"I was expecting (to be interviewed)," said Bay, who arrived in Boston from Pittsburgh last July in a deadline deal that sent Ramirez to the Dodgers. "I don't know the guy, never met him, but when the news broke, I knew I'd be asked about him."

Just about every Red Sox player, coach and ball boy was asked their opinion of Ramirez prior to last night's record-setting 13-3 win over the Indians. Ramirez is suspected of taking HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, a women's fertility drug that's known to generate the body's production of testosterone after steroid use.

Ramirez said the drug he took was prescribed by his personal doctor. He said he didn't know it was banned by MLB. That excuse doesn't fly with Bay, who pointed out that any substance not on MLB's approved list can be sent by any player to the league for testing.

Before it's taken.

"Supplements are a big part of sports now, and you have to be careful," Bay said. "If you're not sure, you don't take it."

Those feelings were seconded by Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell.

"I don't understand why now anyone would even come close to taking anything that will remotely result in a positive test," Lowell said. "In the past, guys did it, and that's why they wanted testing. Nowadays, hopefully we understand it. Maybe there's some secret society I wasn't invited to. I don't get it."

Meanwhile, Red Sox DH David Ortiz said MLB's list of banned substances can sometimes be unclear. Then again, Ortiz was one of the Ramirez's closest friends in the Boston clubhouse.

"It's a little confusing from what I've seen because there's guys out there taking things that sometimes you can buy it over the counter," Ortiz said. "Sometimes it's banned, sometimes it's not on the list. I don't know. ... You definitely got to be careful, man.

"I try not to buy anything. I pretty much try to use what the trainer has here," Ortiz added. "If I fail over that (stuff), what can I say, but it's just crazy. You got to be careful."

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who has been a vocal critic of Ramirez in the past, said if the 36-year-old outfielder did take steroids or another banned substance, as reported, he probably knew what he was doing.

"They give you pamphlets printed in English and Spanish," Papelbon said of MLB's education program. "We've got to clean it up. Hopefully our game will get to a point where we're not going to talk about it anymore."

Lowell said the Ramirez suspension adds yet another black eye to the face of Baseball, which is still trying to explain suspected steroid use by Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez.

"Manny's just another big-name guy," said Lowell, who especially feels sorry for the game's youngest fans, some of whom adore the free-spirited Ramirez.

"I don't understand it," Lowell said. "He made a personal choice, and obviously it was the wrong one. But each person's got to look at himself in the mirror in the morning."

Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said he will wait for all the facts before passing final judgment on Ramirez.

"I'm still trying to find out what's going on, so I don't know how to feel yet," Varitek said. "I think we need clarity about what's going on. So far, the story has changed 900 times."

If it is true that Ramirez took performance enhancing drugs, Varitek said the story is larger than the Dodgers slugger.

"This game is much bigger than the players who play it," the Red Sox catcher said. "It's about generations and generations (of Baseball fans)."

While Red Sox veteran pitcher John Smoltz called the suspension "another wakeup call to the players," manager Terry Francona refused to talk about his former left fielder, referring to an MLB gag order.

"The more you can concentrate on Baseball, the better off you are," Francona said. "When things have arisen on our team, we've handled it well."