Why Manny is Manny - Democratic Underground

Onceuponalife

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Thu Jul-23-09 05:03 PM
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Why Manny is Manny

It was Manny Ramirez bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium. The crowd was a sellout and was in fine fettle buzzing in anticipation. But where was Manny? He had been hit in the hand by a pitch the night before (replacement Juan Pierre earned a standing ovation from the crowd as he went in to pinch-run, showing the class of the Dodger fans as they demonstrated their appreciation for the amazing job Pierre had done while Manny served out his suspension) and had been given the night off by manager Joe Torre.

Then the opportunity arose with the bases loaded in the 6th inning. Out comes Manny to pitch hit. He had not taken any batting practice per Torre's orders or even hit off a tee. He was only 3-27 previously in his career with no home runs as a pinch hitter and had never faced Nick Masset, who came in specifically to face Ramirez. Masset had only allowed a sub .200 batting average against righties previously. It didn't bode well for Manny. Or did it? Manny proceeded to send the very first pitch he saw scorching into the lower right field stands known as Mannywood. It was his 21st grand slam of his career, two shy of Lou Gehrig's record ( a legend and my favorite player of all time. I have to admit, it makes me ill to think that his record will most likely be broken by a PEDster).

Even Reds manager Dusty Baker wanted to snag a Manny bobblehead after the game. And thus Manny's superheroic legend is further cemented in Dodger baseball lore, much to the consternation of two deluded Giants fans on this board.

Manny gets pinch-hit grand slam for DodgersPreview
By BETH HARRIS, AP Sports Writer
15 hours, 29 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Manny Ramirez unleashed his pent-up power in one electrifying swing that landed, fittingly, in Mannywood.

Ramirez’s tie-breaking pinch-hit grand slam in the sixth inning on his bobblehead night Wednesday sent the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-2 victory over Cincinnati, their 12th consecutive at home against the Reds.

“It’s crazy,” he said.

He was kept out of the starting lineup for precautionary reasons with a sore left hand after being hit by a pitch a night earlier.

“Just the way he was sort of stalking around the dugout, I could feel something would happen if he had the opportunity,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

Did it ever.

It was Ramirez’s grandest moment since returning July 3 from a 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug rules. He’s batting .347 with four homers and 17 RBI in 16 games since coming back.

“I guess Manny’s hand wasn’t as bad as we thought,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “It doesn’t get more dramatic than that—a grand slam on your own bobblehead night. That’s the stuff that I’d seen out of Barry Bonds(notes) and Hank Aaron.”

Ramirez said his hand felt good, but that he planned to ice it after the game.

Fans at the sold-out game chanted “Manny! Manny!” as they saw him in the dugout putting on his batting helmet. The anticipation built as the Reds changed pitchers.

Without a single practice swing, Ramirez sent the first pitch from reliever Nick Masset(notes) into the Mannywood section of lower left field seats for his 21st career grand slam, giving Los Angeles a 6-2 lead and putting the crowd into a frenzy.

“It reminded me how loud it got when we hit those four (consecutive) homers against San Diego,” catcher Russell Martin(notes) said, referring to a dramatic Dodgers win in 10 innings against San Diego in 2006.

It moved Ramirez into second on the career grand slam list, trailing only Lou Gehrig’s 23. It was his first grand slam since 2005.

“It was one of the best moments in my career,” he said. “I’m just glad it happened in LA.”

Ramirez had never seen Masset pitch before, let alone heard of him.

“That’s pretty much the area I wanted to put the ball. It just didn’t sink the way it normally does,” Masset said. “I was just trying to jam him, get a ground ball and get out of the inning. I was basically trying to go at him with my best stuff and it didn’t work out.”

Teammates shoved Ramirez onto the top step of the dugout, where he waved his cap to acknowledge a standing ovation for his 11th homer of the season and his first career pinch-hit homer.

“He’s the magic man,” Martin said.

It was Ramirez’s first homer into the “Mannywood” section, which was resurrected after his suspension ended.

Ramirez’s exhilarating moment was the only souvenir for 6,000 fans who went home without a bobblehead, which were limited to the first 50,000.

“I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit,” said Ramirez, who arrived at his locker and peeled off his Dodgers shirt and white pants to reveal street clothes.

“Now can I go home?” he said, drawing laughter.

The Dodgers set the stage for Ramirez’s heroics with one out in the sixth. Bronson Arroyo(notes) (10-9) walked James Loney(notes) and Matt Kemp(notes), then Martin singled hard to left to load the bases. Arroyo gave way to Masset, who warmed up as the crowd got worked up in anticipation of Ramirez’s at-bat.

“I’m running around the bases amazed, just laughing. I was in awe,” Kemp said. “He’s amazing, man. I can’t really explain him. I’ve never seen somebody who can go up there, no warmups or nothing, and just go hit. I need at least a couple of swings.”

The victory moved the NL West-leading Dodgers 27 games over .500 for the first time since the last day of the 1988 season, when they went on to win their most recent World Series championship.