Green: No asterisk necessary

With David Ortiz being the latest baseball hero to fall victim to the Performance Enhancing Drugs scandal, the notion that the Red Sox' championship run was aided by cheaters and is now tainted is something that has been tossed around.

While the Red Sox and their issues may not matter to anyone out here the Valley, it is impossible not to think about the D-backs' own title, earned in the 2001 World Series.

Though the only one who has been proven to be linked to any type of PED from that team is Matt Williams (and he claimed he ordered his stuff to return from injury), at this point it would be reasonable to assume that there were at least a few players from the team that were, in other words, cheating. So, while we all sit here in 110 degree heat, pointing, laughing and judging other teams and their players, let's not be naïve enough to think that our team is immune.

With that, say it came out in the near future that some key members of that team were on something. Would that change your opinion of that team, that season, that championship?

Personally, as far as I'm concerned, nothing would change.

If it came out tomorrow that Luis Gonzalez or Erubiel Durazo were juicing - or anyone else on the team for that matter - I would still remember that championship run and being at Game 7 with great fondness.

To me, all the "Steroid Era" means is that the individual achievements are tainted and deserve an asterisk, but championships and team accomplishments should be recognized in the same manner you would any other great moment. So yeah, throw out Bonds' record, A-Rod's totals, Clemens and whatever it was that he did before everyone realized who he really was, but leave team achievements alone.

The way I see it, if every team had its share of cheaters then, technically, one could say there was a level playing field. Sure, individually, players looking for recognition and a big contract while doing things the right way were at a disadvantage compared to those who took performance enhancers, but on a team vs. team basis there should be no complaints about fairness.

What it really comes down to, when looking back at the Steroid Era, is that everyone will remember it in a different way. The home run records, the individual greatness, the sheer domination of some players will be viewed in a darker light, with the players either having been outed as PED users or just suspected of using.

So, even if some of the great D-backs of that era for sure used or likely did, my opinion of that 2001 championship will remain unchanged; it was a great season and a great moment during what was a poor time for baseball.