It’s really no surprise that the Los Angeles Dodgers got beat 11-to-9 by the Washington Nationals last night at Dodger Stadium. The loss ended a record setting streak of 13 home wins to start the season. It came hours after a 50 game suspension of the team’s superstar player, Manny Ramirez, became headline news. So you can understand the boys in blue being a little shaken up and off their stride.
Late yesterday at a news conference, Dodgers Manager Joe Torre and team General Manager Ned Colletti reacted to the Manny development. Colletti admitted he was “sick and saddened” by the news that the left fielder had failed a Major League Baseball drug test. Torres said he felt “disappointment” and described the situation as being like when someone punches “… a hole in a balloon. ”
Ramirez issued an apology, in a prepared statement yesterday, but did not specifically address what the medication was that caused him to flunk the drug test. The Los Angeles Times, which broke the story yesterday morning on its website, and others in the media are reporting that in spring training Ramirez tested positive for a female fertility drug frequently found in athletes who are steroid users.
So the Manny score is now one game down and 49 to go.
