Manny Ramirez suspended for 50 games for PED use!

[taterracing]

LA Times reports that LA Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball for Performance Enhancing Drug use.

Manny Ramirez will be suspended 50 games for positive drug test - Los Angeles Times

[COLOR=#999999 ! important]By Bill Shaikin and Dylan Hernandez Times Staff Writers
8:35 AM PDT, May 7, 2009 [/COLOR]
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.

Major League Baseball spokesman Pat Courtney said he could not comment, citing the limitations stipulated in baseball's drug policy.

Rob Manfred, baseball's top labor lawyer, and Michael Weiner, general counsel for the players' union, did not return multiple messages.

The loss of Ramirez would leave a gaping hole in the Dodgers' lineup. Juan Pierre, the likely replacement for Ramirez in left field, has batted ninth in two of his five starts this season.

Ramirez doubled and drove in two runs on Wednesday, as the Dodgers set a major league record with their 13th consecutive home victory at the start of the season. The Dodgers have the best record in the major leagues, at 21-8, and the biggest division lead in the majors, at 6 1/2 games in the National League West.

Ramirez leads the Dodgers in batting average (.348), on-base percentage (.492) and slugging percentage (.641), and he is tied for the team lead in home runs with six.

He signed a two-year, $45-million contract with the Dodgers in March, with the first year guaranteed at $25 million and the second year at his option at $20 million.

In an appearance at USC last month, Jose Canseco said Ramirez's name "is most likely, 90%" on a list of 104 players that failed a drug test in 2003. The players were promised anonymity for taking tests in 2003; Rodriguez is the only player that has been identified among that group.

Ramirez laughed when Times columnist Kurt Streeter relayed Canseco's allegation to him.

"I got no comment, nothing to say about that," Ramirez told Streeter. "What can I say? I don't even know the guy."

[Believe]

Well, well, well...

[Avi24]

There you go, I'm glad the Mets didn't choose to sign him.

[ronmcc]

Dumb ass!You know there looking for the slightest bit of anything illegal and you still take the drugs.He is stupider than I thought.Hopefully Ned Coletti has a morals clause and can void his contract.

[DodgerBlue]

Let's be clear, this wasn't a steroid or HGH. Baseball officials have even confirmed that. If you know anything about baseball's drug policy, the list of banned substances is huge. It is the player's responsibility to make sure anything they buy over the counter or anything given to them by a doctor does not contain anything on the banned list. Manny was given a prescription by a doctor for a private medical issue. This medication contained something on the list that caused him to test positive. Phillies pitcher J.C. Romero is currently serving a suspension and preparing a lawsuit against GNC because he bought an over the counter supplement that caused him to test positive. There was a minor league pitcher that tested positive in the Olympics last year for Team USA that had taken an over the counter allergy medication. Manny is in a similar situation. I don't think it is fair to lump these guys into the same group with the guys that stuck needles into their asses and injected themselves with steroids and other substances to gain an advantage over their competition. Folks should take a wait and see approach and let the facts come out before they jump to conclusions and say that Manny used roids. Of course the blind ignorance of most people will cause them to believe anything they hear and they will never bother to do any research to educate themselves.

[ronmcc]

Ramirez suspended 50 games for drug violation

By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer 19 minutes ago

• 
  NEW YORK (AP)—Manny Ramirez(notes) was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday, becoming the latest high-profile player ensnared in the sport’s drug scandals.

The commissioner’s office didn’t announce the specific violation by the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder, who will lose about one-third of his $25 million salary.
“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,” Ramirez said in a statement issued by the players’ union.
“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.”

This is the second major drug revelation to hit baseball in the last few months. In February, Alex Rodriguez(notes) admitted taking steroids while playing for Texas from 2001-03. But that was before the start of testing with penalties under a program agreed to by players and management. The New York Yankee star doesn’t appear likely to be suspended.
Ramirez is the third player suspended this year under the major league program, following Philadelphia reliever J.C. Romero(notes) and Yankees pitcher Sergio Mitre(notes).
Just two relatively low-profile players were suspended under the major league program last year, San Francisco catcher Elizier Alfonzo and Colorado catcher Humberto Coto.
In the past, the best-known player penalized was Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro, who received a 10-day suspension in 2005, the first year of penalties for first infractions.

[ronmcc]

The players know that MLB list is wide and long.Basically you dont take anything except aspirin.It is not that hard to do.Except there egos are the size of the US and wont allow them to make rational decisions.Then to deny I took any thing questionable and I dont know the guy come on MANRAM.

[DodgerBlue]

I once worked with a guy that tested positive for opiates due to an over the counter cold medication. He was sent home until the situation was cleared up. Did the rest of us assume that did a big line of coke before work that day? Of course not. The normal, legal, everyday medication he took caused him to test positive. After a couple of days of people looking into the situation and using facts and common sense, he was cleared and returned to work. It is only natural for us to suspect athletes of wrongdoing when it comes to steroids based on recent history. I just hate it when folks are so quick to assume and jump to conclusions when the evidence clearly shows otherwise. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story though. Just keep on throwing out unfounded accusations.

[ronmcc]

This is to funny!Can not get a erection because of the roids!I dont know Jose Canseco.Yeah and Im the pope!
Source: Ramirez’s substance a sexual enhancer

By Tim Brown and Steve Henson 1 hour, 9 minutes ago

• 
  LOS ANGELES – A source close to Manny Ramirez(notes) said Thursday that the illegal substance for which the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger tested positive was not “an agent customarily used for performance enhancing.”

At least not on the baseball diamond. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the substance is supposed to boost sex drive. It is not Viagra, but a substance that treats the cause rather providing a temporary boost in sexual performance, the source said.
Ramirez tested positive for the substance during spring training, then was administered a second test more recently, and it also was positive. Major League Baseball notified Ramirez of the second positive test after Wednesday night’s Dodgers victory over the Washington Nationals. Ramirez admitted to having taken the substance and declined to appeal. His 50-game suspension begins today.
“The substance is not a steroid and it is not human-growth hormone,” the source said.

Ramirez, the source said, acquired the substance through a prescription from a doctor in Miami for his medical condition. The source intimated that Ramirez might bring legal action against the physician.
Ramirez released the following statement Thursday morning: “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.
The Dodgers, who have won a Major League record 13 consecutive home games to start the season, will be without Ramirez until July 3. Outfielder Xavier Paul was promoted from triple-A to take Ramirez’s place on the roster. The suspension will cost Ramirez close to $8 million in lost wages.

[DodgerBlue]

Quote:

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the substance is supposed to boost sex drive. It is not Viagra, but a substance that treats the cause rather providing a temporary boost in sexual performance, the source said. Ramirez tested positive for the substance during spring training, then was administered a second test more recently, and it also was positive. Major League Baseball notified Ramirez of the second positive test after Wednesday night’s Dodgers victory over the Washington Nationals. Ramirez admitted to having taken the substance and declined to appeal. His 50-game suspension begins today. "The substance is not a steroid and it is not human-growth hormone,” the source said.

There you go. 'Ol #99 ain't as young as he used to be! The substance in question is HCG which treats low testosterone production associated with aging. Manny did say it was a personal health issue. I don't think there is a man alive that would be proud to stand up and declare that his sex drive is lacking and he needs a boost. Of course, low testosterone production could be the result of past steroid use. Pro wrestler Chris Benoit was taking testerone for this reason when he killed his family then committed suicide a couple of years ago. I'm sure this is the side of the story the media will focus on trying to say that Manny needed this because he juiced in the past. For God sakes people, look at the man. He is far from a chiseled physical specimen.