Manny Ramirez has spoken to Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon since retiring while facing a 100-game drug ban, but the slugger stopped short of apologizing for his abrupt departure.
"He was disappointed in himself, but he was also very kind to the organization," Maddon said Monday.
"He just said he was disappointed. He didn't apologize. I wasn't looking for an apology necessarily. I wasn't. He spoke to me kind of like, man-to-man, person-to-person, manager-to-player. So I didn't think he owed me an apology."
Others might disagree, given the way Ramirez's sudden departure destroyed the Rays' plans and left a major hole in their lineup, but Maddon said it wasn't his place to ask. Ramirez did not call executive VP Andrew Friedman or any other front office officials.
Maddon did not say when the conversation took place. Ramirez walked away Friday after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
As for Ramirez's drug involvement, "you'd have to take that up with him," Maddon said.
No Bonds verdictWith lawyers sometimes nervously wandering the halls, peering at their phones for a hint of progress, the federal jury in the Barry Bonds perjury trial finished another day of deliberating without reaching a verdict. The eight-woman, four-man jury will return to federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday morning to begin their third day of deliberations.
The jurors have been methodical, asking to review two crucial pieces of evidence and clearly sorting through the legal wrinkles in the case before deciding the home run king's fate.
