Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Former Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez will be suspended for 50 games for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy. The suspension, first reported by The Los Angeles Times, has been confirmed by Major League Baseball.

ESPN's T.J. Quinn and Mark Fainaru-Wada, quoting unnamed sources, are reporting that the drug that triggered the suspension is a women's fertility drug, HCG, human chorionic gonadotropin. That sort of drug can be used by steroid users after they complete cycles to get their bodies to produce testosterone naturally again.

Ramirez will not be paid during the suspension, which means he will lose $7.7 million off his base salary. In a statement released Thursday, Ramirez said he did not test positive for a steroid. He said he went to see a doctor for a health issue, and was given a supplement that the doctor told him was O.K. He said the substance turned out to be banned under the Major League Baseball drug policy:

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing: I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.

"I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation."

Commissioner Bud Selig's office said the suspension is effective immediately. Ramirez will be eligible to return July 3, barring any postponements between now and then.

ESPN's Peter Gammons describes Ramirez as "absolutely devastated" by the news, and he quoted an unnamed Red Sox source as saying that the team does not believe Ramirez ever intentionally cheated with drugs.

Long a popular player in Boston, Ramirez left town under a cloud of anger after a series of incidents last summer, including his shoving the team's traveling secretary, and refusing to play during a summer series against the Yankees. But he was embraced in Los Angeles after he led that team into the National League Championship Series with a torrid finish.

Just last week, the Dodgers designated a section of Dodger Stadium as "Mannywood," with tickets selling in pairs with a complimentary Mannywood T-shirt. Ramirez is hitting .348, fifth in the National League, and his Dodgers enter today with the best record in baseball: 21-8.

The news about Ramirez means that baseball's two highest-paid players -- Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez -- have both been implicated in drug scandals. Rodriguez has admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs earlier in his career. He tested positive for a banned substance during a nonpunitive exploratory test, and is unlikely to be punished by the league.

Ramirez is 17th on baseball's all-time home run list. According to Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated, eight of the top 17 all-time home-run hitters played during what is now known as baseball's Steroid Era, and only two of those eight -- Ken Griffey Jr. and Jim Thome -- have not been connected to drug use.

The Times reports that rumors about Ramirez's drug violation began circulating around the press corps during Wednesday night's Dodgers-Nationals game. But Dodgers manager Joe Torre and general manager Ned Colletti denied any knowledge of a positive drug test or pending suspension; Ramirez was not in the clubhouse after the game.

In March, in an interview with ESPN's Colleen Dominguez, Ramirez said he had never been approached about, nor had he ever considered using, performance-enhancing drugs. But Jose Canseco, the admitted steroid user whose book, "Juiced," helped touch off the era of baseball's steroid scandals, has said that he believes Ramirez was one of the unnamed players who tested positive along with Rodriguez in the 2003 exploratory testing.

Ramirez laughed off the allegation at the time, telling a Los Angeles Times columnist, "What can I say? I don't even know the guy."

 Tags  Boston Red Sox Manny Ramirez

Comments

James Butler Hickok said:

I knew he was juicing when I noticed his dreadlocks had grown disproportionately to the rest of his body. Too bad for Chicken Catcher Torre, and so much for getting a good return on your $25,000,000 investment in this clown.
Manny Being Manny.......

Link | May 7, 2009 11:57 AM
Report Abuse

---

JTR said:

He probably doesn't even care - he'll get his $ - hope this keeps him out of the HOF as he's not worthy as a person - shame b/c he's perhaps the best right hand hitter of our time.

Link | May 7, 2009 12:29 PM
Report Abuse

---

James Butler Hickok said:

A women's fertility drug? We knew he was weird, but trying to give birth? Maybe he wanted to be known as The OctoManny.

Link | May 7, 2009 4:12 PM
Report Abuse

---

Leave a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.