The New York Times reports that L.A. Dodger slugger Manny Ramirez was identified as a steroid user in 2003, when he played with the Boston Red Sox. Earlier this year Major League Baseball exiled Ramirez from the sport for 50 games following disclosure that he had used a female fertility substance commonly applied to reset testosterone levels following steroid use.

“When Ramirez was suspended,” the N.Y. Times' Michael S. Schmidt writes, “he issued a statement that appeared to maneuver around his 2003 test results. 'I do want to say one other thing,' Ramirez said. 'I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.'

That five-year period extended back to 2004, which excludes the 2003 test.”

Ramirez and fellow slugger David Ortiz played together on the 2004

Boston team that ended an 86-year stretch without having won a World Series.

The team beat St. Louis to win that year's October Classic and, three

years later, won another World Series by defeating the Colorado

Rockies. Ortiz has also been implicated in a doping scandal that has

spread to some of modern baseball's most revered names with the release

of previously secret MLB documents.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.