Manny ordered to address teammates

Daddy · 05-10-2009, 08:37 PM

Quote:

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is furious with Manny Ramirez and is demanding that the star slugger speak to his teammates about the failed drug test that led to his 50-game suspension.

The Los Angeles Times reported that McCourt spoke with Ramirez on Saturday and let him know how unhappy he is. It was during that conversation that McCourt demanded that Ramirez meet with his teammates, the Times reported on its Web site Sunday, citing unidentified sources.

The Times says the meeting might happen sometime after the Dodgers begin a six-game road trip in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

General manager Ned Colletti confirmed that there was a meeting.

"All I can tell you is that we had two separate conversations. I had one with Manny, and Frank had one with Manny," Colletti told The Associated Press. "I'd say my conversation was a positive one. And from what Frank has relayed to me, I would say the same. That's all I'm going to say about the conversations."

When asked if Ramirez's voice showed any emotion, Colletti said: "Absolutely."

Colletti declined to say when — or if — Ramirez would show up in the clubhouse to address the issue. But Colletti acknowledged that the dreadlocked outfielder's separation from the ballclub remains a sensitive issue.

"Yeah," he said. "Why wouldn't it be? I really don't want to get into it."

Ramirez was absent from Dodger Stadium again Sunday, three days after he began serving a penalty imposed by Major League Baseball.

"He's still beat up by this thing," Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said Sunday, after speaking with Ramirez on Saturday. "Again, it's not that he feels it's unfair, but he's embarrassed and he still has to clear his head before he basically feels good enough to come out. Hopefully it's in the near future, but we didn't nail him down for a (specific) day."

Ramirez re-signed with the Dodgers in the offseason for a $45 million, two-year contract. He was suspended Thursday for violating baseball's drug policy.

He has said he did not take steroids and was given medication by a doctor that contained a banned substance. A person familiar with the details of the suspension said Ramirez used the female fertility drug HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the banned substance wasn't announced.

HCG is popular among steroid users because it can mitigate the side effects of ending a cycle of the drugs.

He shouldn't have had to be ordered to go in and basically apologize for being a dumb ass. He should have done that the day they suspended him.