Breaking: Manny Tests Positive For Banned Substance

Manny Ramirez has tested positive for a banned substance and has been suspended for 50 games, according to The Los Angeles Times (via ESPN.com).

MLB is expected to announce the suspension today, according to the Times' source.

Wow. Just...wow. I didn't know he had it in him. Really, Manny?

I mean, you're talking about one of the greatest home run hitters of all time, who has dealt with a number of injuries and always rebounded and seems impervious to the effects of age... Okay, now it makes sense.

Then again...Manny?  I would've bet even money he'd inject himself with contact solution or cheerios before performance enhancing drugs.

I think we need an update to the Oh, Manny song.

But for those of you sick of hearing about another sports giant being cast into the light of public scrutiny for a positive PED test, sorry: these are going to get more frequent.

Testing is going to become more stringent, but until we have a concrete example of a player being banned from baseball and/or the Hall of Fame altogether, there's simply no punishment that matches the allure of performance enhancing drugs.

Think about it, there are hundreds of professional baseball players in this country at all levels. Most of them are in some sort of limbo between the different minor leagues and exist at the margins of baseball. But the difference between these players is minute, a margin of talent many see as bridgeable through the use of drugs. With the rewards and praise we heap on professional players--and the relatively minor amount of scorn we still give to cheaters who at least seem contrite--the decision is not that difficult: labor in the minor leagues or maybe cheat the game and yourself and possibly reap huge rewards.

The real victim here isn't the game or the teams or even the other players who don't cheat, although all have a claim to be upset by this (and all played a part in allowing this culture of drug use to continue at so rampant a pace for so long), but it's the fans who have suffered the worst of this.

We put a lot of faith in the game. We don't ask a ton of our athletes. We don't ask them to be heroes, we don't ask them to be perfect. We don't even ask them to perform at the highest level all the time. We only ask that they play fair, don't make a complete idiot out of themselves, and at least care about the game the way we do.

Throughout the steroid scandal it's been proven that many athletes fail that on all three fronts.

And it's going to continue--and get worse--unless the culture of baseball changes. Fans can't settle for half-handed measures and weak promises of oversight anymore. Until fans make a conscious choice and a vote with their dollar to stop supporting a baseball league that doesn't support them, nothing is going to change.

After the strike, fans walked away from the game. The rampant greed on both sides, bickering over their share of the fortunes baseball raked in, was enough to put a sour taste in any fan's mouth. When the fans walked away, baseball listened. They improved the parks, made games more family-friendly, and through the (now tainted) home run chase, reinvigorated a generation of baseball fans who grew to hate the league.

It wasn't just baseball that saw the consequences. The NBA and NFL, despite enjoying renaissances of sorts at the moment, are petrified of going through a lockout. It's not because they love playing this game so much, but they know that a lockout doesn't just stop revenues in the short term, but puts a significant dent in them even after the games begin again.

Baseball has recovered from one crisis. The fans are more engaged than ever, the parks are phenomenal, and I think fans truly enjoy the game again, but if the steroid scandal continues in such a way, how long before fans decide enough is enough?

That's what baseball must decide -- and act accordingly.