MAN-SHAM!

When they say that it is Just Manny Being Manny I don’t think this is what they had in mind.

In shocking news LA Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez has been suspended immediately for 50 games after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. Up until this point there was never a finger pointed toward Manny and his name was never in the forefront. Who would have thought that Manny would get suspended while ARod has not, despite much publicised reports of past use. Of all the players that could suffer the wrath of the performance-enhancing crackdown one would think that Manny and Albert Pujols would be the 2 biggest and most unlikely to become linked. There has not been much attention given to either of these two but at least in Manny’s case there is.

In the Steroid era I guess nothing should be surprising but I find this, for lack of a better term a little shocking just because Manny is such a pure hitter. I stress hitter, not power hitter. He has one of the best eyes in all of baseball, the most patients at the plate and probably the smoothest right handed swing of all time. Of all the superstars who may or may not be using one would have thought that Manny wouldn’t need it. I mean if he doesn’t have the same power numbers he is still going to be a dominant hitter. Why take the risk of killing your reputation. You are not going to make more money then you are already making. How big must your ego be to jeopardize your career and place as one of the games all time bests? Is it due to injury or rehab, perhaps but how could we ever know for sure.

You can be sure that Theo Epstein and the Boston Red Sox are glad to have Jason Bay in left and not Man-Ram. I don’t think he will be getting too much support in this matter from Beantown that’s for sure.

This only goes to prove that no one can be above suspicion and that the drug cloud is still looming over baseball.

I feel bad for those who actually do it right and do it clean...but I guess how do we know if there are any in the game that are, how can we not paint everyone with the same brush?

Around The Horn

Brett Favre has finally moved and maybe now we can all move on to talking about football...the actual game!
You can call him Broadway Brett! I guess green really is his favorite colour for more reasons then one.

In a related note, Chad Pennington the Jets starting QB the last few seasons has gone Dan Crowley (Ottawa Renegades former starting QB) and was released by the team. Not even demoted...released

First it was Paul now it is Morgan. The two USA Gymnast brothers have been forced to sit out the Olympics with injury
I will take the Won Ton Soup and the #29 Special....Hold the Hamm

The European’s record at the PGA Championship is not great, none of the US players are playing particularly well.
Should make for an interesting final Major, Tiger must just be itching to be in this field for an almost guaranteed victory, probably still would be the favorite right now even on one pin.

Are any of the athletes this year actually going to be clean?
Vegas will have its work cut out for themselves setting the over/under for athletes getting pinched by drug tests

The Manny Ramirez trade is being investigated by MLB
After the way the ARod (or the Lightning Rod, as i know him) contract was handled by Scott Boras last year during the World Series there would be an outside chance that ther may have been something greasy going on there

J.P. Riccardi the Jays GM stated that Cito Gaston will be back in 2009
Does that open the door for Beaston and Gillick to come in too?Apparently what was old is new again in TO....Was that just an Allan Bester sighting??

After this regime some more "new/old" faces may be a good thing

As stated on The Colbert Report last night Michael Phelps will be one to watch this year in the pool as he goes for a record amount of Gold. It is a wonder that he has the kind of time required to train while playing Jim on the Office and QB’ing the NY Giants to the Super Bowl

MLB Trade Deadline

Baseballs non-waiver trade deadline was 4pm today and some big names have been on the move. In the days leading up some big bats and a few strong arms have been on the move. Granted this is just phase one of "deadlines" there is still a push to get things done sooner rather then later and avoid other teams from blocking trades.

It all started with Millwakee picking up C.C. Sebathia, a move that more or less forced the Cubs to go after and acquire Rich Harden in what amounts to an arms race in the NL Central.
The Angles, who hold the best record in baseball went out and got Mark Teixeira from the Braves and made their club even that much more dangerous with a big slugging bat. No guarantee for a World Series win but a step in the right direction for sure.

Griffey Jr. has been shipped to the White Sox. Though getting up in age still a productive bat and a good glove. With the possibility of getting to a World Series for the first time in his career may just be a good motivator.

Pudge Rodriguez has traded his Tiger stripes for Yankee pinstripes. A questionable move by Detroit but a great pick up for the hated Yankees, especially with Posada being done for the season. Farnsworth was not a lot to give away and sometimes I wonder why people continue to do deals with the Yankees, Brian Cashman must be a great salesman.

Jason Bay and Manny Ramirez were thought to be on the move, and so they were.... for each other. Manny has become such a pain to Red Sox management that It looks like they were viewing it as addition by subtraction. Tough to move a guy that you can in no way replace what he brings you on the field but if it cleans up the locker room maybe in the long run it is worth it.
Jason Bay is a good player and they may be able to keep him with the $20 mil they will save next year on Manny. He should be a decent fit with the Red Sox.
Also the Pirates have managed to aquire another LaRoche lad and now they have a full complement with Andy and Adam.

The fact that Adam Dunn was not moved is interesting, Maybe JP Riccardi was right and the strike out ratio and other issues was not far off the mark.

Speaking of JP, it looks like he decided to stand pat and hold onto AJ Burnett and opted not to acquire Raul Ibanez... and so sit the Jays treading water yet again, not in but not out.

Although these deals were not achieved by the 4pm deadline there is still the possibility of moves to be made before the next waiver deadline comes and goes. That blockbuster could still happen, lets keep our eyes peeled on that.

The Stars Come Out

We have hit the "midway" point of the baseball season and it is All Star time. Of all the major sports except for maybe NASCAR the MLB All Star game is the only game that can be played close to what the game is actually like. Any of the contact games are just too risky for players to go all out for little or no reason and risk injury.
Unfortunately over time, baseball’s game has turned from a passionate game too more of a spectacle in recent years. Long are the days of the old timers who would play a full game not just 2 or 3 innings, the desperation to win that was once there just isn’t there anymore and the pride of the league in free agent era does not exist and with the recent inter-league play that has come in there is less of a mystery between the 2 leagues. Lets just say the is little chance that you will see Manny Ramirez take out Giovanni Soto at home...actually you probably wouldn’t see that anyway, but you get the jist. Despite Bud Selig trying to make the game "count" by awarding home field for the World Series to the winning league, it is very transparent of his attempt to make the game draw a few more people and up the tv ratings. Lets just enjoy the game for what it is and that is a celebration of the game for the fans to enjoy and a chance to say goodbye to one of the most historic parks in baseball history, Yankee Stadium.
I would have loved to gone there one to take it in for myself but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.
For those who are fans of the game I guess it doesn’t really matter. If you are going to get up for a Pardes-vs-Giants game then this will be light years ahead of that. Actually the All Star Game is actually more meaningful then a Pardes-vs-Giants game....both those teams are Not Good.