Manny and L.A.: A Happy Marriage

LOS ANGELES -- Manny Ramirez came bouncing down the stairs, baggy uniform and dreads flapping, and Dodger Stadium erupted.

They had been waiting all winter, through months of contract negotiations that ended precisely where they began, to see this sight. The love affair between Ramirez and Los Angeles has picked up right where it left off.

When the Dodgers introduced their players before Monday's home opener against the Giants, they each came through the stands, slapping hands with the customers. The players came from different sections around the ballpark, in numerical order.

No. 99 was last, of course.

The Dodger Stadium record crowd of 57,099 (any coincidence it ended with a 99?) showered him with cheers and chants of "Manny Manny" when he stepped to the plate, when he caught a fly ball, when he hit a flyout to the warning track, and especially when he doubled into the gap, flipping his helmet off with a flourish as he ran to second.

Never mind that Ramirez held the Dodgers hostage for four months while their contract offer went from two years and $45 million to ... well, two years and $45 million (he did get a player option for the second year out of that four months of hardball negotiating).

Never mind that Ramirez said on the eve of the much anticipated home opener that, you know, he wouldn't mind finishing his career in Cleveland and then later said that he was just "joking."

They greet it all with a shrug of the shoulders here.

For now, the Ramirez-LA marriage seems to be a blissful one from all sides. Ramirez. The Dodgers. The city.


"He's perfect for Hollywood," said Josh Suchon, who talks to Dodger fans as co-host of the club's pre- and post-game radio shows. "He's got charisma, and he's really good. This town doesn't suffer a bad product. This town has extremely high standards for everything, whether it's movies, TV shows or athletes. They love stars. Plus, he's just goofy enough that makes him even more lovable. The stuff that made the Boston fans go crazy in a bad way makes the Dodger fans love him even more. That might change, but for now it's a really long honeymoon still."

One of the reasons that Ramirez is supposedly so much happier in Los Angeles than he was in Boston is that he can be a run-of-the-mill star out here.

"Boston is a big city, but it's a small city," said Dodgers backup first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, a teammate of Ramirez on both coasts. "Here, unless you are Brad Pitt, people are going to leave you alone."

Mientkiewicz said that Ramirez was and is a model teammate, notwithstanding the occasional between-innings trip into the Green Monster.

"All the stuff that everybody sees, they don't see him here early," Mientkiewicz said. "They don't see him pregame watching film. I remember when I was in Boston, he'd be there taking balls off the Monster before everyone else was on the field. The whole iPod thing during BP, that's his time to relax. He works before everybody gets here. It's almost like he doesn't want anyone to see him work.

"Every swing, every ground ball he takes, every throw he makes is with a purpose. He doesn't take 1,000 of them, but if he takes 50, he takes them the right way. I wish I would have played with him when I was a lot younger."

The Dodgers entered into this arrangement with their eyes wide open about how quickly a marriage with Ramirez can go bad. Hence their reluctance to go beyond two years. To date -- after two months of one season and one week of another -- the biggest problem is that opponents have apparently decided that they are not going to let Ramirez turn the league into a joke the way he did last year.

Ramirez had walked 100 times only once in career, but this season he's already walked 11 times in eight games. Giants manager Bruce Bochy, whose team walked Ramirez once intentionally and once unintentionally Monday, said Ramirez might be in for a Barry Bonds-type treatment this year.

"Pitchers are going to be careful with him because he's a great hitter," Bochy said. "He's got a good eye. He's going to be walked a lot."

That's certain to frustrate Dodger fans. Time will tell how Ramirez handles it. Or how he handles the expectations that came from the blistering two months he had with the Dodgers at the end of last season.

"It's a tough spot for him," Mientkiewicz said. "For people to expect what he did last year and for him to do it again this year, that's practically impossible and unfair. What he did last year is ridiculous. This is the major leagues, the best players in the world, and he made it look like a Little League group."

This year's Dodgers may not need Ramirez to carry them. They opened their home season with an 11-1 victory over the Giants Monday, including just one hit for Ramirez. Orlando Hudson hit for the cycle and Andre Ethier hit two homers. Chad Billingsley pitched seven dominant innings.

For now, the Dodgers and Ramirez appear set to live happily ever after.

At least until the end of the season, when he can become a free agent again.