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| Talk to my lawyer
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Manny Ramirez plans on taking a modified Jason Giambi approach to addressing his steroid suspension:
Ramirez's strategy for how he'll address the media appears to be taking shape, as sources in his camp are indicating that he'll apologize for violating baseball's drug policy but won't detail the events that led to him being suspended for 50 games. One source said that Ramirez might cite legal reasons for remaining silent on the matter, noting the possibility of suing the doctor who prescribed him HCG, a female fertility drug that is on the baseball's list of banned substances.
I don't think that Manny has a duty to explain himself to anyone -- he's doing his time for the crime and that should be the end of it -- but you know and I know that the world expects something more from him. And to that end this "I can't talk because I might sue my doctor" is a pretty bogus excuse. Manny Ramirez -- like anyone else subject to drug testing of any kind -- is the person responsible for ensuring that what goes into his body is permitted under the rules. Not his doctors, not his pharmacists, not anyone else but him, which renders any kind of lawsuit here a losing battle.
And unless there's a heck of a lot more to this story than we already know, Manny's HCG prescription isn't even what set this all off to begin with. Rather, it was his testosterone levels that came in four times higher than average and caused the baseball's investigators to look further in the first place. If Manny were to file a suit against his doctor, the doctor would, in all likelihood, defend himself by going into great detail about why he prescribed HCG. That would probably shed a lot of light on what, exactly, caused Manny's testosterone levels to be so high. At present, Manny is merely suspected of taking steroids (his ban is for having the HCG prescription). Does he really plan on opening the door to sworn testimony from a doctor confirming that?
Of course he doesn't, and if he sues his doctor over this I'll eat my hat. This is a P.R. move designed to cast Manny in a J.C. Romeroish light rather than a Roger Clemensish light. And to that extent, hey, good strategy! Most people will probably buy it and let Manny off without giving anyone an explanation.
But they probably shouldn't buy it.
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Actually on you reporters are not buying it. You guys are the only ones that have forgotten that once you get sentenced for your tinme thats it. Only reporters keep making a big deal of out nothing, only self righteous people who think games are sacred care if the guy talks or not. Most American citizens like to maintain there privacy & again only reporters think differently. I think guys like you who make there money off of other people's misery are disgusting. To suggest these guys ruined the game when all of you were so feverently writing about Sosa, McGurie & how they saved the world. Yet now you guys don't want too own up to your own collusion just like the owners & just like Selig & so you guys hammer on the players now. Your boss got rich, owners got rich & Selig got rich, who side should we take.
Greg, before you call me self righteous and accuse me of making a big deal out of nothing, you'd probably do well to Google my name and "Mitchell Report" and spend about 27 hours reading the stuff I've written over the past couple of years. I think you'll find that I'm decidedly NOT self righteous about this stuff and basically take a pretty calm and non-alarmist tack when it comes to steroids.
But just because I don't think steroid users should be shamed the way they usually are doesn't mean I think they should be given a free pass to spew PR baloney like Manny is here. If he doesn't want to talk about it, fine, he doesn't have to. But don't insult our intelligence by saying you're going to sue the evil doctors who done you wrong.
Craig, the funniest thing about Greg's reply isn't his misunderstanding of your motivations. No, the funniest thing is that you've made it and now you have to deal with the consequences. You write for NBC and so now you're part of the mainstream media, which means you get lumped in with all the journalists with degrees and credentials who ignored the steroid stuff when it was going down. Nevermind the fact that you were probably in law school or something at the time, not having ever heard of a blog (because the term didn't exist, of course) and just watching games and drinking beers like the rest of us.
Congratulations, you've earned it. And I mean that.