Frank McCourt, owner of Dodgers, admits that he was angered when he heard the news about Manny Ramirez, left fielder for Dodgers, testing positive on a drug test and the allegations that Ramirez might be using steroids. Ramirez has recently signed a $45-million contract with the Dodgers last March. McCourt says, however, that the Dodgers is much bigger than Ramirez or any other player and that they can easily surpass this scandal. Manny Ramirez was recently suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance which is known to mask the use of steroids by balancing testosterone levels.

During the Dodgers’ loss to the San Francisco Giants early this week, McCourt said that he spoke to Ramirez on the phone and met with the outfielder. A source said that their meeting took place in Ramirez’s apartment in Pasadena, although McCourt did not disclose outright where their meeting took place. McCourt said that he felt that it was important for the meeting to be “eyeball to eyeball” and not just merely on the phone. He said that during the meeting, he found Ramirez to be sorrowful and that he was really sorry and apologetic. McCourt also said that Ramirez knows he had disappointed not only the Dodgers’ owner but also everybody in the front office including Joe Torre, the manager, his teammates, fans, and the community. While Ramirez is hurt, he told McCourt that he knows he dropped the hurt on himself.

McCourt commented that he wanted to see Ramirez in person, in part because he wanted to see if the player was really remorseful about what happened, and after the meeting he was convinced that he was. During the time that Ramirez, a reputed troublemaker, signed his multi-million dollar contract with the Dodgers, McCourt also met with him on that day and said that he believed Ramirez wouldn’t cause any problems for the Dodgers.

When pressed, McCourt told the press that he didn’t ask Ramirez if he took the banned substance to enhance his performance or to mask the use of steroids, or if he took it for “personal health issue,” which is what Ramirez claimed in a statement that was issued by the players’ union. The banned substance that Ramirez tested positive for was human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which is typically used to restore testosterone levels at the end of a steroid treatment cycle. When asked further why he didn’t inquire how or why Ramirez failed the drug test, McCourt said that they could sit and dwell on the past, but that he didn’t want to do that. He repeatedly said that the Dodgers and Ramirez had to move forward, saying that “we all do things from time to time that disappoint people, don’t we? So it’s how you deal with that that really matters.” McCourt believes that it was not necessary for Ramirez to detail the circumstances of his drug use, and that what is more important is the acknowledgement of the mistake. McCourt also says that he has no opinion on the outfielder’s motives for taking the banned substance saying that he wasn’t a doctor.

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