Former Chicago White Sox star Alexei Ramirez has been provisionally banned from baseball after testing positive for four anabolic steroids during the World Baseball Classic in March, where he made headlines as the tournament’s oldest ever player.
The International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed on Wednesday that the 44-year-old Cuban tested positive for “metabolites of mesterolone, metandienone, oxandrolone and stanozolol.”
These substances, the Lausanne-based agency noted, are “associated with promoting rapid muscle growth, increased strength and enhanced physical performance.”
The ITA informed Ramirez of the positive result from a sample taken during the tournament.
Ramirez had returned to the Cuba roster after a 20-year absence, featuring as a bench player to break the record previously held by Roger Clemens, who was 43 when he represented the United States in the 2006 WBC.
Cuba failed to advance from the pool phase in the recent tournament.
Known for his nine-year career in Major League Baseball, Ramirez spent seven years at the Chicago White Sox between 2008 and 2015.
He was the runner-up for the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2008 after making his debut earlier that year at the age of 26.
He also played in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 2014 and won the Silver Slugger Award twice in 2010 and 2014.
Ramirez went on to have short spells at the San Diego Padres and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016 before walking away from Major League Baseball.
He also boasts an Olympic gold medal with Cuba from the 2004 Athens Games and won the Baseball World Cup the following year in Rotterdam, Netherlands, before being part of a silver medal-winning team at the 2006 World Baseball Classic in San Diego, California.
During his MLB tenure through 2016, he hit 115 home runs and recorded 590 RBIs.
