Ramirez tests positive, suspended 50 games by MLB

[WinterDave]

Ramirez tests positive, suspended 50 games by MLB

Story Highlights
Manny Ramirez tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug
Major League Baseball banned him for 50 games, effective immediately
A source said the drug was not a steroid, but clearly a banned substance

By Tom Verducci, SI.com

"Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, incurring an immediate 50-game suspension and serving as the highest-profile reminder yet that the use of such drugs in the testing era may have been reduced, but not eradicated.

Major League Baseball plans to announce the suspension later today. Ramirez, a baseball source told SI.com, explained to baseball officials he was uncertain he was taking a banned substance and may have had a medical reason for using the substance. After consultation with the Major League Baseball Players Association and his representatives, Ramirez has decided not to challenge the suspension, according to an MLBPA statement.

The source said the substance was not classified as a steroid but was clearly defined as a banned performance enhancer according to the drug agreement between baseball and its players association. Banned substances can only be taken with prior knowledge and medical clearance from baseball's drug-program administrators. Such exceptions are known as Therapeutic Use Exemptions, or TUEs. The suspension is an indication Ramirez did not have a TUE for the substance.

Ramirez said in a statement released by the MLBPA: "Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK 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."

Ramirez is the first major star to be suspended under baseball's stricter drug-testing rules that went into effect in 2003. Until now, baseball and the players union have portrayed drug use as having been nearly eradicated in the past few years, pointing out that the major drug-related stories -- involving Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez and the revelations in the Mitchell Report -- involved drug use prior to the 2003 tightening of the program.

Ramirez ranks 17th on the all-time home-run list with 533. Eight of those top 17 home run hitters played in what is commonly referred to as the Steroid Era. And six of those eight modern-day sluggers have been associated with performance-enhancing drugs: Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Rodriguez and Ramirez. The only modern sluggers to have escaped such a connection are Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas and Jim Thome."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...x.html?cnn=yes

There is some justice in the world after all.....

[kikachuck]

I don't know what to think about this one. On one hand, yeah, he broke the rule and I'm glad MLB is finally starting to do something about it. However, 50 games seems like overkill, especially for a 1st offense. It's almost as if MLB made the punishment deliberately harsh just to cover for all the half-assed underpunishing they did before.

And we still don't know what it was he actually took.

[WinterDave]

"But two sources told ESPN that Ramirez used 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."

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/b...ome&position=0

[Harmon79]

I'm not a big baseball fan but officially the sport is dead to me

[inthecave]

Let's go GIANTS!

[Just Lurking]

What an idiot. Guess he figured they'd look the other way since he's a "star" player. I'd have rather seen him get the entire season, but I suppose 50 games will have to do.

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me."

Always the same defense when they get caught, isn't it. Must be an awful lot of boneheaded doctors out there!

[dax]

Originally Posted by inthecave

Let's go GIANTS!

Go GNATS!!

[Stanley]

Why the hell would you need steroids in baseball?

[inthecave]

they help your body recover more quickly from injuries and the daily grind of the game.

[PGVan]

The whole sports world just takes this performance enhancing drugs issue way too ****ing far. I understand banning steroids, but to find every random little thing in so many medications to ban is just ridiculous. It's going to get to the point soon where these athletes won't be able to take any kind of medication prescribed to them by doctors.

On the PED subject, WADA are a bunch of dirty privacy-invading *******s. The life of an athlete in an association controlled by WADA is definitely not pleasant. You have to tell them where you're going to be 24/7, 12 months a year. If you're not where they expect you to be, you technically get a positive test against you. If they can't find you, they assume you're taking PEDs. Under their system, you're guilty until you can prove yourself innocent. It's horse****.

Back when the Olympics first started, it was so much about your body's natural abilities that training (IE: running and weightlifting) was seen in the same light today's sports world sees performance enhancing drugs. The attitude back then eventually changed, and now it seems like organizations like WADA want to get back to that point again.

Go ahead and ban the real stuff. The **** that the East German women and the Bulgarian weightlifters (and others) took in the 1970s. That's the dangerous stuff the sports world doesn't need. Getting to the point where an athlete with flu symptoms can't take ****ing Benadryl so he/she can even get out of bed is where it gets ridiculous.

