Sports Blog

And so another one bites the dust.

In case you have been living under a rock for the last 24 hours and/or haven’t had any human contact, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez has tested positive for human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, a female fertility drug and banned substance of Major League Baseball.

Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games and will lose more than $7 million dollars in salary after deciding to drop his appeal of the ruling.

Sadly, for those who root for the Dodgers, the savior of their team has joined the likes of other home run hitting heroes who have fallen under the dark cloud of the steroids era.  While Ramirez hasn’t tested positive for steroids — he said he has passed about 15 drug tests over the last five seasons — the tarnish to his image may be too much for even him to overcome.

hCG is, after all, a drug commonly used by steroid users to get their bodies to naturally reproduce testosterone after a steroids cycle.  At best he is guilty of gross negligence when it comes to monitoring drugs he puts into his body.  At worst he is a cheater a la Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, etc., etc.

We aren’t supposed to be surprised any more when a new name pops up on the list of substance (ab)users, but regardless of whether or not you are a fan of Ramirez it is likely you were at least a bit shocked when you heard the news.  Manny is a lot of things, but until yesterday a cheater wasn’t thought to be one of them.  Ugly exit from Boston aside, Ramirez has been the goofy, eccentric, fan-friendly player that Bonds never was.  For all his shortcomings, Ramirez was the carefree-to-a-fault, clean power hitter baseball desperately needed.

Or so we all thought.

Manny being Manny used to be a nice way of saying Ramirez is a bit of knucklehead.   Now it just feels like the butt of a bad late night joke, the easy way of saying Ramirez’s deception can only be described as Ramirez-like.

McGwire taught us all that chicks dig the long ball, but nobody told him and the players that followed that drug induced potency didn’t count.  Now Ramirez has taught us all a lesson we hopefully won’t soon forget.

Looks can be deceiving. Just because a player doesn’t show the typical signs of steroid use (Bond’s enormous head) doesn’t mean he is above suspicion.  Just because a player is engaging and charismatic doesn’t mean he is beyond doubt.  Just because a man can lift a city doesn’t mean he can evade punishment.

And, apparently, just because you aren’t supposed to be surprised any more doesn’t mean you can’t be.

Image Source: Wbz.com

There was one question on everybody’s mind after the first round of the home run derby – from people who don’t follow baseball to those who only do so casually – just who in the world is Josh Hamilton?

After all, the talk leading up to the home run derby was primarily about the players who chose not to participate in the fan favorite event. New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez was too busy playing prima donna to hit a few home runs on his home field. All-time home run leader Barry Bonds can’t even find a major league team to take him at the veteran’s minimum.

Then, as magically as his dream foretold, Hamilton put on a show that baseball fans will be talking about for a very long time. In the house that Ruth built, in the last year Yankee Stadium will exist in its current form, Hamilton laid the foundation for the post-steroids era.

Let’s face it; this year’s all-star game was supposed to be a game that the casual baseball fan didn’t care about. Baseball was at a crossroads between the stars of the steroids-era-past and the young, talented players that had yet to breach mainstream stardom.

Or so we all thought. Hamilton blasted 28 home runs in the first round of the home run derby, surpassing the Bobby Abreu mark of 24 set back in 2005. The average length of each of his home runs was an astounding 445 feet, with three landing beyond 500 feet.

Hamilton would eventually lose in the finals to Justin Morneau, but as Hamilton would probably agree, sometimes the beauty is in the process. You see, a few years ago Hamilton was banned from Major League Baseball for substance abuse and was an admitted drug addict. The 1999 first overall pick was walking down a dangerous path and slowly wasting away, quite literally at points.

Eventually, however, he would get his life back together. After a vivid dream in which he says Jesus helped him fight off the devil, Hamilton started to get clean. The MLB would eventually reinstate him, and in 2007 the Cincinnati Reds drafted him.

Which brought us to Monday night, when a 27-year-old who two years earlier had a dream of being interviewed at a home run derby at Yankee Stadium, stepped to the plate and had all of us asking just who the heck Josh Hamilton is? He didn’t have the name recognition of previous home run derby notables like Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa or Mark McGwire, but he left with one of the most remarkable stories you’ll ever hear in sports: the story of a troubled man who struggled in his life and managed to defy the odds.

A man who overcame addiction and literally lived his dream, in the process helping rebuild the tarnished image of baseball in the aftermath of the Barry Bonds’ and Jose Canseco’s of the past. Maybe this year’s all-star festivities weren’t what we expected them to be, but they were better than any of us, with the exception of Hamilton, could have ever dreamt they would be.

Photo Source.

