Manny Ramirez talks, but not about report of positive drug test

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When reporters entered the Dodgers clubhouse this afternoon in St. Louis, Manny Ramirez sat at his locker. He spoke briefly with Times reporter Dylan Hernandez and other reporters, but not about today’s news that he tested positive for performance-enhancing substances in 2003.

‘You guys want to talk about the game, what is happening now, we can sit down and talk for two hours,’ Ramirez said. ‘If you want more information, call the union.’

The New York Times reported that Ramirez and his former Boston teammate, David Ortiz, tested positive in a year in which results were supposed to be anonymous and penalties were not imposed.

‘Me and David, we’re like two mountains,’ Ramirez said. ‘We’re going to keep doing good no matter what ... . Only God is going to be able to move those two mountains.’

The Baseball Players Association issued a statement in which it vowed to explore legal action against the lawyers who, under anonymity, provided the information to the New York Times.

The statement:

Today the New York Times once again reports what it asserts to be information contained in documents under court seal. And precisely for that reason, the Players Association will not, indeed cannot, comment on whether the information is accurate. But there should be no mistake. The leaking of information under a court seal is a crime. The active pursuit of information that may not lawfully be disclosed because it is under court seal is a crime. That its informants, according to the Times, are lawyers is both shocking and sad. That the Times is pursuing and publishing what it openly declares to be information which may not legally be disclosed is equally sad.

-- Bill Shaikin