So, in other words, Bud Selig has unleashed his inner David Stern and crushed the union before John McCain could crush them both. We're very impressed, Bud. Right now, Matt Lawton is thanking his lucky stars and purple clovers that he got busted just in time.

Baseball, Union Agree To Tougher Policy [Newsday]
The Matt Lawton Story: A Timeline [Deadspin]

But the way the story broke yesterday provides a glimpse into how not just the mainstream media works, but also Major League Baseball. Step back with us, into the wayback machine, to revisit yesterday, which, as Boys 2 Men taught us, it's so hard to say goodbye to.

• 1:45 p.m. We break the story: Lawton Has Tested Positive For Steroids. A bunch of people email us, disappointed it wasn't Gary Sheffield. We agree.
• 3:30 p.m. Baseball Musings picks it up.
• 4:15 p.m. Newsday's Jon Heyman confirms the story on Newsday's Web site. He writes that the story was "first reported by Deadspin.com."
• 4:33 p.m. Major League Baseball, realizing that the cat's out of the bag, releases an official statement about Lawton.
• 4:48 p.m. The Associated Press sends the story across its wires. No credit to Deadspin.com is mentioned.
• 6 p.m. Newsday rewrites its story — not by Heyman this time — eliminating the Deadspin references as well.

Don't believe us? Go to Google News and go back to the very beginning of stories about Lawton. We're the first one there. Then Heyman. Then everybody else. We're not saying this to brag or anything — OK, just a little — but rather to point out that if one newspaper had a scoop and another newspaper printed that scoop without attribution, as if they had gotten it themselves, journalism ethicists would be pooing in their britches. And, for that matter, if one blog took something from another blog and didn't credit, they'd get hammered for it too. And, to take this even farther, if a blog took a story from a newspaper and pretended it had broken the story, no one would take them seriously again.

But, apparently, if a newspaper takes something from a blog, it's fair game. Worth noting. And that's one to grow on. The more you know.

To wit: At the end of July, the Cubs acquired Lawton from the Pirates, and, less than a month later, realizing they were out of the race, traded him to the Yankees. When it came time for the Yanks to set their playoff roster, they surprised many by leaving Lawton off the team, opting for Don Zimmer bench impersonator Tony Womack and scrappy underdog Bubba Crosby. At the end of the season, Lawton filed for free agency. And now he appears to have been nailed for steroid abuse.

So here's the question: Three teams got rid of Lawton within two months, though, you know, he's better than Tony freaking Womack. The Yankees inexplicably left him off their playoff roster, trading pseudo-prospect Justin Berg. Did any of those teams already know something? How long has this appeal process been going on? Were they waiting for him to become a free agent? Did Steinbrenner know when he traded for him? Was he pissed?

All kinds of questions, people ... all kinds. Stay tuned.

Earlier: Sources: Lawton Has Tested Positive [Deadspin]

(Update: Lawton was just suspended for the first 10 games of the 2006 season. If he has a team.)
(Second update: It has been a bad year for Lawton. After being left off the postseason roster, he returned home to Gulfport, Miss., which was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina.")
(Third update: Tomorrow, November 3, is actually Lawton's birthday. Ooof.)

Lawton, who just filed for free agency from the Yankees, was traded from the Cubs before last year's trading deadline. We emphasize that this is just a rumor, has no connection to our poll last week (we, sadly, did not even mention Lawton) and only what we're taking from a bunch of people we're talking to. We have not seen any positive tests, samples, press releases, Lawton peeing in a cup, anything like that. This is just what we keep hearing.

Oh, and we're sorry the rumors are about Matt Lawton. We were kind of hoping it would be someone cooler as well.