Slugger Manny Ramirez Suspended 50 Games for Drug Violation

The country was in an uproar about the state of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the sport just a few years ago, with Congress holding hearings, sports writers working around the clock to dig up more dirt, and fans taunting known violators at games around the country. That furor has calmed into a sort of reserved cynicism and there is a feeling among many true fans that the game may be beyond repair. Yesterday, the announcement that well-known slugger Manny Ramirez, an outfielder with the Los Angeles Dodgers, was being suspended for 50 games after violating the league’s drug policy brought a new wave of shock.

For the record, Ramirez claimed that he did not take steroids and that he was prescribed medication by a doctor that ended up containing a banned substance. The drug, called human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), is typically prescribed as a fertility drug for women. The drug, however, is also popular with steroid users because it apparently helps lessen the side effects of going off a cycle of those performance-enhancers.

Ramirez, speaking of his violation of the league policy, noted, "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." The backlash has already begun, however, as some have again called for lifetime bans of such users of performance-enhancing drugs and others are sure to take issue with Manny’s apparent suggestion that his is not responsible for the drugs that entered his body.