Manny Ramirez (and by Manny, I mean Scott Boras and his people) made this statement after learning of his 50-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance:

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me," Ramirez said. "Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now.

"I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons. I want to apologize to [Dodgers owner Frank] McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, [manager Joe] Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation."

Here's my problem, and it's not just the fact that there's no chance Manny actually said this; it's unlikely he even read the whole thing. My problem is the ambiguity. If Manny did make an honest mistake, why not come out and say what medication the doctor prescribed, what it was that turned out to be the banned substance. Unless it's something very personal, I don't see the logic in being vague. I think Manny would be doing himself a favor by saying exactly what he took.

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