More tested positive

Thursday, July 30th, 2009 | MLB | No Comments

Not a big surprised that Manny Ramirez was on the list of major league players that tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs back in 2003. The name I was not expecting to see was David Ortiz who also showed up on the list. Ortiz is a power hitter but not a great example of someone in super shape.  Names have been coming out slowy from the 2003 list of 1,198 players that got tested. The list was meant to be keep anonymous and so far it has not worked out that great for the players.

Tags: David Ortiz, drugs, Manny Ramirez

Manny is playing baseball

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 | MLB | No Comments

Manny Ramirez is still suspended from playing in the MLB with the Dodgers but that doesn’t mean he can’t play at all. Tuesday Ramirez played for the Dodgers minor league team the Albuquerque Istopes and was a bit rusty with a strikeout and a ground-out in his first two at bats. The pitcher who retired Ramirez two times was Manny Parra who was demoted just 10 days ago by the Brewers. The fans loved that he was playing as he received a standing ovations from the sold out standing room only crowd. Ramirez can be back in the Dodgers line up July 3 as this is when his 50 game suspension is over. He refuses to say if he used steroids or what the baned substance was that he used. The Dodgers have not missed Ramirez to much since they now have the best record in baseball. All eyes will be on the fans for his first game back since no one is really sure how they will react to his return.

Tags: drugs, Istopes, Manny Ramirez

Manny Ramirez out for 50 games

Thursday, May 7th, 2009 | MLB | No Comments

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and will be suspended for 50 games. The official announcement is expected Thursday. Manny just resigned this year with the Dodgers and it was a long drawn out deal with his agent and the team. Real smart Manny, looks like these players will never learn.

Tags: drugs, Manny Ramirez, Steroids

Manny is not giving up

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 | MLB | No Comments

Manny Ramirez has had one team make him an offer and he turned it down. The Los Angeles Dodgers said they would give him $25 million for one more year with the team. Manny and his agent Scott Boras thinks he is worth more. Ramirez and his agent think he will get a multi-year deal. The Dodgers owner Frank McCourt hinted that the club is unlikely to revisit a long-term offer to Ramirez. There are a few factors that could keep the Dodgers from making a long term deal, Manny turns 37 this year and the fact that he forced the Red Sox to trade him last season. I don’t know Manny holding out might not be the best thing right now. No other teams want you.

Tags: Manny Ramirez

TOP 10 MLB Free agents

Thursday, December 18th, 2008 | MLB | No Comments

1

Mark Teixeira

POSITION: First base
AGE: 28 | BATS: B | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Los Angeles Angels
STATUS: Free agent

Teams talking to him: Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox, Nationals, and Angels

2

CC Sabathia

POSITION: Starting pitcher
AGE: 28 | BATS: L | THROWS: L
2008 TEAM: Milwaukee Brewers
STATUS: Agreed to deal with N.Y. Yankees (12/10)
TERMS: 7 years, $161M

3

Manny Ramirez

POSITION: Left field
AGE: 36 | BATS: R | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Los Angeles Dodgers
STATUS: Free agent

Teams talking to him: Yankees, Dodgers

4

A.J. Burnett

POSITION: Starting pitcher
AGE: 31 | BATS: R | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Toronto Blue Jays
STATUS: Agreed to deal with N.Y. Yankees (12/12)
TERMS: 5 years, $82.5M

5

Derek Lowe

POSITION: Starting pitcher
AGE: 35 | BATS: R | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Los Angeles Dodgers
STATUS: Free agent

Teams talking to him: Yankees, and Phillies

6

Rafael Furcal

POSITION: Shortstop
AGE: 31 | BATS: B | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Los Angeles Dodgers
STATUS: Signed $33 million, three year deal with Dodgers 12/18

7

Adam Dunn

POSITION: Left field
AGE: 29 | BATS: L | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Arizona Diamondbacks
STATUS: Free agent

8

Ryan Dempster

POSITION: Starting pitcher
AGE: 31 | BATS: R | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Chicago Cubs
STATUS: Re-signed with Chi. Cubs (11/18)
TERMS: 4 years, $52 million

9

Milton Bradley

POSITION: DH/Left field
AGE: 30 | BATS: B | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Texas Rangers
STATUS: Free agent

And for 10 we have….

