Manny Ramirez Suspended 50 Games

Steroids have once again come to the forefront of the Major League Baseball season this week. In a somewhat shocking announcement perennial all star Manny Ramirez has been suspended 50 games for violating the league's banned substance policy. It really appeared that the league had put most of the controversy surrounding performance enhancement behind it but it just never seems to go away.

Of course Ramirez is fighting the suspension and has claimed that all he did was ingest a medication given to him by a doctor. The substance that was found in his system was a female fertility drug known as human chorionic gonadotropin. This is yet to be confirmed by the league but a few sources have backed up the claim. HGC is very popular among athletes that have used steroids because it can slow down the effects that may affect someone who has stopped using the enhancing drugs. Often times, after a player stops putting steroids into their body it will stop producing testosterone at all which can affect a person's ability to perform.

Unlike most other suspensions in the MLB this one did not come on the heels of a drug test. The suspension came after substantial evidence was found after the initial tests were done in the spring. Ramirez's name has been added to the ever-growing list of prominent baseball players that have been involved in the steroid scandal. From Alex Rodriguez to Sammy Sosa to Barry Bands and Roger Clemens, the list goes on and on. The sport has been tarnished beyond repair over the last decade and many fans are unsure if the MLB will ever be able to crawl out from behind the cloud that steroids have cast.

No matter what is done from this point on it seems that every player, record or accomplishment will be questioned. Every player inducted into the hall of fame that has ever been mentioned dealing with or been seen near steroids will have an asterisk placed beside their name. In many other cases some players that were sure to be inducted to the hall may never get the chance including athletes like Mark McGwire and Rafael Pameiro.

Ramirez broke out of his usually cocky state and actually apologized to baseball fans after the suspension was handed down. He stated that he was unaware that the medication he was given had a banned substance within it but took full responsibility for his actions. Whether any of us go so far as to believe Ramirez' claims is another story, but one person that doesn’t buy it is Jose Canseco.

Canseco came out publicly on Thursday and explained why exactly someone would ingest HCG. He went on to tell everyone that he needed to begin taking it to return his body and hormone levels to normal after he went cold turkey on the steroids he had taken previously. All in all Ramirez and the league have a lot of explaining to do before they will be able to win back a lot of lost fans.