Breaking News: Manny Suspended 50 Games for PEDs

[J-Beck]

Well I can't say I'm too disappointed...

 

I kinda half wanted to see him fail miserably in LA after he left the Sox.

 

But I question whether or not a 50 game suspension is adequate for supposedly something that is meant for erectile dysfunction.

[rician blast]

I'm surprised we haven't seen a void clause for PED use yet. Anyone know if the MLBPA was able to get these excluded in the last CBA?

 

If I'm an owner in the current climate, I put them in any contract of appreciable time. That is, I do if I'm serious about reversing the culture of the game.

 

I thought I heard Tom (sp?) Kurchian'Kerchian/Kerjcian..whatever the f*** his name is... say that in the last CBA the player's association won on that front, but it was something owners had raised.

 

Thing is I wonder how that would work out cuz if they have a void clause and opted not to exercise it, the franchise looks like a sell-out.

 

I'd suspect it's something that'll be very contentious during the next negotations.

[BoSox21]

I'm sure a clause like that could be included in a future CBA but I think for now, Selig is taking the "baby steps" approach to it.

[Teddyballgame10]

Manny was clean on 15 tests and his #s were very consistant in Boston till he started declining in 07.

The idea that the sox titles are tainted is pure f***ing nonsense just as NY's are legit from 96-98-00.

 

another case of desperate yankee fans who should are pulling their pricks looking for a reason,any reason at all, to gloat at our expense.Manny never tested positive in Boston and hes not on this years team thats 5-0 against NY...Give it a rest.

 

Perfectly said. I could careless what hes doing now.

[J-Beck]

When I first heard the news that the substance was not steroids, I immediately thought it was marijuana.

 

He just seems like the guy who would be a total pothead.

[Mr Crunchy]

Manny looks like a burner to me but does this erectile dysfunction thing have any legs and how do I explain this to a 13 yr old kid who worships manny and isnt familiar with Viagra or the reasons behind its popularity amongst the Yankee fans and their squeezes?.

Based on the power surge I tend to think that Manny was juicing but Id prefer to see him come out of this clean.

[BoSox21]

you just explain to him that he cheated and broke the rules and hopes he learns a lesson from it. at some point, he'll have to learn that athletes aren't role models anyway

[Mr Crunchy]

Ya but what if it was a viagra like substance?that isnt cheating,

thats just being a typical Republican or a Yankee fan.

I dont want to explain the whole erectile dysfuction thing to a kid who i hope is still a virgin.

[Lil D-Ped]

This surprised me a lot.. I saw Ramirez shirtless photo in Johnny Damon's book "Idiot" and there was no trace of muscle at all. Which led me to believe that he did not take steroids or illegal substance of any kind. I guess you can't be too sure.

[jacksonianmarch]

On WFAN some callers went down the "Red Sox championship is tainted" path. Loved it when the callers were told, by a Yankee fan, that the Red Sox have been the better team this decade and that they are better now.

 

Anyone turning this into a Yankee-Red Sox thing is a fkn douche.

 

that is for the sox fans who like to pretend that the yankees were the only champion to have tainted players on their teams. I dont care. But there are plenty of people on this site who maintain that the yankees championships are tainted because of Clemens and Pettitte. For those people, seeing Manny fail a drug test is ironic, eh? For those who didnt make those statements, then this doesnt apply to you.

[jacksonianmarch]

are people truly thinking that Manny is using this solely as a sexual enhancer? How many on here are THAT gullible

[Redguitar985]

Bill Plaschke just went off on Manny on ATH. Maybe he was overreacting, but I can't say I blame him. When we've had so many big name, hall-of-fame players connected to steroids, when is it ever going to end?

 

Today makes me really hope Albert Pujols is clean so we have at least ONE clean superstar.

[CrespoBlows]

Bill Plaschke

 

Worst reporter ever.

[BoSox21]

I dont want to explain the whole erectile dysfuction thing to a kid who i hope is still a virgin.

 

He took a testosterone booster, no need to bring up anything related to ED

[BSN07]

I don't think of Championships as being tainted. Someone on the winning team where using. As some where probably using on the losing teams as well. To argue otherwise is dumb. It's good for a poke in the ribs, but anything beyond that is fruitless.

 

I'm not slow or stoned enough to think Manny was using this just for sex enhancement.

