Tough Times In Mannywood
Say, what happened to Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez this season?
We read all about his 50-game suspension for flunking a drug test. We were puzzled by the early reports on the masking agent Manny reportedly used.
Was it really a fertility drug?
He did his time for using that banned performance enhancing substance and left some of his fans disillusioned.
Since his return to action, though, we haven’t heard much about Ramirez and “Mannywood.”
Sure, he hit .290 with 19 homers and 63 RBI in 104 games. But when the Dodgers needed ManRam the most, he batted just .229 in September and went 1 for 8 in October.
At least he remained philosophical as the Dodgers wallowed in a late-season funk.
“Baseball is like that,” Ramirez opined after an 0-for-4 performance. “The only thing we know in life is that we’ll die.”
GAME FOR THE AGES
If you missed the Twins-Tigers playoff game Tuesday, shame on you.
Minnesota finally prevailed 6-5 in 12 innings to win the American League Central and move on to face the Yankees in a division series.
“That’s the greatest game ever, and I don’t care what anyone says,” said Twins outfielder Denard Span, according to CBSSports.com. “That’s the greatest game ever played in the United States of America, or in Japan, or anywhere.”
Minnesota won 17 of its last 21 games to reach postseason play. The Twins hope momentum trumps their recent history against the big-budget Yankees: 0-7 this year, 3-23 in New York during the last eight seasons and two first-round series losses.
GOOD-BYE TO ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS
Hal McCoy is finished covering the Cincinnati Reds for the Dayton Daily News. He was one of the good guys and he will be missed.
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while wondering if Ryan Ludwick can make a difference against all the left-handed pitching the Cards are about to face::
- If Sam Bradford gets back on the field against Baylor, will the Rams have a couple of scouts there to take notes?
- How does Michael Crabtree feel now that he has come down from Mars and signed his rookie contract?
- How does Cleveland feel about finally ridding itself of Braylon Edwards?
- What could be more entertaining than a book written by Chad Ochocinco?
- Is it us, or is the NFL going overboard protecting Tom Brady from mean-spirited pass rushers this season?
QUIPS ‘R US
Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:
Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports: “The Twins had just blown through eight pitchers. They were spent emotionally from what everyone was calling the greatest game they’d ever played. They had an AL Division Series date with the Yankees, in the Bronx, in about 21 hours. Yet there was an unmistakable message they wanted to send. ‘We’re not afraid,’ manager Ron Gardenhire said. Maybe it was the champagne talking. Maybe it was the high of winning a classic 4-hour, 37 minute, 12-inning, back and forth, up and down, big play after big play battle to keep their season alive.”
Dan Daly, Washington Times: “Tiger Woods just passed $1 billion in career earnings, according to Forbes. Or to put it another way, 20 years ago, he was playing $2 Nassaus; now he can buy Nassau.”
Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “NASCAR is losing sponsors Jack Daniel’s and Jim Beam. Hey, who needs that fancy-pants hooch? For hard likker, NASCAR can return to its ancestral roots - backwoods moonshiners.”
Jerry Crowe, Los Angeles Times: “Tyus Edney would be greeted with a thunderous ovation Saturday at the Rose Bowl if, when introduced as one of eight new members of the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame, he ran from one end of the field to the other, zigzagging as he went.”
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Although the Panthers last won a playoff game in 1997 and are picked 13th of 15 Eastern Conference teams by Sports Illustrated, center Gregory Campbell told an interviewer he can envision them winning the Stanley Cup this season. Campbell was immediately sent to be examined for a possible concussion.”
Daly again: “He’s one lucky fella, Tiger is. Not only has he raked in $1 billion, but he somehow managed to avoid getting ripped by Michael Jordan ($800 million) in his Hall of Fame acceptance speech.”
MEGAPHONE
“I guess it’s fitting to say there was a loser in this game because we lost the game, but it’s hard for me to believe there was a loser in this game. Both teams played their hearts out. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Tigers manager Jim Leyland, after his team fell to the Twins in the one-game AL Central playoff.
Elsewhere on STLToday
Dave Checketts and Rush Limbaugh make for an odd couple, for sure, but they could be the start of a good ownership group for the Rams.
If you haven’t signed up for the Cardinals Newsletter, make sure to do so for the playoffs. There is lots of extra stuff.
Pujols
Bummed for Leyland. If there is any other team I’d like to see win it all….aside from our Cardinals…it’s Detroit. I just like the guy.
Shout out to Tim: I thought about the whole Limbaugh as Rams owner thing….and I do still stand by my thoughts. I have to admit, it would really test my resolve if it was the Cardinals or Blues we were talking about. I’ve been a lifetime fan of both. So it would be very hard to walk away no matter who the owners might be.
However, if it was Limbaugh or some corporation that I can not consciously support, then I would have to renounce my allegiance. And that is a shame. Because the business side would color the emotional investment I have as a fan.
(Note: I was a PSL owner from Day 1. In the smallest of ways, I helped bring the Rams here. I only sold my PSL when I left town…but still supported and celebrated the Super Bowls (win or lose, we were still in the SB.)
Why is everyone so excited about Sam Bradford? I put him in the same boat as Tim Tebow. Right now they both are injured and hopefully it isn’t a look into the future for them. We already have an injury prone QB of our own.
My concerns about Limbaugh are offset by Dave Checketts being involved.
As long as the Rams do not have an effective front line it simply does not matter who is inserted at quarterback.
If most people knew the politics of their fav athletes, it would change how they felt, that’s why guys who go global keep their mouths shut (Tiger, MJ, etc.) Guys like Rush don’t even buy half the crap they sell, they just know it sells. A team as unstable as the Rams doesn’t need somebody that polarizing at the top, whether it be a conservative hate monger, some PETA nut or Rev Jeremiah Wright…
Some people were against Favre for waffling, (try espn follow you around for each of your major life decisions), some thought he was done. Bottom line, he shoved it up all their backsides. The guy’s 40 & still a top-performer in a young man’s game…
Twins-Tigers a classic? Lots of drama, but I saw two mediocre teams trying to give each other the game and not being able to take it…
Wonder when the ‘why didn’t the rams go after edwards? fire devaney!’ message board posts will go up?
tonight will say a lot about what the Cards are made of. Wolf is the most beatable Number 1 going out this week, but he’s a lefty…
Just a sidebar on the Rams change in ownership… If John Shaw was such a good business manager, how come Georgia had an estate problem in the first place?
p.s., ditto Bluebirds/Bromden…Sam Bradford = Jason White. Tim Tebow = Pat White…and neither would do jack with the car wreck that is the Rams o-line…
Can’t disagree with any of the Rams comments today. They are all pretty much spot on.
Garry, I am more of a Blues fan than a Rams fan, so if it were up to me I’d want Checketts to focus on the Blues first regardless of what else he does. The Note have been here a lot longer than the Rams, so that is where my support goes first.
I guess we will find out today whether or not the Cards “will be fine” as LaRussa said. Our morbid offense going against a lefty tonight…Carp better be sharp. Go Cards!
greatest game ever? Not really. How bout Twins- Braves WS game of 1991(?).
Note to Dodgers- what the hell were you thinking when you signed Manny to 20+ mill a year??!! signed, Dr. Phil.