Manny shows need for harsher drug policy
Sean Kent
Issue date: 5/12/09 Section: Sports
What a difference a week makes. Last Wednesday, the Dodgers were the toast of the National League. They were seemingly running away with the division already in early May, in the midst of a record-breaking 13-0 start to their home schedule their superstar slugger Manny Ramirez was batting .348 with six homeruns on the young season. By the following morning, the Dodgers' momentum had done a complete 180 degree tailspin. Ramirez had tested positive for human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a banned substance that is commonly used by athletes after taking steroids to restart their natural testosterone production. Under Major League Baseball's drug policy he was slapped with an immediate 50-game suspension Without their cleanup hitter in the lineup Thursday night, the Dodgers lost their first home game of the season to the worst team in baseball, the Washington Nationals.
With its second major black eye of the season, maybe it's time for MLB to consider increasing the punishment for the drug policy. Ramirez will only be gone for eight weeks, equivalent to the time a player would miss for an injury. While still a sizeable amount of time, the slugger will be back July 3, well-rested and ready to go just in time for the second half of the season and the playoff race.
But perhaps the worst case scenario for almost everyone involved would be if Ramirez is voted onto the National League's All Star team by the fans this July. According to MLB, he would be eligible for the Midsummer Classic and people in Los Angeles have already begun to rally around their disgraced star. If fans in the second biggest media market in the country do stuff the ballot boxes and vote Ramirez in as one of the starting outfielders, baseball would wind up with the proverbial egg on its face and be forced to honor the same player they tried to discipline. It would be an unparalleled paradox for the sport in which the same player served one of the game's strictest penalties and also received one of its highest honors.
With its second major black eye of the season, maybe it's time for MLB to consider increasing the punishment for the drug policy. Ramirez will only be gone for eight weeks, equivalent to the time a player would miss for an injury. While still a sizeable amount of time, the slugger will be back July 3, well-rested and ready to go just in time for the second half of the season and the playoff race.
But perhaps the worst case scenario for almost everyone involved would be if Ramirez is voted onto the National League's All Star team by the fans this July. According to MLB, he would be eligible for the Midsummer Classic and people in Los Angeles have already begun to rally around their disgraced star. If fans in the second biggest media market in the country do stuff the ballot boxes and vote Ramirez in as one of the starting outfielders, baseball would wind up with the proverbial egg on its face and be forced to honor the same player they tried to discipline. It would be an unparalleled paradox for the sport in which the same player served one of the game's strictest penalties and also received one of its highest honors.