[UPDATE: Well, the suspension is official, and Romero does not plan to appeal. Fuck me sideways.]

Using tactics employed by shady, imperious organizations past and present, the powers that be in Major League Baseball (”Taking Substance Abuse 33% More Seriously!”) have decided to suspend Phillies reliever J.C. Romero for fifty games next season.

Romero’s crime? Not admitting that he knowingly took a banned supplement.

According to Peter Gammons at ESPN.com, Romero tested positive in September for an undisclosed substance which he’d purchased at a local GNC. In Romero’s words:

“The season is a grind. When you’re a middle reliever, you have to be ready to get up and down and pitch every day. Everyone takes something. Some guys drink coffee, others supplements. We try to make sure they’re all legal. I certainly did.”

At his arbitration hearing in October, Romero testified that he had brought the supplement, which came in a bottle with no warning label, first to his personal nutritionist and then Phillies trainer Dong Lien. According to Lien’s testimony he recommended getting a second nutritionist’s opinion. The second nutritionist cleared the supplement for Romero’s use. (Lien also said that he suggested Romero not take the supplement.)

After being informed that he had tested positive for a banned substance late in September and that this supplement was the source of the positive result, Romero stopped taking all supplements and later tested negative before the start of the postseason (October 1).

Now begins the part of the story where Romero gets screwed… Read more »

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