All the rage

There’s a line I like from the 1968 film The Lion in Winter. With England’s Henry II getting all snarly — that's him at right, played by Peter O'Toole — Phillip II of France says coolly, “You’re good at rage. I like the way you play it.”

Miami-area physician Pedro Publio Bosch sounds very Henry-esqe in a statement attacking the very idea of his being involved in Manny Ramirez’s little drug problem.

An idea that he might be has been floated by ESPN, which said Bosch and his son are under investigation by the DEA in Ramirez’s use of HCG, a fertility drug commonly used by athletes coming off a steroid cycle in order to boost testosterone production.

"I consider the allegations of ESPN outrageous and slanderous, and issue this statement to correct the misrepresentations made by ESPN," Bosch said. "First, Mr. Manny Ramirez is not, nor has he ever been my patient. I have never prescribed drugs of any kind whatsoever to Mr. Ramirez.

"Second, in my thirty-three years of practicing medicine in Coral Gables, Florida, I have never prescribed HCG, not to Mr. Manny Ramirez nor to anyone else."

Bosch's statement also said, "to the best of my knowledge there is no DEA investigation involving me in any matter whatsoever."

Sorry, Pedro, but ESPN is standing by its story, and there apparently is an investigation. Then there’s the little matter of your son, Anthony, whom your huff-and-puff statement never mentioned, and whom sources have said is believed to have been a conduit between you and Manny-boy. And, though you say ESPN's allegations are "slanderous," your statement made no mention of a lawsuit against the network.

All in all, then, Pedro, you’re good at rage, but I don’t think the feds will be particularly impressed by the way you play it …