Cabrera Suspended for Positive Drug Test
Giants Slugger Melky Cabrera suspended for positive drug test.
SAN FRANCISCO – Former Major League Baseball player Rick Sutcliffe and ESPN sportscaster Rick Sutcliffe -nicknamed the "Red Baron" during his days on field - is red mad at Melky Cabrera and his recent failed drug test.
So mad, in fact, that Sutcliffe wonders why the 28-year-old San Francisco Giants outfielder hasn't been deported in the wake of his suspension.
He broke the law. What's he doing still here.
"You know, it makes you mad. First of all, this guy is over here in the United States on a working visa. He broke the law. What's he doing still here," Sutcliffe said. "I mean, forget the 50-game suspension from baseball and whether he can come back if they make the players [sic] or not. Why's he still here? That visa should be taken away, and he should not be allowed to play over here again, or work over here again, in my opinion."
Sutcliffe's controversial comments were made on New York's Michael Kay Show on 98.7.
Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants canceled an order for 20,000 Melky Cabrera T-shirts just in time.
Giants spokeswoman Staci Slaughter said Tuesday that the order was stopped just before printing after Cabrera received a 50-game suspension from Major League Baseball last Wednesday following his positive test of testosterone.
The original shirts had featured last month's All-Star game MVP but have now have been replaced by a "Gigantes" version with center fielder Angel Pagán's name on the back, Slaughter said. They will be handed out in a giveaway for a Sept. 8 game against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
Earlier Tuesday, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig banned Cabrera associate Juan Nuñez — an alleged consultant to the outfielder's agents — from all team clubhouses.
Baseball officials said they discovered that Nuñez purchased a website and attempted to create evidence to support a claim that the outfielder inadvertently took the substance that caused a positive drug test.
Cabrera's suspension came with 45 games remaining in the regular season. He will serve the remainder of the suspension at the start of 2013 or during the postseason, depending on whether the Giants make the playoffs and how far they advance. If the Giants wanted him to become active in the middle of a playoff series, they would have to play a man short from the start of the series until the suspension ends because rosters can't be altered mid-series.
Cabrera, who is set to become a free agent after the season, was batting .346 with 11 home runs and 60 RBIs in his first season with San Francisco. He is five hits shy of 1,000 in his big league career.
Flashing bright orange spikes, he singled and hit a two-run homer off Texas pitcher Matt Harrison last month in the National League's 8-0 win in the All-Star game, earning MVP honors and securing homefield advantage for the World Series.
San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean acknowledged last week that the club had preliminary talks with Cabrera's representatives about a contract extension but they didn't go far.
Contains reporting by the Associated Press.
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