Oh, Manny something or rather has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for... something...
Ok, let's talk about this, but only a little bit, because the story details aren't totally out there yet.
Manny says he got something from his doctor, and that he didn't knowingly put performance enhancing drugs in his body.
And I want to believe him... I really do.
But I've heard this all before.
So I'm going to wait. I'm going to wait for Manny to provide evidence of this doctor and this medication and I'll wait for him to prove this was all a mistake. But I'm not going to hold my breath.
Frankly, Manny has 50 days to clear his name, and for his own Hall of Fame chances, he's better get that doctor to say something. I really hope he can.
But that's for another day. That's kinda all I want to say about that for now. Let's talk about other things right now.
Our season still continues. It will continue now for another 50 games without our best hitter, and there are some important things we need to do.
1. We need Juan Pierre to bat 8th. Juan Pierre is going to play the majority of our next 50 games in left field. Joe Torre is going to want to put him at the top of the lineup (though he has been better about that recently). That is absolutely wrong. Our lineup needs to remain nearly unchanged. Manny's spot needs to move from 3rd to 8th (or possibly 9th) and we need to otherwise leave the lineup alone.
2. We need to beat the Holy Hell out of the Nationals tonight. We need to make a point. There will be a lot of eyes on us tonight to see how we respond to the Manny news, and we need to come out and make a statement. We need to show that we can, and will, win while Manny is gone. And we need to do it tonight.
3. Regardless of whether or not Manny ends up able to prove this to be a mistake, we need to cheer him. And we need to accept him back.
Look, fans always protect their own. Really, since the steroids accusations started flying years ago, this has happened. Barry Bonds was booed everywhere except San Francisco. Manny is still a Dodger, and when he returns in early July, he still will be. And we should support him as long as he is.
And so, now we wait. We wait to see how our team responds. We wait to see if Manny can clear his name. We just wait and see.
Remember, this is the NL West, we have a good set of kids, a good manager for getting through this sort of thing, and some real team chemistry.
Who knows?
Like I said yesterday, we are truly living in a world where anything is possible.
EDIT: Yahoo! Sports says that a source near Manny is saying that the substance he took was a sexual enhancer. Jesus. I don't know if it's better or worse if Manny gets banned 50 games for Viagra. That would, at least, clear his name. I just hope he didn't put our season in danger for sex pills, but honestly, it's Manny. Would it really shock you?
2ND EDIT: This is what I'm talking about. Bill Plaschke is flipping out on Manny. Ken Rosenthal is basically calling Manny an idiot. We have no idea what Manny took to get banned. If it is just sexual enhancers, are these two going to apologize? We're so quick to freak out and throw people under the bus. Before we pass judgment, maybe we should give it a little. I understand there are deadlines, but how about a little restraint?
3RD EDIT: Here's another thing I'm talking about. Barry Zito, on Twitter, says "Manny's gone for 50 games. time for the Giants to capitalize." And a bunch of Giants fans agree. They are using this as a rallying cry. They think they can come back now. This goes back to my earlier 2nd point. We need to beat up the Nationals tonight. And we need to beat the Giants this weekend. We have to show that just because we don't have Manny doesn't mean we are going down. We are still a good team, and we can still win this division. By the way, guess who we face Friday night? Barry Zito. No better person to prove this point against...
