Sports

REDUNDANT ‘ROID FACTS IMPORTANT, NOT BORING

BORED by the truth? Tough.

Every time the David Ortiz “thing” came up during Saturday’s Red Sox-Yankees Fox telecast, there also arose a sense of dread and tedium; words were prefaced with a sigh. Naturally. Baseball’s PED issue has worn thin and the “Enough, already!” sentiment has grown, perhaps, to an overwhelming majority. You read it, hear it on TV, radio and on the street: “Enough, let’s move on.”

Or as Joe Buck said as Ortiz batted in the fifth: “Fans have seemed willing to accept some uncertainty when they file through gates to watch these players play, no matter what their issue.”

Shoot, even the booing of Ortiz seemed half-hearted. On this one, no team has escaped; people are all booed out. Rationalizations and compromise are taking over. And there will always be those who prefer a dirty homer to a clean single.

Soon, if we haven’t already reached that point, those in the media who pursue and report these truths risk greater condemnation than do baseball’s biggest cheats. And that ain’t right.

Is the truth a supply and demand commodity? Should the media gauge the climate, consider whether any more such truths will annoy the public before investigating and revealing them? If the public is fed up with the story should the news media — what’s left of it — back off?

And who should determine when such truths are no longer to be sought? Joe Buck? Joe Benigno? Joe Girardi? Joe Blow?

The truth may be burdensome but it should never be unbearable. Those who would demand that the search for truth be suspended are those who should be most feared and condemned.

The truth may be redundant and become boring, but it’s too valuable to be shouted down or eliminated. After all, if not for truth-seekers and truth-tellers, MLB players — and more than a few — by now might be hitting 85 home runs, being paid by the yard and being found dead in hotel rooms, two per month, like pro wrestlers.

If the truth’s important, you can’t get tired of it. You can’t.

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ESPN, Saturday, was a few hours (and suspiciously) slow reporting the Josh Hamilton-in-January hard fall off-the-wagon story. For a while, it seemed as if ESPN might be protecting Hamilton, who now stars in a “SportsCenter” commercial and in late April was the he-has-overcome focus of ESPN’s first “Homecoming” show. Heck, ESPN didn’t even credit one of its own for “confirming” the story.

NBC’s coverage of the Hambletonian and Hambo Oaks, Saturday, was, er, interesting. First, on-track reporter Donna Brothers interviewed driver Jack Moiseyev as the winner of the Oaks. Although Moiseyev believed her, he’d finished second by a nose. Then an incorrect (and impossible) number was displayed as Hambletonian winner Muscle Hill’s time. Finally, the winner’s circle interviews were seen but not heard as the audio failed.

Fun stuff on Saturday, from John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman, who tweaked YES with cracks that the Yanks are undefeated on “Yankee Classics.” . . . Friday on YES, after Dustin Pedroia made a diving stop then threw out the batter, Ken Singleton said Pedroia, “leaves his feet as well as any second baseman.” “Well,” said Paul O’Neill, “he doesn’t have far to go.”

Few, at this point, need to be told how good Tiger Woods is, but just in case: Yesterday on CBS he began three behind Padraig Harrington. After the first five holes Harrington had made all pars — and Woods had a one-shot lead. . . . Reader Tim Hanley can’t help but think of the Mets, and not amour, when ads air for the pill Levitra. It’s the part when the side-effects are spoken: “. . . headaches, flushing . . .”

During the offseason Bud Selig warned owners not to get “cocky” with ticket prices during a recession. That was either a PR con or a memo that teams, especially the Yanks and Mets, simply ignored. The Red Sox now have an online auction — in-house scalping — for tickets to home games, including against the Yanks, the rest of the season.

Not that staying home and watching is any longer the way to avoid beatings. DirecTV’s four-month out-of-market NFL package has again risen, this season to $280. Used to be $159. Recession? Really? Where?

phil.mushnick@nypost.com