By Jake Hoffman, B.S. Exercise & Wellness

Manny Ramirez is arguably the best, most well-liked, player thus far to become entangled in the seemingly endless web that anabolic steroids has spun around professional sports; particularly the sport of baseball.  Today Ramirez was given a 50-game suspension for failing a Major League Baseball drug test.

Ramirez allegedly failed the drug test due to a banned glycoprotein hormone found in his system during the test.  The hormone is called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) and unfortunately, due to the nature of the hormone, I don’t think that this will be the last chapter in the Manny Ramirez steroid scandal.

hCG is commonly used on women during pregnancy to prevent disintegration of the corpus luteum of the ovary.  However, in recent years it has become increasingly popular among steroid users when combined with anabolic androgenic steroid cycles (AAS cycles). 

The drug when combined with these types of steroids helps to restore and maintain normal testosterone production in the testes.  hCG is commonly used during and after steroid cycles to restore testicular size, as well as, the endogenous testosterone production.

Needless to say, there are only a handful of other common uses for the hCG drug in males, which unfortunately, leads me to the conclusion that Ramirez was taking other banned substances along side hCG.

The sport of baseball is down & out right now and is working feverously to pick itself up out of the hole that anabolic steroids has forced them into.  Barry Bonds is indicted, Roger Clemens is wondering if he’ll be next & A. Rod can’t get all his lies packaged in a way that people will actually believe. 

This 50-game suspension for Ramirez is one step in the right direction for Major League Baseball.  In order to get the do-nothing congress off the back of these players, baseball and the Commissioner are going to need to start showing that they care about the message these ballplayers are sending to young athletes by actually enforcing harsher penalties for players who abuse their access to drugs of this type.

Don’t get me wrong . . . I’m not on a crucify athletes campaign or anything like that.  I’m just saying that if we want to stop the Washington bureaucracy from dabbling in yet another aspect of our lives, the people who are supposed to enforce the rules should enforce the rules. 

Long story short . . . steroids pose a serious and legitimate health risk & Manny Ramirez got off easy.


The Writer

•    Jake Hoffman, B.S. – Exercise & Wellness from Arizona State University
•    Current Fitness & Wellness Director at Anthem Sports Club
•    Former Physical Development Director - Big League Baseball Instruction (Mesa, AZ)
•    Former Gateway College Asst. Hitting & Catching Coach


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