J.C. Romero Takes the Plunge

Last night in Allentown, PA, J.C. Romero started the road back to the bigs from his 50-game drug suspension with an appearance for the triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs against the Gwinnett Braves. Due to rejoin the Phils’ roster on June 3, Romero is allowed to start pitching in the minors 16 days before the end of his suspension. ↵↵Big news at the time, somehow Romero’s suspension, which was handed down this past January, seems like very small potatoes indeed in the wake of the recent Manny Ramirez bombshell. After all, even Major League Baseball was adamant that Romero, a Phillies’ reliever who earned two victories in last year’s World Series, wasn’t trying to cheat in using the over-the-counter supplement, 6-OXO Extreme, that he reportedly got from GNC. ↵

↵↵Nevertheless, that supplement caused Romero to test positive for androstenedione in an MLB drug test last August, and resulted in the same 50-game suspension that Ramirez earned for his, ah, recent alleged efforts at boosting his fertility. ↵

↵↵His first outing with the Iron Pigs wasn’t exactly a return to World Series form for Romero -- he came into a 3-3 game in the seventh and ended up yielding the winning run and getting saddled with the loss. Then there was the fact that due to a promotion from a local plumbing operation, the first 2,000 fans that showed up at Allentown’s Coca-Cola Park were awarded a complimentary plunger. A loss for the Iron Pigs in Allentown with plungers everywhere the eye can see? Sounds like a real night of scraping the toilet for ole J.C. ↵

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