That Was Then, This Is Now.

I was at Dodger Stadium in 1988 when Kirk Gibson hit that World Series home run. Even the hardcore Yankee fan in me went batshit. Chavez Ravine was seriously rockin'.
Fast-forward twenty years. It's 2008, and it's mid-season when I stroll into the Poop Deck. I was following the Dodgers by this point, although conflicted, like a teenager who couldn't decide which girl to ask to the prom. A guy on his Blackberry screams at me, "We got Manny! We got Manny!" I half-expected Tommy Lasorda to come waddling out of the men's room and kiss me on the cheek.
There is no doubt that Manny Ramirez's arrival fired up the Dodger base and transfixed a somewhat somnambulant yet fiercely loyal bunch of Dodger fans like nothing since that magical run in '88. But--Manny became Manny, just as he was billed to become--and a subsequent 50-game suspension in '09 and his ineffectual return meant that Hollywood would need another story line in 2010.
Kemp and Ethier it is, which works just fine for me, and I don't even like buddy flicks.

Go BLUE!
Play ball...

(Read about the rebranding here.)

Tastes Great, Less Filling.

From Fanhouse.com:

Manny being Manny. Rarely have three small words ever so perfectly captured the essence of a man as that phrase captures Manny Ramirez.
Going to the bathroom during an inning? Manny being Manny. Testing positive for female hormone drugs? Manny being Manny. Hitting a baseball like a god and living the rest of your life like a man without a brain? Manny being Manny.
Add endorsing an energy drink with a name that's sure to have third graders across the country snorting chocolate milk out of their noses to the list. According to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, Manny will be endorsing a product called, ahem, Sum Poosie. If by some chance you don't get it, just go back and re-read it a couple of times.

Is that Manny on third base?

UPDATE: RAM's Final Day In L.A.

I posted about RAM--Remote Area Medical--last week. Since I am acutely tuned into the health care reform debate, I was instantly struck by the sad irony of a metropolis like Los Angeles attracting the attention of a rural medical relief organization.

It's another sign of our troubled times, a sure indication of the need for health care reform in general and a public option in particular, and yet a refreshing reminder of the kindness of (certain) strangers.

Here's an update on RAM's final day in L.A. from the Los Angeles Times:

As the Remote Area Medical Foundation’s huge, free health clinic winds up its eight-day run at the Forum in Inglewood Tuesday evening, organizers said they expected to be able to treat all patients who were given wristbands – or refer them to doctors who will provide free care.

During the organization’s first venture into a large, urban city -- and its longest-running health clinic in its 25-year history -- volunteer dentists and doctors helped deliver free medical care to thousands of patients. Many seeking care camped out overnight or slept in their cars; hundreds of others were turned away. Some had traveled from as far as San Francisco and Phoenix for the chance to be treated.

Final tallies were not available, but doctors performed an array of medical services, from root canals and mammograms to HIV tests and the dispensing of free eyeglasses.

“It went beautifully,” said volunteer Don Manelli, chief producer of the event. “The only regret is that we didn’t make it bigger. We could have seen more people. It went smoothly. We didn’t have any major problems. The only improvement we could have made is having more optometrists and dentists every day.”

Organizers said coming to Southern California was a challenge, in part because the local medical community had never heard of the Tennessee-based Remote Area Medical Foundation. The foundation primarily serves rural areas such as Appalachia, where access to healthcare can be limited. But as the clinic gained momentum -- and media coverage -- more volunteers turned out. Over the weekend, Manelli said there were more volunteer dentists than the 80 dental chairs set up on the floor of the Forum.

Manelli said no decisions have been made about whether to return to Los Angeles County, but he said, “We’re already thinking about it.”

The Straight Dope On Big Papi.

So, was David Ortiz pointing to that imaginary Big Guy in the Sky after all those home runs, or was it a shout-out to his allegedly all-too-real steroid dealer?

From the New York Times:

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the sluggers who propelled the Boston Red Sox to end an 86-year World Series championship drought and to capture another title three years later, were among the roughly 100 Major League Baseball players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the results.

Some of baseball’s most cherished storylines of the past decade have been tainted by performance-enhancing drugs, including the accomplishments of record-setting home run hitters and dominating pitchers. Now, players with Boston’s championship teams of 2004 and 2007 have also been linked to doping.

Baseball first tested for steroids in 2003, and the results from that season were supposed to remain anonymous. But for reasons that have never been made clear, the results were never destroyed and the first batch of positives has come to be known among fans and people in baseball as “the list.” The information was later seized by federal agents investigating the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes, and the test results remain the subject of litigation between the baseball players union and the government.

Five others have been tied to positive tests from that year: Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Jason Grimsley and David Segui. Bonds, baseball’s career home runs leader, was not on the original list, although federal agents seized his 2003 sample and had it retested. Those results showed the presence of steroids, according to court documents.

Unlike Ramirez, who recently served a 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy, Ortiz had not previously been linked to performance-enhancing substances.

