Federal investigators had no right to seize the results of the drug tests of more than 90 Major League Baseball players five years ago, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. Federal investigators obtained search warrants and subpoenas for the drug test results of 10 professional players, but once they gained access, they took the results of 104 players, The Associated Press reports. The Major League Baseball Players Association sued for the return of the seized results, while the government argued investigators should be able to use them since they were “in plain sight” along with the other results during the search. The appeals court’s decision says such a standard for computer searches would be dangerous to everyone’s privacy as protected by the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment. “Seizure of, for example, Google’s e-mail servers to look for a few incriminating messages could jeopardize the privacy of millions,” wrote the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges. The judges noted that “some players appear to have already suffered this very harm as a result of the government’s seizure.” The decision referred to news reports published earlier this summer that quoted “lawyers with knowledge of the results” saying that players Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz were among those testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez has admitted using a “banned substance” during the 2001-2003 seasons.  The tests were conducted in 2003 under a collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball and the players’ union. “Urine samples were to be collected during the first year of the agreement and each sample was to be tested for banned substances,” the court said. “The players were assured that the results would remain anonymous and confidential; the purpose of the testing was solely to determine whether more than 5 percent of players tested positive, in which case there would be additional testing in future seasons.” The test results were taken in 2004 during searches in California and Nevada of Comprehensive Drug Testing – the company that kept the results –  and another company that stored the urine samples.

Sammy Sosa, the onetime slugging outfielder for the Chicago Cubs who has been adamant in his denial of using performance-enhancing drugs, was one of more than 100 major-league players who tested positive for steroids in 2003, according to The New York Times. When asked again recently about the issue, Sosa retorted with a smile, that he would “calmly wait” for his induction into the Hall of Fame. While those words are certainly haunting him these days, it’s what he said in March 2005 before Congress that could land him in jail. He testified under oath at the time that, “To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs.” Six years ago, Major League Baseball conducted a major survey, seeking to see whether comprehensive testing was necessary. It was during this survey that Alex Rodriguez tested positive. In its report Tuesday, the Times cited sources who said they had knowledge of Sosa’s inclusion on the 2003 list of positives, but did not know the substance for which Sosa tested positive. Sosa’s agent, Adam Katz, told The Associated Press he had no comment on the report. Commissioner’s office spokesman Rich Levin also had no comment, saying Major League Baseball didn’t have a copy of the test results. In 1998, Sosa was in a home-run battle with St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire, another baller who has been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs. The question now for Sosa, who ended his professional baseball career in 2007, is whether he will ever make it into the Hall, for which he become eligible in 2013.

Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez, suspended last week for 50 games for using a banned performance-enhancing drug, served up an apology to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. Ramirez, the flamboyant left fielder who has backed up his rhetoric about how good he is by leading his team to a league-leading record, is expected to face his disappointed teammates some time this week. Ramirez contacted McCourt on Saturday, two days after the 12-time All-Star began serving a penalty imposed by Major League Baseball. “I wanted to meet him face to face,” McCourt said. “He started off the meeting by apologizing and acknowledging the disappointment that he’s created – not only for me but for others. He’s in the process right now of doing what anybody else would do if they made a mistake, in terms of making amends here and communicating with the people he knows he has to communicate with and then going about repairing his relationships. And of course, his is magnified many times because he’s a public figure and a very popular one.” He encouraged Ramirez to speak to the entire squad. “If Manny takes the steps that I’m hopeful he will, I think this will be something that won’t damage this franchise at all,” McCourt said. “We all make mistakes, and it’s how we deal with those mistakes that really differentiates one from the other. And if Manny does with others what he did with me yesterday, I think we’ll be on the road to full recovery.”

Flamboyant L.A. Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez’s dabble with a banned performance-enhancing drug will cost the $25-million-a-year man 50 games and a whopping $7.65 million. Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that Ramirez had been nabbed, refuting the notion that the illegal use of such drugs had been wiped out of the sport in this new era of drug testing. Not until July 3 will Ramirez be able to return to the red-hot Dodgers, which have the best record in baseball. According to Sports Illustrated, Ramirez said he didn’t realize that he had been taking a banned substance and explained that he had a medical reason for taking the drug, which is also a weight-reduction supplement. Still, SI.com reports, Ramirez decided not to challenge the suspension. While the substance is not classified as a steroid, it was clearly defined as a banned performance enhancer, according to the drug agreement between baseball and its players association. Banned substances can only be taken with prior knowledge and medical clearance from baseball’s drug-program administrators. In a statement, Ramirez said, “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. 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.” He’s the first big-league superstar to be suspended under the tougher drug-testing rules that were enacted six years ago. The players union has contended that the use of performance-enhancing drugs was a thing of the past, saying that virtually all of the current reports of misuse – like those involving Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez and the revelations in the Mitchell Report – highlighted abuse before the stricter laws were put into place by the league in 2003.

A-Rod Can Steer Clear of the Hill, For Now
Congress doesn’t plan on forcing superstar steroid user Alex Rodriguez to come to Capital Hill to testify about his recent admission. Rep. Ed Towns, who heads a committee that oversees laws that govern professional sports, said that a protracted testimony from the highest-paid person in Major League Baseball would only distract from more pressing governmental issues. “The American people need leaders who will focus on stemming job losses and getting credit to flow in the marketplace before hearing from yet another person who cheated both himself and the game of baseball,” said Towns, a Democrat from New York who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Towns, who has previously asked Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro about steroids in baseball in recent years, said Tuesday he does not think lawmakers need to hear from Rodriguez following his admission that he used performance-enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003.

Two Men Are Charged With Shooting Track Star
Two California men with ties to gangs have been charged in the brutal shooting of one of the nation’s top sprinters. Prosecutors say that Travon Reed of Los Angeles and Horasio Kimbrough of Inglewood, Calif., both 21, were each charged with one count of attempted murder with gang and gun allegations. Deputy District Attorney Eric Harmon, of the Hardcore Gang Division, said Tuesday that the two men tried to kill Bryshon Nellum, a track star at the University of Southern California. Last fall, sprinter Bryshon Nellum was shot three times in the left thigh and hamstring after leaving a Halloween party at a restaurant near campus. Reed and Kimbrough were arrested Feb. 5 by Los Angeles police. The two defendants are due in court Feb. 23 for a preliminary hearing, the district attorney’s office said. Bail for Reed was set at $2 million and Kimbrough was being held without bail. If convicted, the men face a maximum of 50 years to life in state prison. Nellum had surgery and the sophomore has been working out with hope of resuming his career. He was considered a potential Olympian when he graduated in 2007 from Long Beach Poly High School. Nellum was the nation’s top high school sprinter in the 200- and 400-meter races in 2007 and the first athlete to win California state titles two straight years in both races.

Prosecutors say they have a mountain of evidence against Major League slugger Barry Bonds. They point to steroid test results, notes and calendars from his former trainer, all part of a stack of 223 pages of documents unsealed Wednesday. The ex-San Francisco Giants outfielder is accused of obstructing justice and lying to a grand jury investigating the use of steroids in professional sports. Bonds denied adamantly that he used performance-enhancing substances, including a then-undetectable designer drug, at the time prosecutors say he was using them. Bonds’ attorneys want a major chunk of the documents kept out of court. Bonds, 44, holds Major League Baseball’s single-season and all-time home-run titles. He has pleaded not guilty to the perjury and obstruction of justice charges and has been free on $500,000 bond. A hearing in the case is scheduled for today.