Wednesday, 7 August 2013 00:00
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(Reuters) - New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez was suspended for a record 211 games on Monday for his involvement in one of American sport’s biggest doping scandals.
Another 12 players, including three All Stars, were handed 50-game suspensions following a Major League Baseball investigation into a Florida clinic accused of supplying them with performance enhancing drugs.
“Despite the challenges this situation has created during a great season on the field, we pursued this matter because it was not only the right thing to do, but the only thing to do,” MLB commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.
Rodriguez was suspended until the end of the 2014 season in what is the longest doping penalty ever handed out by MLB. The highest-paid player in the sport, he stands to lose about $36 million if he serves the full suspension but immediately lodged an appeal against the ban. “I’m fighting for my life,” he said. “I have to defend myself. If I don’t, no-one else will.”
Under MLB rules, Rodriguez is allowed to play until his appeal has been heard. Hours after his suspension was announced, he played his first game of the season for the Yankees, who lost 8-1 to the Chicago White Sox.
Booed by spectators each time he came to the plate, Rodriguez batted four times for one hit.
The other 12 players all accepted offers of 50-game bans, which is about eight weeks in MLB. The bans will be completed just before the end of the regular season, allowing the players to rejoin their teams for the playoffs if they make it.
The dozen included three current All Stars - Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, San Diego Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera and Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta.
