Thursday Bantering: Suspensions, inductions and advertisements

Major League Baseball suspended Boston Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright 80 games on Wednesday for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Wright, who denies that he ever knowingly used peptide 2, was suspended for 15 games last year when he faced charges of domestic abuse. As Matt Collins on Over the Monster writes, “The difference in length between Wright’s suspension this year and his suspension following his arrest after domestic abuse charges last year is ridiculous . . . It’s fair to question why the league can’t make the punishments more reflective of the seriousness of the infractions”

In a statement, Wright said: “Although I do not dispute the validity of the test, I was shocked as I have never intentionally ingested anything for performance-enhancing purposes. I have fully cooperated with MLB and will continue to try and identify the source of the result.”

Now, if the Red Sox reach the postseason, Wright will not be eligible.

Matt Collins also points out, interestingly, that Wright found out during the offseason that he failed the test, but didn’t tell the Red Sox until it was announced publicly — which, of course, makes sense.

Some other things:

• The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame announced their induction of Paul Beeston.
• The Seattle Mariners have started releasing their ads for this year — and, as always, they’re brilliant.

• Bud Norris talked about his controversial 2015 comments to Keegan Matheson. “I didn’t use my words very carefully that day,” Norris said. “I’ve learned a lot from it.”