Los Angeles Dodgers’ Manny Ramires was banished for 50 games yesterday (Thurs., May 7). Ramirez said he did not take steroids and was prescribed medication by a doctor that contained a banned substance.
The commissioner’s office didn’t announce the specific violation by the 36-year-old outfielder, who apologized to the Dodgers and fans for “this whole situation.”
However, testing by Major League Baseball showed that Ramirez had testosterone in his body that was not natural and came from an artificial source, two people with knowledge of the case told ESPN’s Mark Fainaru-Wada and T.J. Quinn. The sources said that in addition to the artificial testosterone, Ramirez was identified as using the female fertility drug human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG.
The sources said Ramirez was suspended for using hCG because baseball had documentation to prove his use of the drug. A Major League Baseball source said Ramirez’s representatives indicated they would fight a suspension for using artificial testosterone.
Ramirez, in a statement issued by the players’ union, said: “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.”
ESPN.com reported earlier that testing showed Ramirez had used hCG, which is typically used by steroid users to restart their bodies’ natural testosterone production as they come off a steroid cycle. It is similar to Clomid, the drug Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and others used as clients of BALCO.
Ramirez’s case was set off when a test in spring training revealed he had elevated levels of testosterone in his body. MLB followed up with a more comprehensive test that confirmed the testosterone had to come from an artificial source, the sources said.
While investigating, MLB obtained documents that indicated Ramirez’s use of hCG, and it was those documents that formally were used to hand down the 50-game suspension. Baseball decided to suspend Ramirez for only hCG because, in the end, he would have been suspended for just the 50 games either way. There was a chance Ramirez could have proved that the testosterone did not come from a banned substance, the MLB source said.
Ramirez had scheduled an appeal and MLB officials were in Los Angeles to meet with him on Wednesday. Ramirez, however, withdrew the appeal Wednesday for the scheduled meeting and accepted the suspension. Under the union agreement, the drugs major league players test positive for are not named.
“We share the disappointment felt by our fans, our players, and every member of our organization,” Dodgers CEO Jamie McCourt said in a team-issued statement. “We support the policies of Major League Baseball, and we will welcome Manny back upon his return.”
Information from Espn.com contributed to this report.
