Ryan Howard has been cleared of any wrong-doing by Major League Baseball
An Al Jazeera report that claimed Ryan Howard used performance enhancing drugs has been rebuffed by Major League Baseball. The Phillies slugger was found by the league to have no connection to performance enhancing drugs, and will face no further investigation.
The report, originally released in a documentary in December, claimed Howard was among multiple athletes connected to an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic that supplied performance enhancing drugs.
Howard and his agent quickly shot down the claims made against him, and filed a defamation lawsuit against Al Jazeera.
Washington Nationals veteran Ryan Zimmerman was also cleared by Major League Baseball after his name was mentioned in the documentary.
“I am glad that this part of the process has concluded,” said Howard through a statement released by agent, “and I look forward to holding the responsible people accountable for these false and defamatory claims in my ongoing litigation against Al Jazeera and its reporters.”
Other athletes named in the Al Jazeera documentary include current and former NFL players Peyton Manning, Clay Matthews, James Harrison, Mike Neal, and Julius Peppers. Each of those players has professed innocence of any performance enhancing drug usage.
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Ryan Howard’s production as a power hitter saw a dramatic drop-off after he suffered a torn achillies injury against the San Francisco Giants in the playoffs. He hit 262 home runs between 2006 and 2011, while only managing 90 since 2012.
A combination of a slower bat and injuries has taken a potential Hall of Fame career and pushed it off the deep end.
In 87 games this season, Ryan Howard has 19 home runs and 43 RBIs. He’s been reduced to a bench player with the emergence of Tommy Joseph. Howard has produced well of late, hitting .314 with nine home runs over his last 30 games.