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Some sour grapes toward Manny Ramirez
Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano said he was surprised and saddened by Friday’s stunning retirement of Manny Ramirez in the face of a second positive drug test in two years. Cubs manager Mike Quade said he didn’t know enough details to comment.
Sean Marshall says he wants his home run back.
“The fans threw it back,’’ the left-hander said of the seventh-inning homer Ramirez hit off him in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Game 1 playoff win in 2008. “I wish we could relive it over again, and maybe have a better chance of something different in that game.’’
The revelation that Ramirez tested positive for performance- enhancers again this spring was a bitter reminder for many in the Cubs’ organization who seethed over Ramirez’s team-changing performance for the Dodgers in 2008 just ahead of his first positive test.
Ramirez not only had a monster two-month finish during the season after his trade from the Red Sox that year, but went 5-for-10 with four walks and two home runs in the Dodgers’ first-round sweep of the Cubs. The Cubs privately felt his drug-enhanced presence in the lineup was an unjust difference-maker in their postseason.
“It’s not fair, but what are you going to do about it now?’’ said one Cub who didn’t want to comment on the record.
Said outfielder Reed Johnson, who was on that Cubs playoff team before spending last year with Manny and the Dodgers: “Yeah, you could always say that, but at the same time, this game’s hard enough to play as it is, whether or not you’re on whatever you’re on or you’re not on. You hate to take away what he’s done over his 19-year career. …’’
Johnson also wondered aloud about how many players in recent years might have had game-changing and season-changing performances for their teams because of steroids or other banned substances, but were low-profile enough to escape suspicion.
“It’s hard to really point the finger at those [high-profile] individuals just because the other guys didn’t get caught,’’ he said.
Source: suntimes.com
Sean Marshall says he wants his home run back.
“The fans threw it back,’’ the left-hander said of the seventh-inning homer Ramirez hit off him in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Game 1 playoff win in 2008. “I wish we could relive it over again, and maybe have a better chance of something different in that game.’’
The revelation that Ramirez tested positive for performance- enhancers again this spring was a bitter reminder for many in the Cubs’ organization who seethed over Ramirez’s team-changing performance for the Dodgers in 2008 just ahead of his first positive test.
Ramirez not only had a monster two-month finish during the season after his trade from the Red Sox that year, but went 5-for-10 with four walks and two home runs in the Dodgers’ first-round sweep of the Cubs. The Cubs privately felt his drug-enhanced presence in the lineup was an unjust difference-maker in their postseason.
“It’s not fair, but what are you going to do about it now?’’ said one Cub who didn’t want to comment on the record.
Said outfielder Reed Johnson, who was on that Cubs playoff team before spending last year with Manny and the Dodgers: “Yeah, you could always say that, but at the same time, this game’s hard enough to play as it is, whether or not you’re on whatever you’re on or you’re not on. You hate to take away what he’s done over his 19-year career. …’’
Johnson also wondered aloud about how many players in recent years might have had game-changing and season-changing performances for their teams because of steroids or other banned substances, but were low-profile enough to escape suspicion.
“It’s hard to really point the finger at those [high-profile] individuals just because the other guys didn’t get caught,’’ he said.
Source: suntimes.com