Two sluggers who made significant contributions in helping Boston Red Sox to two World Series championships are on the secret list of major league players testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, as per a report in THE TIMES. The two players were Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.

Henry Aaron, the last untainted home run record holder, remarked that the complete list of baseball players on performance enhancers should be released early so that baseball can go on.

From NYTimes.com:

But The Times got little thanks in some quarters. I heard from fans angry at the drip-drip of names that keeps diverting attention from play on the field. “When I talk about, watch, or read about baseball, I do it for relaxation and fun,” said Douglas K. Scheier of Sacramento. “Please either get all the names out or just stop. It’s starting to feel like a witch hunt for drama and entertainment purposes.”

I sympathize with the wish to make the bad news go away, but one of a newspaper’s fundamental obligations is to examine the integrity of institutions, including baseball. If the steroids story seems drawn out, it is because it is hard to get. Tom Jolly, the sports editor, said nobody is slipping the list of those who used drugs under the door: it is taking old-fashioned digging to get each name.

The more challenging criticism comes from those who believe The Times acted illegally — or, at least, unethically — by aggressively seeking names that a judge sealed while courts decide whether government agents had a right to seize the test results in their own investigation.

Theodore Olson, who was the solicitor general in the Bush administration and presently works in the same firm as Boutrous, was of the view that THE TIMES acted ethically and legally.