Manny's Back, Sort Of

On Friday evening, amid much fanfare, Manny Ramirez ended his 50 game suspension by returning to the Dodgers as they began a three game stand against the Padres in San Diego. Judging from the amount of Dodger gear worn in the stands, either quite a number of people drove the two-plus hours from L.A. to watch him, or else the Padres have no fans at all. The game was a sell-out. Manny walked once and made a good baserunning play. In Saturday's game, he hit an early home run. In both of those games he was taken out in the sixth inning. Today, he was not in the line-up at all. I guess they don't want to wear him out.

When Manny doesn't play, the left fielder for the Dodgers is Juan Pierre. You can tell that Pierre has never used steroids, because if he did, he would have more muscle to show for it. He's a skinny guy whose cap is too big for him, and when he puts on a batting helmet, he looks like he should be playing in Little League. He is a consistent hitter and a terrific baserunner. Late in Friday's game, he prevented an Adrian Gonzalez hit by making a catch at the wall that Manny would only have reached in his dreams. I was sad when I thought that Pierre's time in left field was at an end. Maybe Joe Torre agrees with me and Manny will have to earn his way back to a starting role.