6/26 Geovany Soto

Geovany Soto’s revelation that he tested positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic surprised Lou Piniella, who didn’t know until a few days ago. Soto found out in early April but was waiting for the International Baseball Federation to make the announcement.

“If I had been aware, truthfully, I would’ve encouraged Geo to speak of this much much sooner to get it off his chest,” Piniella said. “I think it’s really a negative effect on his performance.

“I would’ve encouraged the player to come out and say, ‘Look, this is what’s going to come out, this is what’s happened, I’m embarrassed about it, it’s not going to happen again and I’m done with it.’ And that would’ve been the best approach as far as I’m concerned.”

The positive test does not affect Soto at all as far as Major League Baseball games.

Piniella admitted he “smoked dope one time in my life and it didn’t do a [darn] thing for me and I never tried it again.”

“I do know young people make mistakes at times, and they learn from their mistakes,” Piniella said. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life personally and I’ve learned from them.

“I read his comments, he knows what he did was wrong and it’s over with as far as I’m concerned.”

– Carrie Muskat