Manny Ramirez Tests Positive for PED - Suspended 50 games

[MessiahRp]

Can't believe I forgot all about Mike Deane. Thought he looked familiar.

Think the fans will still vote Manny into the All-Star game? That would be a really awkward situation for MLB.

No worse than Shawn Merriman being in the NFL Pro Bowl after he tested positive.

Rp

 

 

[Thurston Fluff]

But if they use it now they are going to get caught. So now it's just arrogant stupidity that compels a first ballot HOF'er to risk his reputation.

 

Because they know they can always just pass it off as unknowingly taking a prescription from their doctor and their reputation is unharmed. In this case I even half believe it. All that means is baseball players don't need to be smarter than your average 5 year old to make millions.

Hell Merriman tested positive for steroids and there was pretty much no backlash at all so I don't think players in any sport are all that concerned about how it will harm their reputation..

[saget]

I really want to know what the medicine was. Maybe Manny was scared of getting swine flu and then tested positive!

[homer]

"Because they know they can always just pass it off as unknowingly taking a prescription from their doctor and their reputation is unharmed."

Although people are wising up to that too. Professional athletes have access to the best medical care on the planet. Why go to a non-sanctioned MD? Answer below:

 

http://www.geocities.com/HankAzaria1/Hank_site/Hank_pics/Selected/DrNickRiviera/new4_good.gif

Just stupid.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

With all the press and focus on this issue, why anyone would take anything without consulting with a team doctor is beyond me...which tells me you would only do it if you weren't supposed to. It doesn't sound like it's 'roids, but it's something.

 

MLB just continues to tarnish themselves with all of this. There is no sport were history, continuity and stats matter as much as baseball...the steroid era has blown all that out and made the record book a joke. example, Eddie Matthews or Hank Aaron's 500th HR...very big deal...Gary Sheffield's...meh. Management and the union have dug their own grave on this one.

[RobertR]

Manny doesn't have a leg to stand on in a fight. Reports are that it wasn't a tainted supplement, but just him taking something from the banned substance list. "For medical reasons." He's going to have to have a heck of an explenation for why he's taking a woman's fertility drug though that jumpstarts testosterone production.

 

Robert

[joepepsi]

Manny doesn't have a leg to stand on in a fight. Reports are that it wasn't a tainted supplement, but just him taking something from the banned substance list. "For medical reasons." He's going to have to have a heck of an explenation for why he's taking a woman's fertility drug though that jumpstarts testosterone production.

According to wikipedia it's a drug used as part of the steroid cycle.

In the world of performance enhancing drugs, hCG is increasingly used in combination with various anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) cycles. It is included in some sports' illegal drug lists.

When AAS are put into a male body, the body's natural negative-feedback loops cause the body to shut down its own production of testosterone via shutdown of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPGA). It is a common misconception that estrogen will be elevated post cycle. Generally, estrogen is below a normal level after a cycle.^{[11][/sup] High levels of AASs that mimic the body's natural testosterone trigger the hypothalamus to shut down its production of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus. Without GnRH, the pituitary gland stops releasing luteinizing hormone (LH). LH normally travels from the pituitary via the blood stream to the testes, where it triggers the production and release of testosterone. Without LH, the testes shut down their production of testosterone, causing testicular atrophy.}

In males, hCG mimics LH and helps restore and maintain testosterone production in the testes. As such, hCG is commonly used during and after steroid cycles to maintain and restore testicular size as well as endogenous testosterone production. However, if hCG is used for too long and in too high a dose, the resulting rise in natural testosterone will eventually inhibit its own production via negative feedback on the hypothalamus and pituitary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...n_chorionic_gonadotropin

 

[MadScientist]

Manny doesn't have a leg to stand on in a fight. Reports are that it wasn't a tainted supplement, but just him taking something from the banned substance list. "For medical reasons." He's going to have to have a heck of an explenation for why he's taking a woman's fertility drug though that jumpstarts testosterone production.

According to wikipedia it's a drug used as part of the steroid cycle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...n_chorionic_gonadotropin

 

So the 'personal health problem' sounds like it was shrinking testes. If the reports about the substance being hCG are correct, he should get an extra 25 games for his lame, weaselly response.

[MJLiverock]

HcG is also used in a lot of weight loss pills, there are numerous websites selling the HcG diet.

 

One particular site talks about the steroid cycle of use but also lists about 30 different brand names that HcG is sold or listed in the ingredients under by different pharma companies.

 

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/cathcg.htm

[thunderbat30]

This article points to ED. Interesting twist and I can hear the jokes coming if this is the case.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ys-ramirezsuspension050709&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[GormanHarvey]

I have just been following this news about Manny on here, but if I am reading these last few posts correctly, it seems to me he was taking hCG to combat the effects of long term steroid use? Does that sound about right? Wasn't happy about his pea-sized testes?

[Tedaldtada]

Wow, I am going to catch some flack for this, but I believe Manny regarding the 15 tests in last 3 years thing. I know the testing is probably lagging behind what is being used, but you got to think that at least the last 5 tests or so were strict enough to catch most guys. Who knows though.

