Baseball was reeling with the 50-game suspension of Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Manny Ramirez for the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti called it "a dark day for baseball in a lot of ways," as Ramirez became the first marquee player to be suspended under Major League Baseball's stepped-up drug policy.
But the free-spirited slugger is just the latest big name to be linked to drugs in a game in which the damaging Mitchell Report investigation turned up a wealth of evidence of steroid use.
Ramirez, of the Dominican Republic, denied taking steroids and said the problem stems from medication he took for personal medical reasons.
"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid," Ramirez said in a statement. "I have taken and passed 15 drug tests over the past five seasons."
US sports broadcaster ESPN reported that Ramirez tested positive for the drug human chorionic gonadotropin or hCG.
It is a women's fertility drug, but athletes like it because it restarts their natural testosterone level after they stop using steroids, ESPN said.
"Certainly it caught us all by surprise," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "And I hope to heck I'm always surprised when something like this happens."
But drug scandals have in fact become commonplace in the game.
This is the second doping scandal to hit the sport in the past few months, and Ramirez's suspension means that American baseball's two highest paid players have failed drug tests.
In February, New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids between 2001 and 2003 - before the current anti-doping policy was in place.
Rodriguez is the sport's highest-paid player and like Ramirez is considered one of the greatest home-run hitters of all time.
All-time home run king Barry Bonds is facing a federal perjury trial linked to his denial of using performance-enhancing drugs and pitcher Roger Clemens is being investigated for possibly lying when he told Congress he never used performance-enhancers.
The issue has become so prominent that even the White House reacted.
"It's a tragedy. It's a shame. My sense is, it's a great embarrassment on Major League Baseball," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
Ramirez's ban, which will cost him 7.7 million dollars in salary, is effective immediately which means he will not be eligible to return to the Los Angeles lineup until July 3.
The loss of the 12-time All-Star is a big blow for the Dodgers, who have won a modern major league record 13 straight home games to start the season.
Under baseball's anti-doping policy, a player receives a 50-game suspension for a first positive drug test, a 100-game suspension for a second positive test and a lifetime ban for a third positive test.
Marai
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1 comments:
May 8, 2009 at 6:24 AM
I had never heard of that substance but if it has a high estrogen component it is consistent with something that juicers would take after going off their cycle.
The rules are the rules but I do wish him the best.
I have made *a few* mistakes in my life so I can't judge him. I feel blessed that the national media wasn't around to cover them ;)
Ryan
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