What’s to Become of Mannywood?
MAY 7, 2009: Manny Ramirez, The Dodgers star slugger, tested positive for PED’s. He received a 50 Game Suspension from Major League Baseball, and won’t be able to play again until July 3, 2009.
MAY 8: Manny’s statement says that his Doctor prescribed medication thinking it was not on Major League Baseballs list of banned substances. In short, the doctor made a mistake according to Manny. Until more evidence pops up stating otherwise, we need to give Manny the benefit of the doubt. But since the drugs he was using is on the list of banned substances, Manny should serve his full 50 game suspension.
MAY 9: Eric Stoltz pitches a Full Game Shut out against the San Francisco Giants (8-0) as the team wins its first game since Manny’s suspension. Stoltz even batted in a run with a single to right field.
MAY 14: Without Manny, The Dodgers won a 3 game series against the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies in the City of Brotherly Love.
MAY 17: Without Manny, The Dodgers won a 3 game series against the Florida Marlins, 2 games to 1.
MAY 20: Without Manny, The Dodgers completed a 3 game sweep of one of the best teams in the National League–the New York Mets.
JUNE 2009: The Dodgers remained over 5 games ahead of the other teams in the NL West, as Manny’s replacement, Juan Pierre was red hot. Overall, Manny’s suspension did not hurt the team considerably much.
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JULY 2009: Manny returned to the line up just before the All Star Break and received a warm reception from Dodger Fans.
Following All Star Break 2009: Though Manny Ramirez has gotten a warm reception as he returned to the starting line-up, he has received constant criticism from fans of other ball clubs, particularly the fans of the Anaheim Angels just down the I-5 Freeway from Dodger Stadium. Check this out:
Last year, The Angels were the only MLB team to win 100 games. In the middle of the Summer 2008, The Angels dominated the Boston Red Sox during a three game series. The Red Sox were beat by buku runs during that series. The Angels Team exhibited Freak Power Surges pretty much throughout the entire 2008 Season just like they did during that Summer Series with the Red Sox. Then came the post season, when The Anaheim Angels would once again face the Boston Red Sox. Anaheim couldn’t even touch the Red Sox. The Halos played like they didn’t even belong in the Post Season, probably because they didn’t belong there. How do you explain all this? Well, I do know one thing. If players use PED’s during the play-offs these days, they are going to get caught. So, the players usually will refrain from using PED’s during the post season these days.
Let’s think about this. Manny Ramirez got caught using PED’s at the very start of the 2009 Season, and received a 50 game suspension which really didn’t hurt The Dodgers too much as they remained a long ways out in first place in the NL West. During that time, the awareness of PED’s was once again brought out in the open to where MLB players needed to think twice before using. During this 50 Game Period which Manny willingly paid his dept and served the 50 game suspension, The Angels were not producing nearly what they were in 2008. After Manny served the suspension, the issue of PED’s in Major League Baseball began to fade into the background. Right after the All Star Break, The Anaheim Angels Freak Power Surges suddenly started up again, even though their best players, including Tori Hunter, were (and are) on the DL. I am not making any formal accusations that Arte Moreno and The Anaheim Angels are cheating, and using PED’s, but there is enough writing on the wall here that I have strong suspicions. For the time being, Angel fans should keep their remarks about Manny to themselves.
The “Lewis and Clark” of Major League Baseball.
It was Meriweather Lewis and William Clark who opened up the way west back around 1801 (with the help of Sacajawea). Before that, America was all concentrated in the East, especially on the East Coast. When the Famous Lewis and Clark Expedition was successful, and reached the Pacific Ocean, a lot of the heavy concentration on the East Coast felt compelled and began to move west and settle there more and more.It was same set up with Major League Baseball in tis earlier years. The MLB was mostly concentrated on the East Coast with some in the central states like Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio. Then along came Walter O’Malley and Gene Autry. In the late 1950′s there were more than two teams playing in The Big Apple. The were no MLB Teams out on the West Coast. O’Malley took the plunge, since there were at least two other teams in New York, and moved his team to Los Angeles.
A lot of fans have questioned Walter’s loyalty to Dodger Fans when he left Brooklyn for the West Coast. Loyalty is a “Two-way Street” or a “No-way Street.” By the late 1950′s, Ebbett’s Field was ancient ruins. O’Malley knew his Dodgers were in dire need of a new stadium. He sought the City of New York for land to build the new stadium. That community did nothing to comply. What did the fans do to help talk the city into honoring O’Malley’s request? Nothing. O’Malley tried to keep his team in New York. O’Malley was disloyal to the fans? it seems to me The Community and the fans were disloyal to O’Malley first. So one more time, Two-way Street or No-way Street. O’Malley began to consider other options. Soon, Los Angeles offered O’Malley everything he wanted from the City of New York, and then some. You know the rest. Ebbet’s Field was in terrible shape, and no way was it ever going to be used again, so it had an appointment with the wrecking ball.