 

I thank Manny for what he did in Boston pre 2008, but what goes around comes around, and the fact he's made 150M+ dollars, I find it hard to feel sorry for him.

 

 

But like I said before, give me 150M+ and I'd use roids too. I'd prolly put my balls in a deep fryer as well...

[example1]

I'm surprised we haven't seen a void clause for PED use yet. Anyone know if the MLBPA was able to get these excluded in the last CBA?

 

If I'm an owner in the current climate, I put them in any contract of appreciable time. That is, I do if I'm serious about reversing the culture of the game.

 

That's exactly what I"m saying too ORS. No team should put up with this s***. First, big market teams start refusing to sign those guys; next, those players' agents (like Boras) start enforcing it, doing their own testing, etc., to ensure that their guys come with a stamp of approval.

 

BoSox21, I think your "this rests solely with the player" approach negates the role that the players association has and that the cutthroat agents have in promoting their players and the game itself. Between A-Rod and Manny this is plenty of reason for teams to just avoid Boras altogether. He brags about how much his players contribute to winning, but does he give a f*** about how much his players have impacted fans trust of the game itself?

 

THe game is extremely popular, yes, but it is losing popularity compared to football--a sport that doesn't seem to have the same impact of steroids despite its obvious usage. To me, steroids get to the heart of what is valuable to many baseball fans: numbers, consistency, records, individual performance within a team framework. Football can get away with an OLB being suspended for 4 games because the games that Shaun Merriman misses aren't filled with "merriman would have made that tackle" comments the same way that replacing Manny Ramirez with league average LF is an obvious pain for the team.

[example1]

I'm sure a clause like that could be included in a future CBA but I think for now' date=' Selig is taking the "baby steps" approach to it.[/quote']

 

Why wouldn't Selig approach it aggressively? This isn't about Selig, it is about the players association, which is the most powerful players association in all of sports. They can threaten to strike whenever they want to and have followed through in the past. There is no salary cap, only a weak cap on draft pick values, and the PA is unwilling to subject itself to blood tests or any type of voiding. Blame the PA and the players.

[J-Beck]

This article makes me want to kick babies.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090507&sportCat=mlb

[BoSox21]

Why wouldn't Selig approach it aggressively? This isn't about Selig' date=' it is about the players association, which is the most powerful players association in all of sports. They can threaten to strike whenever they want to and have followed through in the past. There is no salary cap, only a weak cap on draft pick values, and the PA is unwilling to subject itself to blood tests or any type of voiding. Blame the PA and the players.[/quote']

 

It's not about why he wouldn't appreach it aggressively. He had to fight the PA every step of the way just to get a damn testing program into MLB and it took congress intervening to actually get that going. So imagine that it would take for Selig to get the PA to agree to have owners getting the ability to void contracts if a player gets a positive test.

 

He brags about how much his players contribute to winning' date=' but does he give a f*** about how much his players have impacted fans trust of the game itself?[/quote']

 

Umm....no he doesn't...

 

What the hell gives you the idea that Scott Boras, or any agent for that matter, should or would care about ANYTHING other than getting their clients the best contract possible? Scott Boras is not a caretaker of the game of baseball.

[ORS]

Why wouldn't Selig approach it aggressively? This isn't about Selig' date=' it is about the players association, which is the most powerful players association in all of sports. They can threaten to strike whenever they want to and have followed through in the past. There is no salary cap, only a weak cap on draft pick values, and the PA is unwilling to subject itself to blood tests or any type of voiding. Blame the PA and the players.[/quote']

There are three main variables in the business of baseball equation. The owners (producers), players (resources), and fans (consumers). Two of those three groups have formed a union to focus their behavior on what is in their best interest as a group. The first was the owners when they formed the league. The next was the players. IMO, the final will be the fans.

 

Two decades ago, I would have thought it impossible. Too much distance and disorganization between groups of people that wouldn't put up with inconvenience of maintaining such an endeavor. But the new connected world has made participation in a variety of causes virtually hassle free. It's only a matter of time before someone with the time and interest necessary to get it started gets the ball rolling. Hell, if I won the lottery, I'd probably do it.

 

When this happens, the loudest voice will be that of the fans because behind their voice is the $$. United, they can get anything to happen from the owners and players.

 

You won't ever see solidarity like you do with players. Boycotts would probably only occur at the 50% level of "fan union" members at best, but ask any business if it is comfortable losing 50% of it's revenue.

