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| Source: Manny Ramirez tests positive for banned substance, gets 50-game ban By Teri Thompson, Mark Feinsand & Nathaniel Vinton DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS Thursday, May 7th 2009, 11:56 AM Baseball superstar Manny Ramirez tested positive for a banned substance and will be hit with a 50-game suspension by Major League Baseball, a source told the Daily News Thursday morning. Ramirez now joins some of the greatest players in recent baseball history – Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, and Alex Rodriguez – in his link to pharmaceutical cheating. An annoucement by MLB and the players' association is expected Thursday afternoon. Ramirez, who grew up in Washington Heights and tormented the New York Yankees year after year as the anchor of two championship Red Sox teams, recently signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. After protracted negotiations, the 36-year-old righty re-upped with the Dodgers on March 4, signing a two-year, $45 million contract. In 2004, the first year of baseball's drug-testing program, Ramirez led the American League in home runs, with 43, and was the World Series MVP. Until today, Ramirez was considered a Hall of Fame shoo-in, with 12 All-Star selections, 533 home runs, and a career batting average well over .300. Prior to joining the Dodgers mid-way through the 2008 season, he played seven and a half seasons for the Red Sox (2001-08) and eight seasons for the Cleveland Indians (1993-2000). Over the objections of the players' union and under external pressure from Congress, Major League Baseball introduced its drug testing program in 2004, after a round of anonymous survey test in 2003 showed well over five percent of players were using performance-enhancing drugs. Federal agents investigating the BALCO drug ring seized the results of the 2003 tests, and while an appeals court is currently deciding on the legality of the seizure, the identities of 104 players have remained largely secret (A-Rod being the lone exception). In April, baseball's primary steroid accuser Jose Canseco told a reporter from the Los Angeles Times that Ramirez's name was "most likely, 90 percent" on the list, but admitted he had "no way of knowing." Ramirez had no response to Canseco's charges, telling reporters his response was "nothing." Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball...ixzz0Eq1Lx7R8&B |
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| 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. 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. |
| QUOTE (stevedepot @ May 7 2009, 01:13 PM) |
| Just in case anyone is left on the planet that feels he may be innocent... He tested positive for HCG, primarily used as a womens fertility drug but ALSO used by steroid users who are coming off of steroids to naturally produce the hormones the body stops producing naturally when steroids are used. So the bastid was trying to get clean after all these years perhaps? :lol: Good gosh. |
| QUOTE (Dark Helmet @ Jul 30 2009, 02:01 PM) |
| The whole sport needs an asterisk. |
| QUOTE (stevedepot @ Jul 30 2009, 01:00 PM) |
| Just bringing this thread back to life for now. DAVID ORTIZ....Big POOPI in beantown. anyone surprised???? won't say I told ya so. pieces of crap, all of them. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-m...0,5086821.story |