Sean B. Fitzgerald It doesn’t go something like this, it goes exactly like this.

Manny being like everyone else

Major League Baseball announced earlier today that Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder, Manny Ramirez tested positive for a banned substance and will serve a 50-game suspension effective immediately. There is still speculation as to whether the substance was specifically a steroid or just a banned substance. Ramirez and his agent Scott Boras contend it was a medication that was prescribed by a doctor. Here is the statement from Manny Ramirez:

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons. I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation."

The 50-game suspension will cost him $7.7 million, which is roughly 30% of his base salary. The suspension with also cost the Dodgers their best hitter and biggest attraction.

Yawn. Wake me up when a star player DOESN'T test positive for a substance. Putting aside the fact that I predicted this (see last line), this story is far from shocking. If this is some odd attempt by Ramirez to get back in the news, he's a little late. That ship sailed months ago. The baseball-loving public has gone threw this, it seems dozens of times before. Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Rafeal Palmeiro, Eric Gagne, Gary Sheffield, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez and many more. It's getting boring. I'm bored now. If anyone is shocked by this, they need to get themselves out from beneath the covers and get their head checked.

I am at the point when I believe that in the era between 1992 and now, every single player was on something. Steroids, performance enhancing drugs, amphetamines, creatine, insulin, glycogen, shark urine, horse ejaculate, pot, coke, speed, heroine, speed, uppers, downers, fixers, the blue pill, something. The era was saturated with players who stopped at nothing to gain some sort of an edge. And who can blame them? There was no test for anything and players were essentially held to the honor system. The bigger question is: Have we reached the end of the steroid era or are we in the middle of something that will never stop? This Manny "shocker" begs to the latter.

Whether or not this substance was prescribed or not, whether it was a steroid or not, whether it was banned substance or not is irrelevant. Ramirez was caught cheating in the eyes of Major League Baseball and the public, even after he saw scores of his fellow players who did the same ridiculed, humiliated, and ostracized by the media. Let's say it comes out that Manny was telling the truth. That this substance really was prescribed by a doctor. How does he not double-check with the union before physically taking it? Maybe he thought "I have taken lots of drugs to help myself heal over the years. I don't need to check." If that is the case, does this banned substance list cover nearly as much as it should? Or are baseball's attempts to rid the sport of drug use futile? Ramirez didn't even THINK about consulting with the player's association. It didn't even cross his mind. If he were in inject/ingest/swallow anything without thinking about the consequences, what else has he been taking? Not only that, who else has been doing it? There are thousands of "performance enhancing substances" that are not on the banned substance list. With the laissez-faire attitude at which Manny Ramirez took this mystery substance, who is to say the rest of the league is not doing the same? It doesn't matter though. We as a society have become numb to BREAKING NEWS stories about athletes who use performance enhancing drugs. At first, we would be shocked and devastated by the news. We would question their motives, their integrity, and their Hall of Fame status. The story would last for days, even months. The actual sport would take a back seat. Now, I am changing the channel right after I hear, "Big story. The player who tested positive for...". Click. I have better things to worry about. If this is what sports is going to become, a freak show with a bunch of amoral, egotistical, athletic juice-heads; so be it. I used to care about these steroid stories. Not anymore. If you want to inject yourself in the testicles with grizzly bear sweat before pitching game seven, knock yourself out.

Who's next?

By the way, A.J. Daulerio and Deadspin should have an increased credit score.