As it turns out, Horace Stoneman, owner of The GIANTS, was having the very same problems with New York, and finally San Francisco was willing to give Stoneman what he couldn’t get frm New York.The very first National League Team on the West Coast turned out to be a huge huge success. Shortly Later Gene Autry bought an American League Expansion Team and brought The American League West for the first time as well. This later prompted other MLB Franchises to set up in Yhe West as well, in San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Seattle, and later on, Phoenix (Arizona) and Denver (Colorado).
As Lewis and Clark opened up the way west, for American Settlers to settle there, Walt O,Malley and Gene Autry did the same for Major League Baseball, which is why I call O’Malley and Autry the “Lewis and Clark” of Major League Baseball.
Baseball Caps Off to Our New U.S. President.
2008 Dodger Player of the Year.
2008 National League West Division Champions.
Axis of Greed in MLB.
Dodgers-Angels Rivalry???
There are three Noted Rivalries in Major League Baseball:
1) Yankees-Red Sox
2) Dodgers-GIANTS
3) Cubs-Cardinals
THERE IS NO ANGELS-DODGERS RIVALRY, PERIOD. What has been going on is a corporate turf war between the two front offices, mostly initiated by Arte Moreno. Frank McCourt has quite a big piece of the pie in Los Angeles. Frank has it, Arte wants it in addition to a smaller piece of the pie–Orange County. The Fans of each team has gotten caught up in this turf war, and there has been a lot of animosity, but none of that animosity related to baseball.
In MLB, there is what I call “The Big Four:” they are The Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs. These four teams have stood out from all the other MLB Teams. Where all the other teams have fan bases and team merchandise only in the geographical areas they represent, The Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs have a fan base which extends throughout the USA; and their team merchandise are sold in stores all over the country, and not just in the geographical areas they represent. Obviously, its not just winning and World Series Rings that have set these four teams apart from all the others in the MLB. The Cubs haven’t won a World Series for one whole century. There are a lot of factors which contributed to what set these four teams apart, and I don’t know what was all involved in that. I do know that each of these four teams own the stadiums they play in. I do know that Arte and his “Followers” want The Angels to be one of “The Big Four” instead of The Dodgers. As far as these three noted rivalries go, each of the rivalries involve at least one team from The Big Four. I can understand why Arte and a lot of his followers would want a rivalry with The Dodgers. But one needs to understand that again, there is no Dodgers-Angels Rivalry, and The Angels will never be The Dodgers, or will they ever “Replace” The Dodgers .
THE CURSE OF THE NAME CHANGE (2005):
The Curse of the Name Change (2005) has officially begun. The Dodgers are “True Blue Los Angeles Baseball.”
2008 Dodger Player of the Year.
Dodgers Overcame All Odds in 2008.
For much of the 2008 Season, the Los Angeles Dodgers maintained Second Place in the National League–West Division Standings. The turning point of the season came right after the All Star Break, when the Boston Red Sox traded Future Hall of Famer, Manny Ramirez, to The Dodgers. Even though he migrated 3,000 Miles across the USA, “Manny continued being Manny.” In a short time after he started playing for The Dodgers, Manny broke Mel Ott’s all time Home Run Record of 512 homers.A couple of months later, Manny broke Ted William’s All time Home Run Record, and at the end of the 2008 Season, he had a career total of 527 Home Runs. Casey Blake also joined The Blue Crew which also contributed to the team’s improvement.
After Manny joined the team, The Dodgers endured one major slump in August on the road as they were swept by The Phillies and The Nationals. After those two sweeps, they faced The Diamondbacks where they lost the first game. After that game, The Dodgers won the other two games of the series, and after that they developed a winning streak that didn’t end for the remainder of the 2008 season. During their ill-fated road trip against The Phillies and The Ntionals in August 2008,. The Dodgers dropped to four games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in The NL West Standings. In September of 2008, The Dodgers regained their confidence, and jumped to four games ahead of The Diamondbacks to eventually clinch the Division.
At the start of The 2008 Post Season, The Media and The Angels Fanbase all predicted that the Chicago Cubs (who had the best record in the National League) would blow The Dodgers right out of The Play Offs. As it turns out, it was quite the opposite. The Dodgers won the first round of the National League Post Season by sweeping The Cubs three games to none. As The Cubs were on the brink of elimination, people began to reflect on The Curse of the Billy Goat, which is something that started way back 1945, about 63 years ago. But throughout that series with The Cubs, Manny continued being Manny, and The Dodgers Pitching was lights out, and The Dodgers simply seemed to be doing everything right and playing like a championship calibur team. The Dodgers went on to play the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2008 National League Pennant.
True Blue Los Angeles Baseball.
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