[BoSox21]

I honestly don't believe that the casual fan cares all that much about players using PEDs. Sure when ESPN.com has a poll asking "Are you outraged?", 85% will say yes but how many of them would honestly boycott the game?

 

If I lived in Boston and news came out that Ortiz failed a drug test, it wouldn't keep me from watching games on NESN or going to Fenway

[yeszir]

This article makes me want to kick babies.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090507&sportCat=mlb

 

Way to be a downer Bill.

[ORS]

I honestly don't believe that the casual fan cares all that much about players using PEDs. Sure when ESPN.com has a poll asking "Are you outraged?", 85% will say yes but how many of them would honestly boycott the game?

 

If I lived in Boston and news came out that Ortiz failed a drug test, it wouldn't keep me from watching games on NESN or going to Fenway

It isn't whether or not you would stop watching if a single player was identified by the testing program.

 

Fans would unite, IMO, behind forcing the MLBPA to stop obstructing efforts to rid the game of PEDs. They'd get behind allowing owners to be more aggressive in identifying and penalizing users. At least, I think they would.

[schillingouttheks]

When the A-Rod thing came out it was a different story. We took a beating. Now that The Manny thing has come out you want the whole Yankee/Red Sox thing to go away. You can't have your cake and eat it to damnit. Grow the f*** up. If you guys can dish it you should be able to take. Now that your leverage is "gone" you want it to go away' date=' well it doesn't work like that.[/quote']

 

No, I maintained the stance that everyone does it and the rest of the list should be released because it's not fair to A-Rod, as much as I dislike him. Go look for those posts. They're there. I never once made Yanks/Sox an issue in this. In fact, I remember repeatedly telling people to go above the rivalry, because it wasn't just the Yankees.

 

I would expect the same treatment and backup in return.

[CrespoBlows]

Bill Simmons is a douchebag.

[example1]

Umm....no he doesn't...

 

What the hell gives you the idea that Scott Boras, or any agent for that matter, should or would care about ANYTHING other than getting their clients the best contract possible? Scott Boras is not a caretaker of the game of baseball.

 

It's really simple. The pool of money that Boras has to pull from is directly related to the popularity of the game and the fans' ability to see the game as based on fair competition. Steroid and PED usage reduce fan interest and tarnish the game. If, as ORS hypothesizes, the fans start to turn away from the game--either in a united effort as by attrition--then teams will start to lose revenue. Combined with the s***** economy and a rigid players union and we're talking about lots and lots of money that Boras will not be getting for his players.

 

Manny already got less than Boras wanted, as did a bunch of non-Boras players like Abreu and Dunn. It isn't going to get any better.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Bill Plaschke just went off on Manny on ATH. Maybe he was overreacting, but I can't say I blame him. When we've had so many big name, hall-of-fame players connected to steroids, when is it ever going to end?

 

Today makes me really hope Albert Pujols is clean so we have at least ONE clean superstar.

Bill Plaschke is the ultimate f*** nugget. I don't listen to anything he says.

[rician blast]

from this link :

 

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

 

comes the following:

 

"testing by Major League Baseball showed that Ramirez had testosterone in his body that was not natural and came from an artificial source, two people with knowledge of the case told ESPN's Mark Fainaru-Wada and T.J. Quinn. The sources said that in addition to the artificial testosterone, Ramirez was identified as using the female fertility drug human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG."

 

OK, so he had unnatural testosterone in his body AND HCG, which as I mentioned in earlier posts is a key post-steroid cycle substance in order to avoid a host of problems that accompany steroid-induced shut down of natural testosterone production.

 

Guilty as a motha f***a.

[BoSox21]

Fans would unite, IMO, behind forcing the MLBPA to stop obstructing efforts to rid the game of PEDs. They'd get behind allowing owners to be more aggressive in identifying and penalizing users. At least, I think they would.

 

I'm sure they would unite behind the cause but how far would fans be willing to go to force the issue? They would have to take their dollars out of the game and that means not buying any more merchandise or going to games. They'd also have to stop watching games on TV forcing advertisers on TV networks to pull their ads thus costing MLB a ton of money.

[BoSox21]

Steroid and PED usage reduce fan interest and tarnish the game.

 

I disagree. Baseball revenues are at an all-time high. Look, I love the idealism of a fan boycott of all things MLB but I think it's a lot of wishful thinking.