RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling Manny Ramirez Suspended!!!

50 games for violating MLB's drug policy.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4148907



Sucks to be the Dodgers.

PS:

i can't believe the mitchell report didn't know about this!!!!

Um, Rob? This test happened AFTER the report. Try and keep up.

oh oh, that makes sense. thank goodness they caught manny just as he started cheating after midnight on july 31st, 2008

Um, Rob? The Mitchell Report came out on December 13, 2007. Try and keep up.

well, its possible he toyed around with very legal protein shakes and fruit smoothies in december 2007, but surely he only started cheating once he moved to the dodgers the following august. makes perfect sense.

in some sorta related note...

are teams allowed to void contracts for such reasons? is there a "i promise not to cheat this time, really" clause?

Dunno. Don't think so.

Sounds like a believeable story to me.

Sincerely,

A-Roid.

You have to be careful with those B-12 shots...confusion can ensue!

-Roger Clemens

Let's put aside pre-Mitchell Report testing and whatnot (Rob will drop his comments about the 2004 and 2007 seasons, and I'll forget about A-Rod and the 1998 - 2000 seasons). In a post-Mitchell report world, Major League Baseball HAD to release a list of both banned and acceptable substances to the Players Union - anyone with even a passing knowledge of union/management dealings knows this would have to be the case if MLB wanted these suspensions to stick. So, assuming these lists came out and are made available to players through the union and their own agents, how does ANYONE still fail a test? You'd think that Manny, knowing how much he means to the Dodgers and how harmful a positive test for PEDs would be to him, would ask either his union representative or have Boras ask about ANY prescription that doesn't show up on the "accepted substances" list.

Which is to say that I don't buy any contention from Manny's camp that this was an accident.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4149237&categoryid=25251705

Sorry, Peter, but I don't buy the excuse that Manny or JC Romero use. There's no way the players union wants these higher profile players to test positive for any kind of PEDs.

you presume too much!!



he's an insanely good power hitter that makes $20+ million a year. ...at 36.

there's just so, so, so much more upside to the issue of cheating than there is a downside. even in this extraordinarily rare circumstance where a player is not only caught, but held accountable (the second or third time in history?) his punishment is a 2 month vacation, with (ridiculous) pay. assuming there's no aforementioned contract clause, he has at least another year with the dodgers with that same situation. potentially more after that.

the bottom line is, it's worth it.

I don't think a player gets paid while he serves out his suspension. In fact, using experience as my guide, I'm almost certain he doesn't. While this doesn't hurt Manny as much as it would one of those Dominican minor leaguers who keep getting nailed, it does affect his pride (something everyone knows Manny cares about). Also, while I'm sure the Dodgers wouldn't exercise it anyways, we still don't know if such a clause exists in major league contracts.

My point is, I don't buy any of these players' contention - post-2007 - that they didn't know what they were taking was banned.

me neither. but its a ridiculous point even prior to 2007. its been known abuse for decades. illegal in life, but somehow not the "broken law" equivalent in sports.

if there's a doctor's prescription, let's see it. otherwise, thanks for putting a generation of sports accomplishments into doubt.

I just heard the report that Manny tested positive for a female fertility drug. So there you go. He wasn't cheating, or trying to hide a steroid cycle. He just badly wants to have another baby.

another name from Conseco checks out...

perhaps jose can bring manny to maury!

but i dont think manny has the sweet dancin moves like this guy

im sure there's a drug for that!

"Ramirez, now with the Dodgers, responded earlier Thursday, releasing a statement that a doctor-prescribed medication had triggered the positive test. Regardless, the league suspended one of this generation's greatest hitters for 50 games, forcing him to forfeit one-third of his 2009 salary."

The way Ramirez’s current contract is structured, he will lose $2,732,240 this season and $1,366,120 in each of the next three years—a saving of $6,830,600 for the Dodgers. The deal included a $20-million player option for next season.

Big Papi sounds off on Manny
By JOE RESNICK

• While holding court in front of his locker, answering questions about why he didn’t have a home run yet, Ortiz was asked how much not having Ramirez batting behind him in the lineup anymore was a factor.
  
  “I don’t think that has to do with Manny, because I’ve seen pitches to hit out,” he said.
  
  Ortiz hasn’t spoken with Ramirez since last season, sometime after the Red Sox sent the disgruntled star to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-way trade with Pittsburgh at the non-waiver trade deadline.

it also seems safe to assume that manny was ortiz's dealer

"Papi stinks"
AP

• Ortiz went 0 for 7 and stranded 12 runners—tying Trot Nixon’s(notes) team record — as his average plummeted to .208. The five-time All-Star dressed slowly while facing his corner locker, then turned around and saw a swarm of reporters surrounding him before saying: “Sorry, guys. I don’t feel like talking today. Just put down, `Papi stinks.”’
  
  Ortiz has gone 144 at-bats since his last home run on Sept. 22 against Cleveland’s Zach Jackson(notes) at Fenway Park. He is one at-bat from equaling his longest dry spell in the majors.
  
  Ortiz averaged 41.6 home runs and 128.4 RBIs during his first five seasons with the Red Sox before injuries last season limited him to 23 homers and 89 RBIs in 109 games. He had a career-high 54 homers in 2006, the year after he drove in a career-best 148 runs.
  
  Ortiz struck out three times—once with the bases loaded in the fourth— and left the bases loaded again in the 12th against Jason Bulger(notes) (1-1) with a dribbler in front of the plate.

whats the bosox fan reaction, joe? boo the underperforming, question the (holy fuck, of course) steroid thought, cheer on the struggling hometown hero, etc...?

he seems like a generally nice guy, even through the skew of NY papers.

He just needs to take some B-12 shots.

-Roger the Pedophile Clemens

From what I've seen, the general reaction is a combination of frustration, concern, and support. You get a lot of fans suggesting ways to drop or trade him, but most fans just want him to work through his problems and return to some semblance of the form we're used to.

You don't hear a lot of booing because, unlike Ol' Stonehands Lugo, Ortiz has performed well for the majority of his current contract. And, unlike Garciaparra back in '04, Ortiz has been realistic about his wrist injury and its carryover effect without sulking like a little bitch. Also, most fans understand that the loss of my Baby Mama has affected how pitchers handle Ortiz - Youkilis is a solid player, but he doesn't strike fear into pitchers the way manny did, and don't get me started about Lowell or DL Drew.

Of course steroids is in the back of fans' minds, especially after the Baby Mama revelation. But I've heard multiple non-Boston based reporters shoot down those suggestions. Ortiz was never a small guy, nor does he have a "steroid body." And he's been vocal for years on the subject, with no revelations. So, until proven guilty, he's innocent of charges.

Personally, I'm frustrated that he's yet to hit a home run. We need his power, as Youkilis, Pedroia, and Bay can't carry the team forever. But I'm not going to boo a guy who helped bring two titles to Boston, loves, playing here, and is a big smiling face of the franchise.

He's a pedophile now?

8 year olds.