As everybody now knows, last week LA Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez was “suspended for 50 games for a violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.” Officially, we know surprisingly little else, although unofficially baseball officials have confirmed that Ramirez was “taking human chorionic gonadotropin, a female fertility drug,” a sign that he had previously used performance-enhancing steroids.

Without knowing all the facts, it seems to me that Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Dodges and Ramirez have all handled this situation terribly.

For the record: The suspension was announced in a terse and vague statement from the MLB Commissioner’s office at 12:08 pm ET on Thursday, May 7. Even though the Dodgers had been informed of the pending suspension the night before, they did not release a statement for over 4 hours, and even then only announcing:

“We share the disappointment felt by our fans, our players, and every member of our organization. We support the policies of Major League Baseball, and we will welcome Manny back upon his return.”

For his part, Ramirez’s only statement was a press release issued through the MLB Player’s Union on Thursday, where he offered a lame excuse for why he failed the test, and apologized:

“Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay 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.”

Unsurprisingly, three lame press releases do not make for effective crisis communications, and a feeding frenzy has ensued.

The story was spun about as terribly as it could be on network newscasts on Thursday. For example, watch NBC’s Nightly News broadcast (note that Lee Cowan describes fans as “mad”, interviews critical experts on-camera, and reads Ramirez’s written statement with no emotion):

The scandal also proved easy fodder for late-night comics on Thursday and Friday nights, with Leno slamming MLB as a whole:

“With all these athletes failing these drug tests, maybe the problem is the drug tests. Maybe these tests are too damn hard. So many guys are failing, maybe we should grade it on a curve or something.”

The story isn’t getting any better, either. On Sunday, the New York Times ran a front-page story about the Dodgers that was so shockingly bad, I hope it set off alarm bells in New York and Los Angeles. Essentially, the New York Times reported that the LA Dodgers has decided to handle the scandal by ignoring it:

The Dodgers insist their mess can be mopped away, mostly by doing nothing at all. … While expressing disappointment in Ramirez, they did not distance themselves from him. The forgiving and forgetting will commence as soon as public sentiment allows. The Dodgers continue to sell his merchandise and use him in advertising campaigns. A Ramirez bobblehead promotion is still scheduled for July 22. He could return to the lineup July 3.

You can’t make this up!

As readers of this blog know, I love baseball as much as anyone, so I hope MLB gets serious about protecting its image as this scandal grows (and the way it’s been mishandled so far guarantees continued press and public interest, so it will grow).

In my humble opinion, I think Major League Baseball, the LA Dodgers, and Ramirez need to be more aggressive in heading off public backlash for this scandal. If I was advising any of the parties, here is what I would recommend:

LA Dodgers: Rather than ignoring the scandal, embrace it. Show that the team has high ethical standards by strongly condemning Ramirez’s actions and announce an internal investigation into how one of their players could be using a banned substance. Ramirez’s suspension will save the team about $7 million they would otherwise pay him for 50 games. Why not announce that all or some of the money will instead be used to establish a foundation to teach young athletes about the risks of steroids?

Manny Ramirez: Crawl out from whatever rock you’re hiding under, ASAP. If you have an excuse for how you failed the drug test (as your written statement suggested), the public needs to hear it directly from you. Regardless, the public needs to see your remorse. Then, rather than spending the 50-day suspension in seclusion, use it constructively. Maybe travel the country meeting with young athletes. Sooner or later you’re going to have to face the media. Your critics are already out there shaping public opinion; the longer you stay silent, the harder that first public appearance will be.

Major League Baseball: The Commissioner’s office says it is in a difficult situation because their collective bargaining agreement with the Players’ Union precludes them from commenting. Nevertheless, there should be an aggressive effort to garner supportive statements from other public officials. For example: Why not reach out to members of Congress who have been critical of past steroid use, and encourage them to issue statements supporting the Commissioner for his handling of Ramirez; use this as evidence that the policy works and the League is serious about cleaning up its image. (For example, when Robert Gibbs was asked about it at the White House briefing, he called the situation “embarrassing” for MLB. Isn’t that the wrong message that baseball wants to be sending? Why not prompt the Administration to laud MLB for taking aggressive action to route out steroid abuse? The White House should criticize Ramirez, but not MLB.)

Well over two dozen Major League players have been suspended for failing drug tests since 2005, including three this year alone. And that does not include high-profile cases like Alex Rodriguez, who confessed this spring to taking performance enhancing drugs early in his career. This is not a problem that can be handled with a simple series of press releases.

Already this year, attendance at MLB games last month was nearly 5 percent less than the same month last year, presumptively because of the recession. That’s all the more reason to handle this scandal effectively. As a fan of the game, I hope the League does so.