Granny Ramirez Coming To the Ballpark Closest to My House

Manny Ramirez is coming to the Swingin' A's?  With being much older and with much less testosterone, I've decided to call him "Granny."  And yes, living east of both San Francisco and Oakland means that Oakland has the closest ML team to my place.  So, I'll endeavor to attend a few A's games and see Manny, my seven year old's birthday and Christmas card money saved to buy Giants tickets notwithstanding.

It is a low risk move by Guillermo Frijole, even with the 50 game suspension to be served out of the green and gold.  And I can't wait to see if Manny will wear a green bandana or a gold one.  Maybe he'll wear both, alternating the complimentary color matched with the uniform color.  And I would die laughing if he led the Athletics to a World Series title, even though I would accept it.

Let's see what excitement he will bring to the city by the other side of the bay.

The Death of Mannywood

Baseball got some news this week as Manny Ramirez joined the Chicago White Sox.  Then it got some more news as the White Sox strolled into Boston to mark a Manny return to Fenway.  But a special extra bit to tack on to the end of that story was found in Chavez Ravine.

You see, the Giants and Dodgers re-engaged their historic rivalry on Friday.  But, contrary to last year and the end of '08, Manny wasn't a factor.  A couple of months ago it was reported that the Mannywood ads were taken off of LA freeway billboards, a sad prelude to the start of this series.  A great Dodger to hate, as we haven't had many of those in recent years, Manny served as a target to silence, but even if he hit some homers, beating the Dodgers could silence those.  But the eerie silence this weekend almost spoke of a sad end to an era, even though there was the big news of the week.  Manny didn't matter enough to the Dodgers to matter in the rivalry with us.  Mannywood is dead.

Priceless

World Series Ticket: $200
Airfare: $595
Hotel: $95
Seeing Manny take a mulligan off the first tee shot tomorrow morning: Priceless

TAINTED!

Everything the Dodgers have done since last August is now TAINTED!

Their playoff run, and victory over the Cubs; TAINTED!
Their signing of Manny this year; TAINTED!
Their all time winning record at home this year; TAINTED!
Their position in first place; TAINTED!

All their victories this year should be forfeited and they should be in last place. The Giants are in LA starting tonight. I can't be there, but I wish I were. I hope thousands of Giants fans show up and torch the place with chanting, heckling and making a scene. Slam it in their faces. We remember the Bonds era, so the Dodger fans should be forced to remember the Manny era.

Manny's Stick Turns Dodger Blue

Manny had a test. The stick turned blue. Dodger blue.

You know what would be an interesting suspension? Allowing the Giants to pick which 50 games Manny gets to sit out.

After all the Bonds hoopla, let's see how many Dodger fans treat Manny the same way.

Manny Ends With Fizzle

The Giants blew an opportunity to help themselves out in the NL West in failing to do what they could to get Manny Ramirez. The Dodgers even withdrew their final offer. I became a "get Manny" fan a while back. I'm just not sure what the reorganized ownership group is up to these days.

Zito Should Sign Manny

During my kid's pee-wee tryouts, another dad, named Will, had a great idea. He thought Barry Zito should sign Manny Ramirez. With all the cries that Zito should give back some of his salary, he should put it toward Manny. It would help his own run support, and gain him more victories, which will in turn help his future contract negotiations. What a win-win situation.

Manny and Paris

Okay, I've questioned whether the Giants should sign Manny Ramirez. I've since come to the conclusion that they should. It will help the team, and the money spent isn't mine anyway. Heck, the more money the Giants spend that's not mine to win the World Series, the better.

But now that Paris Hilton is dating Barry Zito, Manny in San Francisco is a must. Who could pass up an opportunity to be on TV every day? Hilton could be the catalyst in a tag team media magnet with Manny that Bonds could never approach.

Some might object that such a woman might be a distraction to Zito. Yeah, the argument has been made about Tiger's golf game when he found a woman. But like Casey Stengel once said, "staying up all night with a woman never hurt no ballplayer; it's staying up all night looking for one that does him in." With Zito's record in his first two years of his contract, Hilton can only stand to improve upon it. We need both Paris Hilton and Manny Ramirez. We might get a Series trophy. We need one of those.

Manny In San Franny?

Who am I?

I play left field. Well, I stand out there anyway, and try to play left field. I'm the greatest power hitter from my side of the plate in our generation. I hit many home runs. I change the way the game is played just by stepping onto the field. My personality is greatly misunderstood by the media. I am a cancer in the clubhouse. I make the most incredible statements to the media. I am a one-man three ring circus, being the center of attention all the time. I am aging and people aren't quite sure how much I have left to give. Who am I?

There are two answers to this question. The first answer was ours for 15 years. The second answer might be ours for another four. Let's see, that would be 18 out of 19 years with this answer. Been there. Done that. Do we want to go there again? What was so bad about 2008 again?

Manny Being Fanny

All week long the big buzz in the Bay Area sports media has been a question. What are you going to be doing Friday night? With three major sporting events, talk radio hosts wanted to know. There was a Raiders/49ers football game in Oakland, the great Giants/Dodgers rivalry in San Francisco, made even more intense by the first appearance at AT&T Park by Manny Ramirez as a Dodger, then there was the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics from Beijing.

Completely unaware of the possible conflict, my decision was made last winter when my buyers and I divided up the season tickets. Mike and I had a pair of tickets to the Giants/Dodger game. Nevermind that it was the Dodgers, nevermind it was Manny, they could have been playing the Washington Nationals and I would have gone to the baseball game. That's how much of a priority baseball is.

Barry Zito gave up a 5 spot in an early inning, and the Giants were toast until they loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th with the tying run at the plate before passing away. Manny, with all his attention, went 0 for 5, nearly invisible in the Dodger win. Welcome to San Francisco, Manny. You suck even more now because you're a Dodger.

Manny Uses Dodger Dugout Urinal For First Time

Manny Ramirez today used the urinal in the Dodger dugout for the first time. See a full report on ESPN tonight, and if you miss it, it will be repeated every hour on the half hour all night.