Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz has slammed his critics who accuse him of using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), in a wide-ranging editorial piece.
Writing for The Players' Tribune, a publication founded by retired New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter, Ortiz said he "never knowingly took any steroids" in his MLB career - and hit out at people in the game who thinks the hitter of 483 (including post-season) home runs did so.
In 2009, it was reported that Ortiz's name was on a list of players that could have tested positive during Spring Training in 2003 - however, no further action has been taken on the claims.
"In some people's minds, I will always be considered a cheater. And that's b-------," an excerpt of Ortiz's article titled 'The Dirt' read.
"Mark my words: Nobody in MLB history has been tested for PEDs more than me. You know how many times I've been tested since 2004? More than 80. They say these tests are random. If it's really random, I should start playing the damn lottery. Some people still think the testing is a joke. It's no joke. Ten times a season these guys come into the clubhouse or my home with their briefcases. I have never failed a single one of those tests and I never will.
"But that doesn't matter to some people. Some people still look at me like I'm a cheater because my name was on a list of players who got flagged for PEDs in 2003. Let me tell you something about that test. Most guys were taking over-the-counter supplements then. Most guys are still taking over-the-counter supplements. If it's legal, ballplayers take it. Why? Because if you make it to the World Series, you play 180 games. Really think about that for a second. 180 games. Your kids could be sick, your wife could be yelling at you, your dad could be dying - nobody cares. Nobody cares if you have a bone bruise in your wrist or if you have a pulled groin. You're an entertainer. The people want to see you hit a 95-mile-an-hour fastball over a damn 37-foot wall.
"Most MLB players take a dozen pills a day just to get them through the season - multivitamins, creatine, amino acids, nitric oxide, all kinds of stuff. Whatever you tell them is legal, they'll take it.
But back in the early 2000s, you'd go into GNC and the guy working there would say, 'Hey, take this stuff. It's great. It builds muscle, helps with soreness, burns fat, whatever'.
"Okay, sure, I'll take that. I'm buying an over-the-f-------counter supplement in the United States of America. I'm buying this stuff in line next to doctors and lawyers. Now all of a sudden MLB comes out and says there's some ingredient in GNC pills that have a form of steroid in them. I don't know anything about it.
"If you think I'm full of it, go to your kitchen cabinet right now and read the back of a supplement bottle and honestly tell me you know what all of that stuff is. I'm not driving across the border to Mexico buying some shady pills from a drug dealer. I'm in a strip mall across from the Dunkin' Donuts, bro."
Ortiz reaffirmed his claim he has never knowing ingested PEDs, and said he would stop trying to convince the doubters otherwise.
"Let me tell you something. Say whatever you want about me - love me, hate me. But I'm no b-------ter.
"I never knowingly took any steroids.
"If I tested positive for anything, it was for something in pills I bought at the damn mall.
"If you think that ruins everything I have done in this game, there is nothing I can say to convince you different."
Ortiz, 39, is on the verge of entering his 18th MLB season with a .285 career batting average.
He has not hit under 20 home runs in a season since 2001, and has hit over 40 home runs in a season three times.
Ortiz has helped the Red Sox to World Series titles in 2004, '07 and '13.