Royals' Ponson tests positive for stimulant; busted for trying to shed 'hefty' label

By Justin Kendall in Sports

Fri., Jun. 26 2009 @ 3:53PM

Remember when Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore talked about bringing character guys into his clubhouse? The Associated Press reports that pitcher Sidney Ponson tested positive for Phentermine, a stimulant and an appetite suppressant, at the World Baseball Classic. Now, Ponson's been banned from international competition for two years.

As my colleague David Martin wrote in March:

Ponson is synonymous with the word "incident" (as well as "hefty"). He was charged with punching a judge in Aruba and is the veteran of two drunken driving arrests. On 810 WHB this morning, ESPN's Buster Olney said Ponson was "totally disrespectful" to his coaches in Texas, where he pitched last year.

Maybe Ponson took Martin's "hefty" crack to heart.