It signifies that Baseball's balleyhooed anti-steroid program really does have a penalty phase for superstar players.

We've become so numb over the years to performance-enhancing drug scandals that the most alarming news Thursday was the massive length mandated for such suspensions

We're no longer stunned by who is implicated, having bid farewell to heroic images of Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, etc.

We're no longer curious what drugs they took, who supplied them and what lame excuses will be offered (such as Ramirez blaming a doctor's bad prescription, as if he were an innocent polo horse).

We now revel in Baseball's apparent ability to crack down on its stars rather than wait for a congressional hearing to scold all parties.

As an added bonus for Giants fans, they can celebrate the scarlet letter their new arch nemesis has been branded with, not to mention the illusion that the National League West-leading Dodgers will crash back to earth.

Giants management can toast an Anchor Steam to themselves, too, for not taking the expensive gamble the Dodgers did to sign Manny (two years, $45 million).

Perhaps the Giants suspected all along that Manny would get busted by Baseball's vice squad. No one is above suspicion anymore, of course. And now we've been reminded of the massive ramifications cheaters and their teams' pennant chances face if they get busted.

Look for Cam Inman's Web-only "Candid Cam" takes whenever there's a breaking sports story, or whenever Cam's got something to say _ in short, just about every day. You can reach Cam at twitter.com/CamInman.