 

I wonder if the players ever would consider letting the testing become public. That way all of their clean tests would be made public too. Public knowledge of clean tests would lessen the hurt from these once in a while failed tests.

[bigredrobbo]

Surely the whole "I didn't know what was in the prescribed medicine" defense died with the Cream and the Clear, didn't it? Especially given the heightened sense of care that professional athletes have to have these days. I know a guy who competes in nickel and dime Triathlon events and who reads EVERY SINGLE ingredient list of every drink or piece of food he puts in his mouth. For a high profile athlete like Manny to claim ignorance is disingenuous at best, dishonest at worst.

[MJLiverock]

But does your friend know what every ingredient actually is? He may be looking for certain things but not realize that compound is called something completely different by that particular supplement maker or supplier to the supplement maker.

 

It is definitely suspicious that Manny was taking HcG, which is used in connecting with steroid cycles. But he could be telling the truth given that HcG is used in diet pills, ED pills, and is marketed under at least 30 different names.

 

I know it seems pretty stupid that an athlete doesn't use only team approved doctors and doesn't go out of their way to avoid these so called mistakes like have a buddy try the supplements and test him or something like that. But think how many people at your office or work get all bent out of shape if the company HMO changes and they have to see a different doctor or if they were told, hey this is your doctor now, we don't care who you've seen in the past. Is it in the players best interest to just go along, probably yes, but these guys have a lot of money and like to get their way so they see whomever the want or whomever gives them what they want.

[adamb100]

What i'm interested in is why would a doctor perscribe a baseball player something that could get him banned/suspended? Don't doctors know that steroids are against mlb rules?

[MJLiverock]

What i'm interested in is why would a doctor perscribe a baseball player something that could get him banned/suspended? Don't doctors know that steroids are against mlb rules?

Because HcG is not a steroid. You can go online and by pure HcG right now without a prescription.

[Ennder]

HcG was not a banned until a year ago. They claim the doctor checked the list but apparently it was a year old list that did not include it.

 

The only real reason for him to be taking it is because of damage caused by steroid use in the past though so not much he can do about it.

[Baldkin]

Every team has a team doctor, every team has a team pharmacist as well..... these people are PAID to know what the players can and cannot take and can and cannot use. If the player chooses to go away from those people to get drugs or any form of medicine they deserve whatever suspension they get.

 

"I did it on accident" isn't a valid excuse when you're given every opportunity by your team to NOT DO SOMETHING ACCIDENTALLY.

 

That's like saying "I didn't mean to drive my car off that cliff" even though you drove past 15 signs saying "SLOW DOWN" and "CLIFF AHEAD" and you went 110mph around the curve anyway.

[chuckiehacks]

Every team has a team doctor, every team has a team pharmacist as well..... these people are PAID to know what the players can and cannot take and can and cannot use. If the player chooses to go away from those people to get drugs or any form of medicine they deserve whatever suspension they get.

 

Not only that, but MLB has a hotline that players can call. All you (or your agent / trainer / doctor / pharmacist / mother) has to do is dial the phone, read the name of the drug and listed for a "banned" or "not banned" response. But apparently that's too hard to do, so these guys would rather risk millions of dollars and their reputation by assuming what their taking is ok.

[phxMILWfan]

I was just reading the reactions at dodgersblues.com's forum and was intrigued by the title of their version of brewerfan's major league section -- Brewers 16, Dodgers 1. Does anybody know why they would call their major league section that?

No idea what this means but I'd love to know.

[kramnoj]

That's $7 million from the $207 million he'll have earned in his career from salary alone once the 2010 season is over. To me that doesn't seem to be significant especially if PEDs helped him earn most of that money.

 

You may not think that $7M is significant to Manny, but Manny held out for a long time to get the most money he could. That may be a pride thing, or it may be that he wants the most money he can get. It may only be 3% of his career earnings, but I think there are are few people to whom $7M is truly insignificant.

[TooLiveBrew]

That's like saying "I didn't mean to drive my car off that cliff" even though you drove past 15 signs saying "SLOW DOWN" and "CLIFF AHEAD" and you went 110mph around the curve anyway

 

HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!1?!1?!?!11

[Schlitz001]

You may not think that $7M is significant to Manny, but Manny held out for a long time to get the most money he could.

The point I was trying to make was that Manny likely earned some of his paycheck due to inflated stats from the use of PEDs in the first place. How much would he be worth if not for the PEDs to begin with? That's a number that will never be known, but I suspect it's less than the $200 million that he's earned (minus the $7 million).

[Katuluu]

I have just been following this news about Manny on here, but if I am reading these last few posts correctly, it seems to me he was taking hCG to combat the effects of long term steroid use? Does that sound about right? Wasn't happy about his pea-sized testes?

Testicular atrophy (shrunken testicles and loss of function) is not a long term effect of using steroids, it is a short term effect. When you stop taking steroids your testicles will return to their normal size and resume producing sperm within a few weeks.

[GormanHarvey]

Testicular atrophy (shrunken testicles and loss of function) is not a long term effect of using steroids, it is a short term effect. When you stop taking steroids your testicles will return to their normal size and resume producing sperm within a few weeks.

Ok so that means he was probably taking steroids fairly recently then?