The Dope on the Suspension of Manny Ramirez

photo: Ray Stubblebine/Reuters

Interesting article on ESPN.com by investigative writers Mark Fainaru-Wada and T.J. Quinn.  According to their article, the case against Manny Ramirez has been building since Spring Training when he was flagged for elevated testosterone – at least four times more than what the human body normally produces.  The writers take it from here:

At that point, MLB notified Ramirez of his elevated levels and began further investigation, including taking two primary actions:

First, MLB asked the World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Montreal, which conducts its testing, to perform a carbon isotope ratio test to determine whether the testosterone spike resulted from natural variations within Ramirez’s body or from an artificial source. The test revealed the testosterone was synthetic — in other words, it was ingested somehow.

The second action taken by MLB was when they asked for his medical records, which were provided by the MLBPA.  Those were the records that produced the smoking gun.

Within the records was a prescription written for the drug human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) — No. 55 on the list of banned performance-enhancing substances in the policy. The drug is mainly used for female fertility issues, but it is best known among male steroid users as a substance that can help kick-start the body’s production of natural testosterone, which is stymied when using synthetic testosterone (aka steroids).

The synthetic testosterone in Ramirez’s body could not have come from the hCG, according to doping experts, and so suddenly Ramirez had two drugs to answer for. Worse still for the ballplayer, MLB now had a document showing he had been prescribed a banned substance. This was iron-clad evidence that could secure a 50-game suspension.

Doh.  Now here’s the interesting part: when Ramirez issued his statement after being suspended, he only apologized for the hCG and NOT for the elevated testosterone.  Someone’s got some more explaining to do.  I didn’t want to believe that Manny would so willingly cheat and lie to better his performance, but that’s becoming clearer by the day as the evidence comes out.

Like Bill Plashke and Kurt Streeter at the LA Times, I’m waiting for Manny to truly (and I mean truly) apologize to the fans for his actions.  I think I originally heard this idea on DodgerTalk, but I would love to see Ramirez start sitting with the fans in the Mannywood section of the outfield.  With security, the circus atmosphere could be managed and it would be refreshing to see a star athlete take the time to explain what happened directly to the people.