Oliver Perez

POSITION: Starting pitcher
AGE: 27 | BATS: L | THROWS: L
2008 TEAM: New York Mets
STATUS: Free agent

Tags: A.J. Burnett, Adam Dunn, CC Sabathia, Derek Lowe, Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixeria, Milton Bradley, Oliver Perez, Rafael Furcal, Ryan Dempster

Unsung Heroes Lead Phils to 7-5 Win Over Dodgers

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 | Sports | No Comments

The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-5 in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Monday October 13th.  The Phillies lead the Dodgers 3 games to 1 in the best of 7 series.  Trailing 5-3 entering the 8th inning, the Phils used 2-run home runs by each of Center Fielder Shane Victorino and Pinch-hitter Matt Stairs to vault into the 7-5 lead.  Reliever Ryan Madson picked up the win in relief, pitching 1 2/3 inning allowing only 1 hit and 1 walk.  Fellow relievers J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge closed the game out for the Phillies, as Lidge picked up his 3rd save of the NLCS.  After a shaky 1st inning in which Dodgers starter Derek Lowe allowed 2 earned runs, he settled down through 5 innings of work to put his team in a good position to win the game.  But the bullpen could not hold onto the lead – Hong-Chih Kuo and Jonathan Broxton each allowed earned runs in relief, while Cory Wade allowed 2 earned runs to take the loss.  Manny Ramirez continued his hot hitting – he had 2 hits and an RBI and was walked by the Phillies 3 other times.  Dodgers 3rd baseman Casey Blake hit a solo home run in the 6th inning.  The Dodgers now have their backs up to the wall – needing to win each of the next 3 games to advance to the World Series.  The Phillies will throw ace Cole Hamels in Game 5 of the NLCS on Wednesday October 15th.  Hamels won game 1 of the NLCS by allowing only 5 hits and 2 earned runs to the fiery Dodgers offense.  The Dodgers will put their season in the hands of Chad Billingsley, who gave up 3 earned runs on 7 hits in Game 2 of the ALCS.

Tags: Cole Hamels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, Matt Stairs, MLB playoffs, NLCS, Philadelphia Phillies, Shane Victorino

Dodgers Win 7-2, Trail 2-1 in NLCS

Monday, October 13th, 2008 | Sports | No Comments

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.  The Dodgers scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning to jump out to a commanding 5-0 lead.  Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake had RBI singles and Blake DeWitt drove in the final 3 runs of the inning with a crushing 3-run triple.  Dodgers Starting Pitcher Hiroki Kuroda pitched 6 strong innings giving up only 2 earned runs on 5 hits.  Kuroda walked one and struck out 3 in picking up the Dodgers first ALCS win of the 2008 post-season.   Phillies Starting Pitcher Jamie Moyer lasted only 1 1/3 innings giving up 6 hits, 6 earned runs and striking out only 2 Dodgers batters.  Tempers flared over whether or not pitchers were throwing at certain batters.  Moyer hit Russell Martin with a pitch in the 1st inning.  Kuroda later threw at the head of the Phillies Shane Victorino and Victorino shouted at Kuroda to avoid throwing at his head.  After Victorino grounded out, he and Kuroda exchanged words and Manny Ramirez also joined the fracas because he was upset when Phillies Starter Bret Myers threw behind him in Game 2 of the NLCS.  No punches were thrown and no players were ejected.  It will be interesting to see if the feud continues when the 2 teams face off in Game 4 of the NLCS on Monday night.  The Phllies will throw mid-season pick-up Joe Blanton, while the Dodgers will pitch Derek Lowe on 3 days rest.

Tags: Bret Myers, Derek Lowe, Hiroki Kuroda, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, MLB playoffs, Philadelphia Phillies, Shane Vict, Shane Victorino

Phils Take 2-0 Lead Over Dodgers

Saturday, October 11th, 2008 | Sports | No Comments

The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5 to take a 2 games to none lead in the National League Championship Series.  Although Phillies starter Bret Myers had a sub-par pitching performance – giving up 6 hits, 4 walks and 5 earned runs in only 5 innings of work – his bat helped spark rallies in the 2nd and 3rd innings to lead the Phillies to victory.  Myers went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI’s at the plate including an RBI single in the 2nd inning and a 2-RBI single in the 3rd inning.  Phillies Center Fielder Shane Victorino had 2 big hits – a 2-RBI single in the 2nd inning and a 2-RBI triple in the 3rd inning.  Myers scored a run on each of Victorino’s hits.  Victorino’s triple in the 3rd inning extended the Phillies lead to 8-2 and although Manny Ramirez’s 3-run home run off of Myers in the 4th inning cut the lead to 3, the Phillies bullpen shut down the Dodgers hot offense for the final 4 innings of play.  Brad Lidge walked to batters in the 9th inning to make things interesting, but he was able to strike out Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Nomar Garciaparra to pick up his 2nd save of the NLCS in as many days. 

