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Note to Dodgers fans: Enjoy Manny while you can

Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 17:50

LOS ANGELES -- Doesn't Manny Ramirez pitch? Guess not, or the Los Angeles Dodgers would have used their magic man for that, too. Instead, they endured a late bullpen meltdown and dropped perilously close to the end of their postseason run Monday night. And even though Ramirez did what he could -- reaching base all five times at bat -- a sad truth is looming for the thousands of Dodgers fans who woke from their 20-year slumber, or put aside their long-broiling displeasure at the organization and rejoined the bandwagon on Aug. 1. When the 36-year-old slugger shows up for Game 5 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday, it may be his last time at the stadium in Dodger blue. Take a good look, folks. Soak it up. Remember the way it was. People on their feet, chanting, screaming, anticipating ... and too many times to count, going nuts as No. 99 rounds the bases, dreadlocks bouncing, pointing at the sky. With their 7-5 loss Monday, and the Phillies now up, 3-1, in the National League Championship Series, there's no guarantee the Dodgers' season or Manny's Southern California adventure goes any further. "We played hard, but they played better," said Ramirez after the Phils stunned the Dodgers with a pair of two-run homers in the eighth inning. "We made some mistakes, they took advantage. This is it. Only one more game." We assume he was speaking figuratively -- that the Dodgers must win one game, three times in a row. If not ... Ramirez's free agency is looming, and the market will be tested. The Dodgers will make their bid and hope it's good enough. If not, it's been fun -- the Ramirez Era in LA, just a 12-week joyride. Until he showed up, we hadn't even realized how boring things had been around Dodger Stadium. He transformed the place from its Rip Van Winkle state, from a venue that had had only brief brushes with excitement for most of the past 20 years into a daily thrill ride. He sold tickets, jerseys and the notion that a day at the ballpark could be incredibly memorable. He did it from the day he arrived through Monday night. Was there anyone in Dodger Stadium who wasn't absolutely sure that Ramirez was going to get a hit in the fifth inning, with his team down a run and two on base? These days, it's the biggest "duh" in baseball. His single scored Rafael Furcal with the tying run, and moved Andre Ethier to third. Russell Martin's grounder scored Ethier, and the Dodgers had a 3-2 lead for the first time in the game. For the umpteenth time, he put the ballpark on its feet, furiously waving their Dodgers towels. With the Dodgers trailing in the eighth inning, with two outs and none on, wouldn't 56,800 people have bet their houses -- even those folks with sound mortgages -- that the Dodgers phenomenon would come through? Surely his double to the gap would spark something. But, no. As incredibly clutch as Ramirez has been, it's also true that he's one of a kind. He died at third, the Dodgers went in order in the ninth, and the end suddenly seemed near. "There are a lot of, I don't know, a whirlwind of emotions," third baseman Casey Blake said. "It's tough. We'll have to play really well to beat them." Three times, or this crazy summer-fall comes to a crashing end, the Dodgers likely remixed before spring training. With or without Manny. He came to the Dodgers and hustled. The same guy who in Boston habitually turned extra-base hits into singles ran hard to first and sprinted after balls in the gap like an over-eager high school freshman. Or perhaps a guy looking for the last big contract of his career. His motives didn't really matter, of course. The energized Dodgers faithful were just happy to have a winning, trendy team again. Manny also made himself over with the media -- available, gracious and funny. Who knew? It's been an eye-opener for everyone. Of course, maybe it won't end this week. Maybe this is just part of the myth-making process. Isn't that what you were thinking? With Ramirez in Dodger blue, how can they lose?(Contact Gregg Patton at gpatton@PE.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)