as was Manny Ramirez, his former teammate who is currently serving a 50-game suspension for a banned substance.

Roger Clemens, Raphael Palmiero and Sammy Sosa appear, and they may have to answer perjury charges for their subsequent denials under oath if this is in fact true. Alex Rodriguez’s name appears, which had already been reported.

The list actually contains only 103 names and does not include Jason Grimsley, who tested positive that same year according to court records. That may account for the difference of one and something that we will look to clarify if a response to our request is received.

Here are the names as reported by RotoInfo:

Source: http://rotoinfo.com/read_article.php?articleId=318

Photo by Bill Menzel

The Yankees declining Jason Giambi’s 2009 option came as no surprise, but the fact that he may end up back in Oakland can be viewed as a mild one. The slugging first baseman’s former guru with the Athletics and Yanks, Bob Alejo, has been brought back by the A’s as director of strength and conditioning. Can this spell the return of the former American League MVP?

Giambi’s relationship with Alejo goes back to 1993 and after he was banned from the Bronx Bombers’ clubhouse in 2005, Giambi could not have been thrilled. Rekindling that relationship has to have some value to Giambi, who paid Alejo $125,000 (including a 401(k) plan) to leave his position as Oakland’s strength and conditioning coach in 2002 to become his personal trainer.

Giambi had a different look and attitude when he was in Oakland, and was known for his long hair and goatee as much as his tattooed biceps. In New York, he conformed to the clean-cut style that the Yankees demand, but did grow a pretty nice sized mustache last summer.

Although many view his tenure in the Bronx as a failure, Giambi did hit at least 30 home runs and drive in over 80 runs in five of the seven seasons in which he played in 100 games or more. he turned 37 last season and hit .247 with 32 long balls and 96 RBI.

Currently at the ‘gateway’ position, the A’s have Daric Barton (.226, 9, 47) and Jack Hannahan (.218, 9, 47). That’s not a typo or misprint – both guys had the same power production. At DH, the A’s have Frank Thomas and Jack Cust, so if they do sign Giambi, it would be as a first baseman.

Perusing the telephone book commonly known as ‘The Mitchell Report,’ it is hard to say if the baseball players that allegedly used performance-enhancing drugs benefited or not. Going by the raw numbers, some did and some didn’t.

Now keep in mind that the report included only the time frame that there was some type of allegation and/or documentation when these players began using. They could have been on the juice long before that, as well. Take Jason Giambi, for instance. He is one of the BALCO boys and has already publicly apologized (still not exactly sure what he was trying to say that day, but at least he appeared as if his conscious was bothering him). His section in the report has 2001 as when he was first reportedly taking the stuff, a year in which he hit .342 for the Oakland A’s, with 38 home runs and 120 RBI. But if you are believing that this was Giambi’s first dabble into steroids, the prior year should have been lighter, huh? Well…not exactly. In 2000, he went .333/43/137.

Then there is a player such as the Mets’ Todd Hundley, who increased his power numbers by 26 dingers and 60 ribbies in 1996. At the time, he broke the record for homers by a catcher with 41. And how do you explain David Justice? He actually did worse when he allegedly was using, hitting .333/18/51 in 2000 after exploding for .377/41/118 a year before.

Roger Clemens, while pitching in Toronto, had nearly identical production (20-6, 4.61 ERA in 2001 vs. 21-7, 4.53 ERA in 2000) in his comparison seasons. At the end of the day, a whole lot told us very little, other than there was an abundance of major league baseball players using PEDs and probably not training or dieting correctly. That is probably the biggest reason why their stats didn’t ‘jump off the page’ across the board.