The series now shifts to Los Angeles on Sunday, October 12th.  Veteran Jamie Moyer will toe the rubber for the Phillies while Hiroki Kuroda will try to lead the Dodgers to their first NLCS victory of the series.

Tags: Brad Lidge, Bret Myers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, MLB playoffs, Philadelphia Phillies, Shane Victorino

Phillies top Dodgers 3-2 in NLCS Game #1

Friday, October 10th, 2008 | Sports | No Comments

The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 in the 1st game of the National League Championship Series played on Thursday, October 9th.  Phillies Ace Cole Hamels pitched 7 strong innings giving up only 2 earned runs on 6 hits.  Hamels struck out 8 and walked only 2.  Hamels picked up his 2nd victory of the 2008 post-season, and Brad Lidge worked a perfect 9th inning to record the save and preserve the all-important NLDS Game #1 victory.  Los Angeles Dodgers starter Derek Lowe was effective until the 6th inning when he gave up a 2-run home run to Chase Utley and a solo home run to Pat Burrell.  Lowe didn’t make it out of the 6th inning and only struck out 2 Phillies batters.  Manny Ramirex continued his torrid post-season hitting, delivering 2 hits including an RBI-double in the 1st inning to open up the scoring.

NLDS Game #2 is scheduled to start at 4:35PM EST on Friday, October 10th.  Chad Billingsley will start for the Dodgers while the Phillies count with veteran Bret Myers.

Tags: Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, MLB playoffs, Pat Burrell, Philadelphia Phillies

Cubs Choke Again…

Monday, October 6th, 2008 | Sports | No Comments

Cubs 2008

For the 2nd consecutive year, the Chicago Cubs were swept out of the playoffs with a 3 games to none disaster against the NL West representative – this time the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Dodgers Manager Joe Torre (ex- New York Yankees Manager and winner of 4 World Series titles) bested friend and Chicago Cubs Manager Lou Pinella in the short 3-game set.  After the Cubs fell behind 4-2 on James Loney’s Grand Slam off of Ryan Dempster in the 5th inning of NLDS Game 1, the 2 teams could have called it quits and saved a lot of time and money for players and fans traveling cross-country to Los Angeles.  The Cubs bumbled their way to a 10-3 loss at home in NLDS Game #2 (each Cubs infielder committed an error in the contest), and then showed no heart in the decisive 3-1 loss in Los Angeles on Saturday night.  The Cubs bats did not show up for a 2nd consecutive year – although the team had numerous opportunites to score in all 3 games, the Cubs only scored runs in 4 of the 27 innings played.  The Cubs hit only one home run all series, and productive stars Left Fielder Alfonso Soriano (1 for 14 just as he did against the Diamondbacks in 2007), Third Baseman Aramis Ramirez (2 for 11), Catcher Geovany Soto (2 for 11) Center Fielder Jim Edmonds (2 for 10), each had atrocious series.   With runners in scoring position, the Cubs got only 2 hits in 28 bats.  On the opposite side of the ball, Manny Ramirez had 5 hits in 10 at-bats, including 2 home runs, 5 runs scored and 3 RBI’s in the series.  The top 3 hitters in the Dodgers lineup (Rafael Furcal, Russell Martin and Ramirez) did all the damage in NLDS Game #3 – 4 for 9 with 3 weeks and all 3 runs scored – and for the series, hit a collective .371 with 11 runs scored and 10 RBI’s.   100 years has come and gone for the Chicago Cubs – will it be another 100 years before we see a Cubs World Series Championship?  Ask Cubs fans, and most will likely say … yes!

Tags: Chicago Cubs, Joe Torre, Los Angeles Dodgers, Lou Pinella, Manny Ramirez, MLB playoffs