Manny Ramirez Suspended For Steroids

By stephen on May 7th, 2009

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Here’s some surprising news — Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez was suspended for 50 games today after testing positive for steroids. According to reports the future Hall of Famer will spend the 50 games without pay and will stand to lose around $7.7 million or one-third of his yearly salary. This turn of events comes as a staggering loss for the Dodgers as Ramirez had led the team to the top of the league and a current 13 game winning streak.

Ramirez had this to say about the incident:

“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.”

Ramirez of course is not the first baseball player to be caught with steroids since the league started testing in 2003, nor is he the first high-profile player. It was only earlier this year that Alex Rodriguez, the star player of the New York Yankees, also admitted to previous steroid use.

However, a 50 game suspension does seem to be a first of it’s kind.

(photo courtesy of SportsIllustrated.com)

UPDATE: Outfielder Xavier Paul will be taking the spot of Ramirez on the Dodgers roster. This serves as a promotion for Paul who had previously been playing for Triple-A Alburquerque.