Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
As a Boston Red Sox fan, I’m upset that the team lost on a blown save from Andrew Bailey to the Detroit Tigers last night.
I’ll be outraged though if it turns out that the player who hit the game winning home run off of Bailey, Jhonny Peralta, is found to be on steroids.
A few weeks ago, it was announced that Florida Biogensis Lab founder Anthony Bosch will be releasing a list of MLB players who have been receiving performance-enhancing drugs from his clinic. Among those listed were the usual suspects: Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, and Melky Cabrera. All were linked to steroids previously.
A name that didn’t make headlines though, was Peralta’s.
In 2012, Peralta hit .239 with 13 home runs and 63 RBIs in a complete season. By all accounts, he was done. Then magically, he has revived his MLB career in 2013. Now normally when a player rebounds, they do so modestly, but Peralta’s rebound season is nothing less than historic. His batting average has risen by 90 points to .329. He’s also on pace to better his power numbers significantly from last year.
It doesn’t take a genius to see that Peralta is likely juicing his face off this year. When Bosch’s list does go public and MLB suspends Peralta for 50 games, what will the restitution be for the Red Sox? They lost last night’s game to the Tigers 4-3 solely because of Peralta’s ninth inning home run.
If Peralta’s name ends up on Bosch’s list, the correct course of action for MLB to take is to forfeit the win for the Tigers and give the win to the Red Sox. Don’t forget that last year’s World Champion San Francisco Giants were powered to the playoffs by Cabrera. As long as teams benefit from steroid usage by their players, they will not go to great lengths to insure that their players are clean.
The Red Sox were kept out of the playoffs in 2011 by one win. With the expanded playoffs, the final playoff spot could easily come down to the final day. Every win matters, and the Tigers stole this one on the back of an alleged cheater.
Should the Tigers have to forfeit this win if Peralta is on Bosch’s list? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments to keep the conversation going.
Aidan Kearney also writes for his own blog aidanfromworcester.com. Follow him on Facebook @Aidan FromWorcester and on Twitter @aidanfromworc
