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Liar, Liar, pants on fire.
Jose Bautista knows it is inevitable. He knows that there will be people who look at his 50 home runs and wonder.
They will wonder about guys who suddenly can’t remember how to speak English, they will wonder about guys like Mark McGwire and they will wonder if his bat — the one just like Barry Bonds used — has cheatin’ at its maple-lovin’ heart.
He knows it. There is nothing he can do about it except to just say “no.” Which is exactly what he said again yesterday when asked at a news conference if he’d ever used performance-enhancing drugs.
He understands it is difficult for people to understand how someone who has 109 career major-league homers can suddenly hit almost half of those in one season. But the fact the turnabout came in one season probably backs up his claim more than it casts suspicion on his accomplishments.
Steroids build muscle and they help athletes recover from injury and they can do remarkable — and horrid — things to a body. But even they don’t usually transform an athlete form mediocrity to baseball superstud in 12 months.
“I do (understand why the public wonders) because of the history. It’s up to guys like me and (the media) to make sure that the public gets their facts right,” said Bautista after hammering No. 50 yesterday. “It’s been six, seven years since we’ve had testing for performance-enhancing drugs and it seems to be working.”
Manager Cito Gaston says he’s not upset with the likes of McGwire or Rodriguez but it does bother him that people will suggest Bautista might be juiced. “I get upset with people who make those (comments). He works hard for everything he has achieved this year. Ever since we got him, he has never been a problem. He has gotten the opportunity to play more and he has run with it.
“Fifty is a big number. It’s the first time I’ve been on a team where someone has done it and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
bill.lankhof@sunmedia.ca
