On August 15, 2012 — All-Star OF Melky Cabrera of the Giants sees his outstanding season come to a crashing end with a 50-game suspension for testing positive for testosterone, a performance-enhancing drug.
The MVP of the All-Star Game, who currently is 13 points behind Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen as the second-leading hitter in the National League, is one plate appearance shy of automatically qualifying for the NL batting title, but could still win the crown if he were to have the circuit’s best average after the addition of a theoretical at-bat.
Cabrera is hitting .346 with a league-leading 159 hits, but will not be eligible to return to play this year unless the Giants make it to the second round of the postseason; the Giants will indeed make it all the way to the World Series, but will have cut off all remaining ties with their disgraced star by then. Without Cabrera, the Giants lose, 6 – 4, to the Nationals and fall out of first place in the NL West when the Dodgers defeat Pittsburgh, 9 – 3.
