los angeles dodgers

The All-Star Game officially marks the point between the first and second half of the Major League Baseball season, otherwise known as, “when baseball goes from boring to interesting.” Sorry, but with a 162-game year, the opening couple months usually mean very little in the grand scheme of things (kind of like the first three quarters of most basketball games). Following the All-Star break though, the storylines in the MLB hit Lost-level intrigue as the true contenders start to emerge and teams vie for playoff spots.

Most Red Sox fans, Yankee fans, and pretty much baseball fans in general associate Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez.  The two Dominicanos spent four years together in Boston, and each played an integral role in breaking the Red Sox 85-season World Series “Curse.”  Seems kind of fitting then that on the day after talking about Man-Ram we turn our attention Petey.  Unlike Ramirez (gainfully employed by the Los Angeles Dodgers) Martinez needs a job.  Currently, the three-time Cy Young Award win

Normally grown folk need to make their own decisions, but if a particular grown folk might benefit from a little nudging in one direction or another…well, I’m happy to oblige. So let me just flat-out say it: Manny Ramirez, visit your old neighborhood in Washington Heights.

Ahhh, yes, Fourth of July weekend, a time for fireworks, BBQs, and…celebrating the United States’ independence from Britain, of course.  How many people do you actually think will say over the weekend, “Man, I am so happy we’re no longer under British rule, who wants to chug a beer”?

Normally, the baseball faithful show no mercy to cheaters. Yankee fans boo Alex Rodriguez. People toss syringes at Barry Bonds. Mark McGuire spends more time hiding from the public than Joaquin Guzman Loera. And Manny Ramirez…ummm, wait a second.

Guess who’s back, back again. Manny’s back, tell a friend. Or at least tell the media. On June 9th, Manny Ramirez returned to L.A. from his South Florida banishment and visited Dodger’s Stadium for the first time since his 50-game suspension. What did he do at Chavez Ravine? Just kind of hung out…oh, and also “unofficially” talked to members of the press.

He’s baaaack…maybe.  As we all know, on May 7th Major League Baseball dropped a 50 game suspension on Manny Ramirez after he tested positive for a banned substance (the female fertility drug HCG, not to be confused with the much trendier HGH or human growth hormone).  See ya, bye-bye.  The infraction cost Manny a lot: $8 million in salary, over a third of his 2009 season, and, obviously, a trip to the All-Star game. 

In the history of great disappointments, Manny Ramirez failing a drug test ranks high – probably somewhere between finding out Santa Claus isn’t real and Salma Hayek getting hitched (yeah, that one still stings).  A total shock?  No, just like an old, fat, bearded guy bringing free gifts, Manny sometimes seemed too good to be true.  Still, you wanted to believe that the carefree, enigmatic slugger romped around beyond the shady dealings of guys like Barry Bonds and Aster-Rod (again, similar to Salma Hayek staying “available” foreva eva).  Well, no

On Monday, April 6th, former Madonna Latino boy-toy, MLB slugger, and Juiced author Jose Canseco spoke in front of a small crowd at the University of Southern California.  During the Q&A, Canseco called A-Rod a “copycat” (Madonna Latin boy-toy and steroid user), dubbed Ken Griffey Jr. a “clean” player (although he claims nobody can be sure about anyone anymore), and accused Manny Ramirez of taking performance-enhancing drugs. Wait, what???

On Monday, the San Antonio Spurs shelved Manu Ginobili for the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his leg. To quote the great E.T. the Extraterrestrial, “Ooouuuch.” Losing Manu immediately transforms the Spurs from Western Conference contenders (albeit a distant second behind the Lake Show) to a team most b-ball pundits (including myself) think will be lucky to advance past the first round. Yes, S.A.’s fortunes ride that heavily on the Argentine guard’s health.