Manny Ramirez

As the baseball world awaits the return of Manny Ramirez in a little over a week, many are wondering which Manny Ramirez will return after a 50 game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's steroid policy. This evening Ramirez begins a stint with the Albuquerque Isotopes, the AAA affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, to help rid himself of nearly 2 months of rust and prepare to return to the Dodgers next Friday. The question remains though, which Manny will we see when Ramirez takes the field in San Diego next week?

Continue reading "Which Manny Ramirez will return to Los Angeles?"

Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettite, Roger Clemens, and Manny Ramirez have all been busted for steroid use. Now, just this week we learned of Sammy Sosa's steroid use, forever tainting one of America's darlings from 1998.

Continue reading "Another "hero" falls, Slammin' Sammy busted"

 

           Why do people read books or watch movies? What is it that they find intriguing? It’s the story. If it’s a great story that you are looking for than you need only look to professional sports.

Continue reading "For Love of the Game"

Most of them are selected by the fans, with the expected popularity-contest results. Manny Ramirez is starting in left field, instead of Carlos Quentin (who is younger, a better defender and having a season that's as good as, if not better, than Manny's). Josh Hamilton (with superior offensive numbers) is in center, over the better defender (Grady Sizemore, with only slightly inferior offensive numbers). Jeter’s the starter at short, in spite of being as poor a defender as ever, with Mike Young (better on both sides of the ball) on the bench. Would you take Kevin Youlikis at first over Justin Morneau? Perhaps, or perhaps not—but Terry Francona must, because The Fans Said So.

Continue reading "Gimme A Break!"

Drew moved both over with a groundout, and Manny Ramirez walked to load the bases. After Lowell drove in Ellsbury with a sac fly to short left, the Yankees looked like they might escape without further damage, if they could only get one more out.

Continue reading "More Bad Yankee Luck"

there, I'm going to commit the ultimate fan heresy and argue against ARod, and in favor of Boston's Manny Ramirez, as the greatest hitter in the game today. He doesn't have anywhere near the defensive value that ARod does, and he's more of a clubhouse canker (I won't say "cancer" as he's more annoying than destructive) but he gets my nod for a consistently good eye, consistent power, and postseason performance. 

Continue reading "Manny Ramirez: Baseball's Best Active Hitter"

uding one last night where he moved into scoring position with two outs in the ninth inning, giving Manny Ramirez the opportunity to tie the game up with a mere single. Julio Lugo also has 5 steals and even the self-proclaimed lead footed Dustin Pedroia has contributed 4 steals. In total, 7 different Boston players have successfully swiped a base so far this season.

Continue reading "The Go Go . . . Red Sox?"

rfield job and now Boston seems content to hold onto him until it gets blown away by a trade offer. Manny Ramirez, who has started slowly the last couple of seasons, is also on fire and leading the team in RBI’s and coming through with a big hit almost every time the Red Sox need one, none bigger than his ninth inning home run last night in Cleveland to put the Red Sox ahead 6-4. Dustin Pedroia is also beginning to sting the ball around the field with more authority and sooner or later Mike Lowell will come off the disabled list and David Ortiz will snap out of his funk and the offense will be back to hitting on all cylinders.

Continue reading "Red Sox Should Feel Good About The Season So Far"

n the Major Leagues where pitchers are supremely adept at keeping hitters off balance and guessing. Manny Ramirez does not just roll out of bed and hit .300. He spends hours hitting in the cages, taking soft toss, and hitting off a tee to get his rhythm down and fine tune his swing. Batters constantly watch video looking for the slightest glitch that could be the difference between a week ground out to second base or a frozen rope hit into the gap. So when players are taken out of their routine and not given a chance to find their rhythm at the plate, even the best will struggle to get hits.

Continue reading "Red Sox Hitters Just Need to Find Their Rhythm"