As for Manny Ramirez specifically, I'm going to wait until we know exactly what he tested positive for before I crucify or defend him. I don't trust ESPN reports. Those *******s just want headlines and web hits.

[rdrr]

i say manny is being truthful... he is fat and short, and i dont know if testosterone in erectile dysfunction medication is going to make him play better. But it is a banned substance and you must play by the rules...

[Zephyr]

Eh, I think people have always had a somewhat romanticized view of baseball. Even though performance enhancing drugs are rampant in all sports (get an edge wherever you can, you know) there is still somehow this naive perception of baseball as being a pure game. It's America's national pastime. It's pristine. No one wants to believe a lot of the athletes dope up. Unfortunately it's likely that baseball has always been just like the other sports in that way.

At least MLB has finally taken some steps to do something about it. If they'd nab Manny Ramirez, they'd nab anybody...even if it is just "Manny being Manny."

Originally Posted by inthecave

they help your body recover more quickly from injuries and the daily grind of the game.

Not to mention also probably giving one the ability to hit the ball harder and farther. Instead of that flyball the other way out to the warning track, it might become a homerun, etc.

[Sheri]

Good. Never liked the dude. That whole "Manny being Manny" **** made me insane.

[PGVan]

I want to know if MLB is planning to say anything more about this. I want to know if Manny Ramirez did anything wrong.

[millenniumman75]

So there is counteraction of the testosterone by using estrogen. What happens if he takes too much? Does he grow breasts?

They need to do an investigation on it. If the results are true in that a doctor gave him the meds, then shorten it to 30 or something.

Unpaid leave is the right thing to do for these overpaid bozos.

[WinterDave]

I love how all of these multi-million dollar, professional athletes always pretend like they are eight years olds on Halloween night."I didn't know what was in the candy bar, really.Some strange man down the street gave it to me." That's what I think of when I hear all of these cop outs about how athletes don't know what drugs that they are taking, or ask any questions."I didn't what was in the prescription bottle that I found in my cousin's medicine cabinet." The above makes about as much sense as what these athletes say.

[imt]

Originally Posted by dax

Go GNATS!!

LMAO I love this

[EagerMinnow84]

As much as I dislike Manny Ramirez, I don't agree 100% with his suspension. Why isn't A-Rod suspended? Giambi (if he even still plays)? Clemens (ditto)? They actually took steroids but they got a slap on the wrist. It's probably because they are on the precious Yankees.

[PGVan]

Originally Posted by EagerMinnow84

As much as I dislike Manny Ramirez, I don't agree 100% with his suspension. Why isn't A-Rod suspended? Giambi (if he even still plays)? Clemens (ditto)? They actually took steroids but they got a slap on the wrist. It's probably because they are on the precious Yankees.

Neither of the players you mention were actually caught with a positive test. Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte all admitted it after they had stopped. You can't suspend players if they're not caught breaking rules. That, and the steroid rules only came into effect in 2005. Unless MLB can prove with a positive test, that these players broke the rules when they were in effect, there isn't anything the league can do.

Roger Clemens, as recent as yesterday, vehemently denies ever taking performance enhancing drugs. Nobody believes him, nor should anybody believe him, but it's not yet a known fact.

Originally Posted by WinterDave

I love how all of these multi-million dollar, professional athletes always pretend like they are eight years olds on Halloween night."I didn't know what was in the candy bar, really.Some strange man down the street gave it to me." That's what I think of when I hear all of these cop outs about how athletes don't know what drugs that they are taking, or ask any questions."I didn't what was in the prescription bottle that I found in my cousin's medicine cabinet." The above makes about as much sense as what these athletes say.

If Manny Ramirez is telling the truth ... that a personal doctor prescribed him something with a banned substance, then he should not be suspended. I won't believe for one second that his personal doctor doesn't know that he is a MLB player with rules to follow on what he can and cannot take.

I will not pass judgment on Manny Ramirez until the facts are known. What did he test positive for and how did it get into his system? I don't want ESPN speculation, I want the facts.