SAN DIEGO -- Chris Young said Major League Baseball offered further proof that it is on the right track Thursday after Manny Ramirez was issued a 50-game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs.

The Padres' pitcher has long stated that the sport's improved drug testing system is helping to level the playing field, while simultaneously cleaning up baseball's image. The action taken against Ramirez only furthered Young's beliefs because it wasn't protecting one of its superstars. Reactions to Ramirez's suspension varied throughout the Padres' clubhouse, but there was an overwhelming sense that baseball's drug testing program is working.

"It's definitely a sad day for the game, but a positive day in that the testing program is working," Young said. "And that it doesn't matter who you are, nobody's immune to the testing. The game is going to crack down on you. … For the people who have done things the right way, I think its good to see the game now being cleaned up. As sad as it is that this stuff goes on, if you look at any field, Wall Street, city government, whatever random city it may be, people are in trouble for bending the rules. Baseball is no exception, but I think we've got rules in place to try and prevent this."

Neither Young nor Padres manager Bud Black said they were shocked by the news.

Black said he has become desensitized by all the steroid talk over the years -- that hearing rumors about this name or that name have made him immune to the chatter.

But Black fears what effects this latest scandal could have on a game that has now seen two of its biggest names associated with steroids in a three-month span. In February, New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez admitted he used steroids when he played for the Texas Rangers.

"From a personal side, it's disappointing," Black said. "(Ramirez) is a focal point for our industry. When something like this happens, it hurts the game … It's disappointing for those of us in the game but we've seen it before."

Ramirez's suspension will have minimal effect on the Padres, who only have two games with Los Angeles -- June 9-10 in L.A.-- during the outfielder's suspension. The two teams have already played seven times during the season's first month, with the Dodgers winning five.

Coincidentally, Ramirez will be eligible to return to the lineup against the Padres at Petco Park on July 3. But players and coaches are interested see how the Dodgers, who began the season 21-8, including winning 13 in a row at home, will fare without him in the lineup. Though Ramirez is only hitting .227 with one homer against the Padres, he has also drawn nine walks and his mere presence has had a huge impact.

"The Los Angeles Dodgers are a great baseball team from top to bottom," Padres pitcher Jake Peavy said. "There's no doubt, Manny Ramirez makes them quite a bit better than they are. To have Juan Pierre, it's not like they're out of luck. But I'm sure they're going to feel the effects of it."

Several players didn't want to rush to judgment after learning that Ramirez said in a statement he was given a substance by a personal physician he that he believed to be clean. After yielding a homer to Ramirez last Thursday, pitcher Josh Geer wants to believe his opponent.

"You never really know the true story," Geer said. "It could have been the doctor's fault."

Outfielder Jody Gerut is concerned that a simple mix-up by a supplier can lead to a positive test and a 50-game suspension. The suspension will reportedly cost Ramirez $7.7 million.

"We're in a situation where you can be suspended 50 games without pay for taking a contaminated bottle of vitamin C," Gerut said. "That's the reality. It doesn't matter if your intentions were good or bad. If that supplier bottles more than vitamin C, and that substance happens to get mixed in, you're somehow responsible for that. Is that fair? No. Those are the rules now and those rules require incredible restraint."

Gerut said players were best off to stick to the list of approved supplements provided by MLB. Peavy, who said he only takes vitamin C, said the team had three different sources that he or any player could go to confirm if a substance was safe. And after beginning the current testing system in 2004, at this point, Young said, enough information is available for players to know what they should and shouldn't be taking.

"If people are going to abuse the testing system knowingly, we've had the system in place since 2004," Young said. "Excuses are over and done with."