Manny Ramirez suspended 50 games for positive test [Updated 4:07pm]
Manny Ramirez in the 2008 NLCS at Dodger Stadium (Harry How/Getty)
Today, Manny Ramirez will become the most high-profile member of an exclusive (but rapidly growing) club – Major League Baseball players who have been suspended for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).
Until today, only one “big name star” has ever been suspended from Major League Baseball for PEDs – Rafael Palmeiro in 2005. Palmeiro, who was on the back-end of a Hall of Fame career, was humiliated and disgraced. Although he filed for free agency that October, Palmeiro never played another game after 2005.
With today’s revelation that Ramirez tested positive, baseball will be faced with its first true steroid-quagmire. In Palmeiro’s (and Barry Bonds’) case, baseball was able to get rid of the embarrassing by simply not resigning it. However, Ramirez will be different. Manny signed a two-year $45 million contract with the Dodgers just two months ago. What will happen if he returns after serving his fifty game suspension and continues to hit impressively? Will L.A. stick by him?
How Manny’s suspension and return is handled by the Dodgers will provide an interesting precedent for any similar situations in the future.
[UPDATE 1:00 pm] In a statement released by Major League Baseball, Ramirez says the positive test is the result of a medication prescribed to him by a doctor for a “personal health issue.” As the San Francisco Chronicle points out, “The obvious first question here is a simple one: Does Manny Ramirez have the prescription slip?”
[UPDATE 1:49 pm] Just throwing some stats out there. Manny currently leads the Dodgers in batting average (.348), on-base percentage (.492) and slugging percentage (.641). In addition, he is tied for the lead in home runs (six). Not sure how Dodgers’ Manager Joe Torre can replace that kind of production.
[UPDATE 1:58 pm] The Journal News‘ Peter Abraham points out that the Manny suspension is coming at a good time for A-Rod, who may be returning to the Yankees in time for tomorrow’s game at Baltimore. Manny may take some of the spotlight off of A-Rod.
[UPDATE 3:11 pm] From Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated:
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. ESPN is citing two sources that say Ramirez used a women’s fertility drug — HCG, human chorionic gonadotropin — that helps the body produce testosterone.
From ESPN:
…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.
Perhaps Governor Schwarzenegger recommended HCG to Manny.
[UPDATE 4:07 pm] Eric Wilbur of Boston.com reflects on the implications of this scandal for Boston.
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I have a feeling that dollar signs will outshine morality for this one.
Perhaps, but there were certainly plenty of dollar signs associated with Bonds. He drew large crowds, even if they came only to jeer.
In response to another comment. See in context »True, but from what I see Manny isn’t nearly as universally despised as Bonds was. Though that may certainly change now.
In response to another comment. See in context »I would guess that the success of Manny’s reemergence will hinge on two things – the identity of the exact drug he tested positive for and some good ‘ol fashioned public displays of self-remorse.
In response to another comment. See in context »Am I supposed to be surprised? Should I feign anger? Sorry, I’m all out of indignation. This story keeps repeating itself year after year, sport after sport. Cycling, football, track, baseball, etc.
You know what’s funny? I went to Major League Baseball’s player page for Ramirez on the league Web site. The suspension isn’t on the news story list for Ramirez, which includes really important information such as a story on a recent day off. But the suspension is mentioned under fantasy team news. So I can see this is being taken very seriously.
The only way to put an end to it, or severely curtail it, is to make the punishment so over-the-top bad that athletes will be too afraid to risk steroids. How about having the team forfeit all games involving said player? Make the Dodgers’ record 0-29 instead of 21-8 this season (or whatever the record is in the 27 games Ramirez played so far this season). On top of that, suspend the player for two years.
Of course, that will never happen. The players and owners would never agree to something so costly.
So here we are. Another failed drug test. Let’s play ball!
Definitely no reason to be surprised, angry or indignant, but I do think it’s important to make a big deal about it.
Humiliation should be a great deterrent. Although, who knows if it will work on professional athletes. Logic isn’t often among their strongest attributes.
In response to another comment. See in context »How many people do you know who would risk humiliation for the chance at landing a $45 million contract? Humiliation is no deterrent. We’ve seen that again and again.
Fair enough, I guess I’m hoping that people who already have $45 million won’t (continue to) risk it.
In response to another comment. See in context »Why don’t they just create a Steroids league? Only players who dope up can play, and there needs to be proof of the doping. Mandatory testing. If you’re clean, you get suspended. If you test clean three times in a row, you get tossed out and over to the other league, the Clean-ers. Teams from each league play one another. There can be a dope-cam in the dugout. A Hypodermic Replay. A ‘Roid Rage moment for bad calls. The marketing possibilities are endless…
I like that idea a lot. It reminds me a lot of Super Baseball 2020, an awesome video game from way back when. Of course, the robot ballplayers in that game displayed far better personality than most professional baseball players.
In response to another comment. See in context »Manny has always had a reputation for disruptive behavior. Now we know why: steroid psychosis. When he comes back, we will know if he has really gotten clean if he acts sober.
Ha. I don’t buy that at all. I think he just has an eccentric public personality and probably will continue to.
I’m not sure this anecdote actually relates to any of the Manny discussion, but it’s interesting, so I’m throwing it out there. While covering a story up in the Bronx last year, I met a guy who claimed to have coached Manny when he played in high school (I believe in Washington Heights). He said Manny was legendary back then (1991 or so) for his work ethic. Most noteworthy among his workout routines, was that Manny would get up at dawn and do sprints up a hill with a thick chain that was connected to a tire wrapped around his waist, so the tire would drag behind him as he ran.
In response to another comment. See in context »I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I was totally shocked when I heard Manny tested positive.
I remember when all the steroid speculation started and I heard several analysts say “A-Rod and Manny are two guys you know are doing it all natural”. As it turns out, not so much.
The two best looking right-handed swings in baseball. When you watch them hit you can’t even imagine that they would need any PEDs.
In response to another comment. See in context »Angelinos are a forgiving people…as long as the Dodgers can continue their great year. If it all goes wrong, LA will want to ride Manny out of town. If the team can hold together during his suspension and excel when he returns, the story will be history by this time next year.
Because it’s the NL West, the Dodgers should be fine.
In response to another comment. See in context »Late in the game here, but tell me, how do I explain this to my kids? Manny was huge in our house, even after he left Boston, and now I have three little kids asking me why anyone in their right mind would take “medicine” when they could just do push-ups. Let’s not forget that these guys are role models, and their idiocy explodes the dreams of the game’s youngest fans. Not to mention it makes my job as Explainer in Chief next to impossible.
Manny, what were you thinking???
I have yet to be a parent, so my advice might be inconsequential, but this is how I explained it to my pet rabbit – who happens to be a real baseball idealist: Look Gandalf, baseball players are people and sometimes people are tempted to break rules and even cheat. But, when someone breaks a rule, they need to know that there is a good chance that they will get in trouble, embarrassed, or both.
Seriously though, kids understand that not every athlete/celeb is a role model, even if they seemed to be at first.
In response to another comment. See in context »