The surprise retirement of veteran Oakland A’s...

The surprise retirement of veteran Oakland A’s left-hander Vida Blue was prompted by a positive drug test, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

Blue, 37, who had signed an estimated $300,000 contract a month ago and was being counted on as a starter for the coming season, registered positive for “unspecified drugs” in a test conducted last week, the paper said.

The paper cited “three independent sources” in the report, but did not identify them.

Blue spent 81 days in a Texas federal prison in 1984 after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine in December 1983.