Asked about the 2003 drug test on Thursday in Boston, Ortiz shrugged. “I’m not talking about that anymore,” he said. “I have no comment.”

Ortiz is currently batting .224 with 13 home runs and 55 RBI in 93 games.

UPDATE: You can scrap the word "allegedly" from this post's lede; Ortiz has confirmed the report.

Sadly, he won't be the last.

The Artless Dodger.

     I am no longer shocked when I hear of yet another great baseball player caught with a needle in his ass. But for reasons that I'll try to briefly explain, today's news about Manny Ramirez whacked me more than any of the others.

     Manny Ramirez is a right-handed hitter of historical proportions. Like all hardcore fans, I've followed him since his Cleveland Indian days. His patience at the plate, ice-watered veins and natural exuberance combined to make him a unique, charismatic superstar.

     Fast-forward to his Red Sox years. I am--was, anyway--a Yankee fan, and here's this guy I loved on the Tribe kicking the pinstripes crooked on my Bronx Bombers. He was absolutely lethal, he was Manny Being Manny and he was cementing his place as one of the greatest hitters in the history of the game. I hated the Red Sox, but I couldn't hate Manny.

     Then came stories out of Boston that weren't Manny Being Manny-level entertaining anymore. The one about him knocking down an older Red Sox employee was particularly unsavory, and I wrote him off as just another pampered asshole.

     Last summer, I walked into the Poop Deck one afternoon, and my friend Dave--an L.A. guy by way of Boston--screamed at me. "We got Manny! We got Manny!" We had talked about the Dodgers a lot last summer because Joe Torre was here, the Yankees having largely told him "thanks, but no thanks" after the previous season. I was becoming more of a Dodger fan (root, root, root for the home team--in baseball, anyway), and now here comes Manny. We fist-bumped.

     I was cynical about which Manny the Dodgers had landed; the historically-dominate right-handed hitter or the guy who tackled an old man in Beantown.

     Then came the last half of last season.

     I was at Dodger Stadium the night Kirk Gibson hit the home run in Game One of the '88 World Series. It was the single greatest moment I've ever experienced at a sporting event, and I wasn't even a real Dodger fan at the time. The only other time I've seen Dodger Stadium close to that state of frenzy was last season, the night after they clinched the NL West. Everywhere I looked, there were "Ramirez 99" jerseys, kids in the dreadlocked promo hats the Dodgers began selling and the joint was rockin'. After that game, both Manny and Joe Torre took to the field and addressed the crowd. Dodger fans weren't leaving early that night.

     The Yankees now play in a fake Yankee Stadium, and I've been in L.A. too long now to move on with them. I already have a Disneyland here, so I'm not interested in the one I read about in New York papers or see on TV. I simply don't care anymore; I'm a Dodger fan now.

     I ended up giving Manny the benefit of the doubt regarding the stories I'd read about his final days in Boston. There were other stories, too; ones that hinted that maybe the Red Sox had hyped some of Manny's least-attractive qualities a bit more than they warranted. Ultimately, how the hell did I know the truth, and I loved watching the guy play. Torre was here, they were building a great young team and the young guys all worshipped Manny.

     We've read much about Manny's discipline, his routine, his preparation, his dedication to hitting. We never read about his name tied to cheating. His short time here has been infectious, and Mannywood was the hottest neighborhood in town. 

     Plus, Manny was becoming L.A.'s favorite athlete, which meant less talk about my least-favorite L.A. athlete--the unctuous Kobe Bryant.

     And then Manny got caught with a needle in his ass. 

     Just another pampered asshole, fucking up this beautiful game.

     There is no joy in Mannywood--mighty Manny has struck out.

JackRabbit Café Exposé: Who Is Manny Ramirez's Doctor, Anyway?

This Dr. Nick?

Or this Dr. Nick:

Manny's Statement.

From TMZ.com:

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me.

Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy, that mistake is now my responsibility. I've 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 5 seasons. 

I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. L.A. is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation."

UPDATE here.

So Manny Ramirez Is A Juicer, Too?

Didn't read baseball's list of banned substances, huh?

From the Los Angeles Times:

Manny Ramirez has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and will be suspended 50 games starting today, The Times has learned.
The test result and suspension is expected to be announced later today.

The suspension will cost Ramirez $7.7 million, or roughly 31% of his $25-million salary. Players in violation of baseball's drug policy are not paid during suspensions.
Ramirez is expected to attribute the test results to medication received from a doctor for a personal medical issue, according to a source familiar with matter but not authorized to speak publicly.

With the suspension taking effect with tonight's game against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium, Ramirez will not be eligible to return to the team until July 3.
Ramirez would become the biggest star suspended under an oft-criticized major league testing program that started in 2003. He had been a model citizen since arriving in Los Angeles last August, following a stormy tenure with the Boston Red Sox.

Ramirez did not appear in the clubhouse after the Dodgers' 10-3 victory over the Washington Nationals Wednesday night. After the game, Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti and Manager Joe Torre said they were unaware of any failed test or pending suspension.

Who's next?