Posted on 05/07/2009 8:52:53 AM PDT by kellynla
Manny Ramirez has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and will be suspended 50 games starting today, The Times has learned.
The test result and suspension is expected to be announced later today. The Dodgers informed triple-A outfielder Xavier Paul this morning that he was being promoted to Los Angeles.
Ramirez is expected to attribute the test results to medication received from a doctor for a personal medical issue, according to a source familiar with matter but not authorized to speak publicly.
With the suspension taking effect with tonight's game at Dodger Stadium, Ramirez will not be eligible to return to the team until July 3.
Ramirez would become the biggest star suspended under an oft-criticized major league testing program that started in 2003. He had been a model citizen since arriving in Los Angeles last August, following a stormy tenure with the Boston Red Sox.
This is the second drug scandal to rock baseball within four months. In a year in which baseball officials hoped their greatest concern would be the slumping economy, the two highest-paid players in the game have been revealed to have failed a drug test.
Alex Rodriguez, the game's highest-paid player, acknowledged during a February news conference that he used steroids from 2001 to 2003. The admission followed a Sports Illustrated report that he failed a drug test in 2003, when players were not subject to suspension.
Ramirez did not appear in the clubhouse after the Dodgers' 10-3 victory over the Washington Nationals Wednesday night. After the game, Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti and Manager Joe Torre said they were unaware of any failed test or pending suspension.
As unconfirmed reports circulated around Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night, Scott Boras, the agent for Ramirez, declined to comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Heres the dicipline requirement of the drug teating policy. You tell me what it shows you about a 50 game suspension and Mannys drug tests.
Discipline
[edit] Failure to comply with treatment program
* First failure to comply: 15 to 25-day suspension or up to a $10,000 fine
* Second failure to comply: 25 to 50-day suspension or up to a $25,000 fine
* Third failure to comply: 50 to 75-day suspension or up to a $50,000 fine
* Fourth failure to comply: at least a one-year suspension or up to a $100,000 fine.
* Any subsequent failure(s) to comply: The level of the discipline will be determined by the Office of the Commissioner, consistent with the concept of progressive discipline.
All suspensions are without pay.
[edit] Positive steroid test results
* First positive test result: 50 game suspension
* Second positive test result: 100 game suspension
* Third positive test result: lifetime ban
All suspensions are without pay. In addition, a suspended player can be replaced on the active roster by another player. If a player is on the disabled list, the suspension is served while on the disabled list.
I don't know what drug he took and you don't either.
I'm just giving the guy the “benefit of the doubt” just like I gave the others.
and remember, Phillies reliever JC Romero was suspended 50 games for testing positive after taking over-the-counter nutritional drugs from GNC.
i would love to see it but as a true sox fan i have been watching him the last couple years and he is struggling with more than mechanics. he should have had wrist surgery in the off season and i am sure in the 2nd half we are going to see him on the dl resting it once again. i do not believe he ever recovered from it. he is slower getting around on fastballs and he has never been a good off speed pitch hitter. i honestly think his better playing days are behind him.
i’m right there with you. i am a life long sox fan and would love to see him return to the form of 3 years ago but alas time catches up with all of us.
If you are referring to the number of consecutive home wins, the record is in all MLB - not just the national league.
no...The number of home games won from the beginning of the season.
Man, what’s the world coming to when a humble, selfless, generous, thoughtful, all round nice guy like Manny gets caught up in something like this? God speed Manny.
“Word now is that Manny received a sexual performance enhancing drug and that he intends to sue the doctor.”
Just out of curiousity...where does this “word” come from?
I’m guessing Manny’s attorney/agent.
Here is what Espn’s latest says: (it’s a down cycle drug used by steroid users)
“However, two sources told ESPN’s T.J. Quinn and Mark Fainaru-Wada that the drug used by Ramirez is hCG — human chorionic gonadotropin. HCG is a women’s fertility drug typically used by steroid users to restart their body’s natural testosterone production as they come off a steroid cycle. It is similar to Clomid, the drug Bonds, Giambi and others used as clients of BALCO.
Yankee fans crow about the team’s 26 titles but the bulk of them came from winning ONE postseason series and with players that had no freedom to move to other teams.
OTOH, their winning 4/5 in the mid to late 90s was flat out amazing. Free agency changed the game and yet they truly dominated in the modern era for a long stretch.
Because it involves something to do with the Red Sox it should actually be taken outside....
:-)
Sure, when the Yankees go out and buy some more players to replace all of the old deadwood they are carrying.
OTOH, if you are really a fan of the game then tip your cap to KC....
Baseball does not allow it.
Rennes Templar: THC has obviously destroyed a significant amount of his neurons.
But what does that have to do w/ the way that he looks? Oh, I get it...the dred locks, dark skin...& one can obviously tell in the pics of him that his eyes are red. Yep, definitely a pot head to me! < /sarc>
Its too bad that money has become such a major part of baseball and all of sports for that matter, but I’ll take capitalism over any other economic system around. The fact that George Steinbrenner has a whole lot of bucks to spend on players doesn’t always equate to winning games and championships. If some billionaire bought the Royals tomorrow and started out spending Steinbrenner, I’m sure he’d catch hell from folks like you. Highly successful people are always targets for the whiners and malcontents in our society.
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