Thoughts on Manny

So, the big news story of Thursday wasn't Brett Favre, after all.

Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress was reportedly going to have a face-to-face meeting with the retired QB on Thursday about a possible comeback, but then Childress was seen at the Vikings team facility instead of being in Mississippi.

Then it was reported that Favre hadn't changed his mind about his retirement....

Well, all that took a backseat to the shocker of the day: Manny Ramirez and his 50-game drug suspension. Steroids.

On Wednesday, life was good in L.A.

The Dodgers were 21-8 and had the best record in the majors, had won seven straight and just set a modern-day major league record with its 13-0 start at Dodger Stadium, following a 10-3 triumph over the Washington Nationals.

The way they were going, maybe they weren't going to lose a home game all year.

Ramirez (.348, 6 HR, 20 RBIs) was a big part of their success, and not just on the field. He was bringing fans to the ballpark, Dodger merchandise sales were up, and everything was good in La-La land.

The 50-game suspension would cost Manny $8 million in salary.

Now, will the Dodgers continue winning?

On Thursday night, they certainly looked like they were going to go 14-0, when they came out and scored six runs in the first inning against the Nationals.

The score was 6-0 going into the sixth, before the Nats came all the way back. Washington got four runs in the next two innings, and then stunned L.A. with a six-run eighth for a 10-6 lead.

The Dodgers finally woke up in the eighth and ninth innings, but fell 11-9.

Juan Pierre took Manny's spot in left field, though he hit in the No. 9 spot (something Joe Torre has been doing recently whenever he's inserted Pierre into the lineup). Pierre was 2-for-4 and is batting .371, but was only 1-for-2 in steals and left three runners on base.

Obviously, the Manny-less era didn't start out well, but considering the division they're in, they're still in a good position.

L.A. started the day 6 1/2 games up on the San Francisco Giants, the biggest lead of any of the divisional leaders in the majors.

But ah, the Giants go into Dodger Stadium on Friday for a three-game weekend series. Will the divisional lead shrink by the time San Fran leaves town?

And oh, the Yankees just got swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in a two-game series at new Yankee Stadium. The Rays actually hit back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning off Mariano Rivera, of all people, to break a 6-6 tie. Yawn.

The Yanks though, were getting Alex Rodriguez (who admitted to steroid use in February after SI outed him) back on Friday, at last. A-Rod has missed the entire season so far but has just finished his stint in extended spring training... but yawn.

Boston scored 12 runs before making the first out in the sixth inning, tying a major-league record, and this happening without Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, and Jacoby Ellsbury in the lineup. Yawn.

The underachieving Mets swept the defending WS champion Phillies (albeit in just a two-game series). New York, with four straight wins, is now a half-game back of Philadelphia, losers of two straight. The Phils' Jamie Moyer was going for his 250th win (but of course he didn't get it). Yawn, yawn, yawn.

The White Sox's Mark Buehrle took a perfect game into the seventh. The Arizona Diamondbacks fired manager Bob Melvin. Lots of things happened on Thursday.

But nothing compared to the Manny news that broke early Thursday.