This week in news and sports blogs around the Net:

• Dennis Rodman arrested for domestic violence - LA Times
• Book sales not going so well? Jose Canseco’s $2.5 million home foreclosed on - Fox Sports
• Chelsea soccer players celebrate and party with Jenna Jameson - The Sun
• Top 7: Overhyped Pitching Debuts - Joe Sports Fan
• Joe Buck and Tim McCarver got rides at the World Series by U.S. Marshalls - Sports by Brooks
• Karl Malone Impregnated a 13-year-old - Buffalo News
• We Should Be GMs give their April Phillies Rewind - We Should be GMs
  
• Dwayne Wade explains his relationship with Star Jones - Deuce of Davenport

And in the Smarter Sports Blog we talked about:

• “The Rangers will try anything, and anyone, for a win”
• Buffalo Guard Suspended for Term Paper Ad on Facebook
• Show Me the Money! Eagles Sue Terrell Owens for $770,000
• Peyton Manning Loses his Cool on the Sidelines
• Roger Clemens Linked to John Daly’s Ex, Paulette Dean Daly
  

This week in news and sports blogs around the Net:

• Did Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson get married? - Sports by Brooks
• Top 7: Annoying Players of the Coach K Era - Joe Sports Fan
• Hideki Matsui gets married. Wins bet with Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu - Sports Illustrated
• NFL owners to consider new rules on hair length - The Sporting News
• Stuff athletes like - The Sports Hernia
• Andrew Bogut gets no love - Brew Hoop

YouTube - Watch 
And in Smarter Sports we talked about:

• “I could have saved more on my car insurance with Geico”
  
• Tiger Woods Winning Streak Ends. Still Makes Bank
• This Just In: Jose Canseco Hates Alex Rodriguez
• Patrick Roy’s son, Jonathon Roy, Gets in a Hockey Brawl
• Goalie Fights are Much More Entertaining

Jose Canseco’s new book Vindicted is going to be released to the general public starting April first, but one lucky reader was already able to pick up a copy.

Joe Lavin of Boston purchased Canseco’s fully titled book, Vindicted: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball, that happened to be on sale by mistake.

The book, like you would have guessed and by what Canseco has been blabbing for months now, is going to reveal big names in baseball who have been taking steroids. Roger Clemens, Magglio Ordonez and Alex Rodriguez. All names we have heard before and all according to Canseco’s so-called personal encounters with these players.

But what’s even funnier and not even related to baseball is Canseco’s hatred for Alex Rodriguez. The juiced up has-been claims that even after Canseco introduced Rodriguez to a steroid supplier, Rodriguez was trying to have “relations” with his wife and was repeatedly calling her.

And Canseco makes it very clear at the end of chapter to A-Rod:

“So A-Rod, if you’re reading this book, and if I’m not getting through to you, let’s get clear on one thing: I hate your…”.

I can’t write the last few words, but I’m sure you can figure out what it says, or you can just go to Joe Lavin’s site and read it all for yourself.

I thought I read somewhere that steroids might give you mood swings, but I didn’t know it made you throw tantrums like a 5-year-old.

To read what Lavin found in the book, click here.

Source: Deadspin via JoeLavin.com

This week in news and sports blogs around the Net:

• Prank callers dial into the SEC women’s basketball coaches. - Lion in Oil
• Basketball Coach Ron Hunter goes barefoot - Sports by Brooks
• Awful Announcing thinks Reggie Miller makes no sense - Awful Announcing
• Who’s got the best hair in New York City: A-Rod or David Wright - The Sports Hernia
• New York Knicks were spying on Larry Brown - Larry Brown Sports
• Top 7 - Fan Based Man Crushes - Joe Sports Fan
• Worst player on Madden, Ethan Albright, is headed to the Pro Bowl - Deadspin
• Sports themed wedding garters - Deuce of Davenport

And in Smarter Sports we talked about:

• Looks Like it’s a Giants and Patriots Super Bowl
• Tom Brady Sporting a New Shoe?
• The Next Karate Kid? I Hope Not
• Jose Canseco Tried to Blackmail Magglio Ordonez
• If I Were the Defensemen, I’d be Embarrassed
  

I wish Jose Canseco would just go away, but with all the steroid talk in baseball, how can Mr. Steroid himself avoid the press.

And with Canseco’s new book Vindicated due out March 31st, The New York Times has reported that Canseco had tried to blackmail Detroit Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez for cash to avoid being mentioned in his book.

Canseco has denied asking Ordonez for money and also failed to comment whether or not he mentions Ordonez in his new book. Ordonez notified Tigers president Dave Dombrowski that one of Canseco’s friends had tried to get in touch with him, but not sure why. The two were teammates for the 2001 season while with the Chicago White Sox.

Now this leaves me with a couple thoughts. Is Canseco really going around trying to blackmail players for money to keep them out of his book and are those players actually paying him to keep quiet?

Let’s just hope that this new report is false and players haven’t stooped to a new low.

Source: Sports Illustrated

Photo Source: Jose Canseco, Magglio Ordonez