Ramirez

LOS ANGELES — Mannywood is gone and so is its chief resident. Manny Ramirez's 50-game suspension left both the Los Angeles Dodgers and baseball reeling at the news the sport's second highest-paid player was banished for a drug violation.

The dreadlocked outfielder was suspended by Major League Baseball Thursday, adding another chapter to what will forever be known as the Steroids Era.

"The worst thing I think a person can be is a disappointment to somebody else and Manny feels like a disappointment," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

Ramirez said he did not take steroids and was given medication by a doctor that contained a banned substance. A person familiar with the details of the suspension said Ramirez used the female fertility drug HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the banned substance wasn't announced.

"As tough as it is for us, it's pretty tough for Manny, too," Torre said. "I know he's the one that did the wrong thing and nobody is trying to cover that up, but it's still something that I know he's sorry about."

HCG is popular among steroid users because it can mitigate the side effects of ending a cycle of the drugs. The body may stop producing testosterone when users go off steroids, which can cause sperm counts to decrease and testicles to shrink.

Ramirez's suspension was based not on a spring training urine test result but rather evidence obtained afterward, a second person familiar with the suspension said, speaking on condition of anonymity because those details also were not released. MLB had concluded the spring test was positive, but the person said the players' association would have challenged the result because of "testing issues."

"It's a dark day for baseball and certainly for this organization," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said. "This organization will never condone anything that isn't clean."

Ranked 17th on the career home run list with 533, Ramirez became the most prominent baseball player to be penalized for drugs. His ban came three months after Alex Rodriguez admitted using steroids, and at a time when Barry Bonds is under federal indictment and Roger Clemens is being investigated by a federal grand jury to determine whether he lied when he told Congress he never used steroids or human growth hormone. And Miguel Tejada was sentenced to a year of probation after pleading guilty to misleading Congress about the use of performance enhancers.

The revelations have put into question the legitimacy of many of baseball's recent home run and pitching records. Sluggers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa have been tainted by steroid allegations, Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for a banned drug and Jose Canseco said he used them.

In every case, players once believed to be locks for the Hall of Fame may now be locked out.

The 36-year-old Ramirez tried to make amends right away, telling the Dodgers and fans he was sorry for "this whole situation."

"Recently, I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me," Ramirez said in a statement issued by the players' union.

"Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons."