If this excuse works it might work for others with steroids and other issues. "I'm not sure if I did it" or I might have"

BOSTON (TICKER) -- It appears Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is not sure if he has taken steroids.

Ortiz told the Boston Herald that he could not say definitively if he had ever used performance-enhancing drugs in the past. The burly designated hitter also said that if he did, it happened when he was much younger.

"I tell you, I don't know too much about steroids, but I started listening about steroids when they started to bring that (expletive) up," Ortiz told the paper. "I started realizing and getting to know a little bit about it. You've got to be careful.



"I used to buy a protein shake in my country. I don't do that anymore because they don't have the approval for that here, so I know that, so I'm off buying things at the GNC back in the Dominican (Republic). But it can happen anytime, it can happen. I don't know. I don't know if I drank something in my youth, not knowing it."

However, Ortiz, who hit a club-record 54 home runs last season, made light of the situation, joking that he should try steroids just to see what all the fuss is about.

"I should use steroids just to see what's going on," Ortiz joked to the Herald. "Nah. I have a good family. I want to see my kids learn and develop. I think I'm having an OK career. So, I take a lot of Advils, but I think I'm going to stop taking them. They say it (expletive) your liver."

Ortiz spent six non-descript seasons in Minnesota before signing with the Red Sox before the 2003 season. He has quickly become a Boston icon and one of the most popular players in baseball.

In 2004, Ortiz anchored a Red Sox squad which won the franchise's first World Series in 86 years - highlighted by a shocking comeback against the rival New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

The Red Sox became the first team in baseball history to come back from a three-games-to-none deficit to win a playoff series.