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Ortiz, Manny Tested Positive in '03

STEROIDS

Red Sox World Series win tainted.

Whoever is dishing the dirt on the results of the secret steroid tests Major League Baseball carried out in 2003 does not have many fans in the players' union. The latest sluggers to have reportedly tested positive? Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the super-popular duo that led the Boston Red Sox to a World Series victory in 2004, their first since 1918. Manny, the colorful left-fielder known as one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball history, already tested positive for performance enhancing drugs this season and has served a 50-game suspension. Thursday's revelation marks the first time David Ortiz has been directly linked with a positive test. The New York Times implies that Ortiz's statistics arouse some suspicion: In 2002 the Minnesota Twins "effectively cut him after failing to trade him." The next year he set career-high numbers, that continued to improve the following four seasons.

Read it at The New York Times