DownSwinging.com

37-year old Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez seemed pretty pissed about alleged accusations that his exceptional start to the 2009 season has been as a result of performance enhancing drugs. Ibanez is hitting .329 with 19 HRs and a 1.062 OPS through 55 games in 2009, dominating in his first season in Philadelphia.

The controversy started when an article was written at MidWestSportsFans.com in response to a comment that the site had received suggesting that the veteran has been on the juice which is why his numbers have spiked so far in ‘09. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think Ibanez is perfectly right to be upset that his name was linked to steroids in any manner. I find it particularly unfortunate that any time a player has a good season, people automatically suspect that something can’t be right. I remind everyone, before the existance of PEDs, there were breakout seasons, there were slumps, there were slow-starters, and there were guys who inexplicably were successful in their mid-to-late 30s. It happens, its natural.

But Ibanez, who attacked the blogger by saying that he was a coward who types in his