Just a case of Manny being Barry…

Manny Ramirez has tested positive for a banned substance

The substance found in Ramirez’s system was allegedly human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG - not to be confused with HGH (human growth hormone), HPV (human papillomavirus) or HGC (a telecom company).

HCG is a hormone produced during pregnancy, and as a medication is primarily used in fertility treatments to induce ovulation or stimulate the production of sperm in malfunctioning testicles.

A side effect of the usage in men is an increase in the production of testosterone, and a tendency to lose fat instead of muscle when combining HCG usage with a calorie restricted diet.

The stimulation of testosterone production is key though:  Anabolic steroids greatly increase the levels of testosterone in the human body which attempts to normalize the levels by decreasing its own production of the hormone.  HCG used after a cycle of steroids causes the body to return to producing normal levels of testosterone.

I think we can all agree that the most likely explanation for the presence of HCG in Manny Ramirez’s system is that he was trying to induce himself to ovulate - since it’s frankly hard to picture him caring enough about baseball to bother taking something to enhance his performance.