ShareThisA hilarious bit of audio surfaced in cyberspace Friday, allowing an L.A. sports columnist to rant almost hysterically about the tragedy of Manny Ramirez. The essence: He has disgraced the Dodgers, their fans, and all of mankind. The indiscretion is unforgivable. Banish him from the organization -- now.
I guess that's a proper bit of moral outrage, but it doesn't show much understanding of "Mannywood," as the world's celebrity haven is now known. Sorry to break the news, Giants fans, but the Dodgers and their fans are going to be just fine.
Last year, the late-season acquisition of Ramirez amounted to a miracle trade, a gift from the heavens and the Dodgers stormed right into the postseason. With Ramirez due to return this July, who's to say that won't happen again?
Before the bad news hit, the Dodgers were 13-0 at home and apparently on the easy road to October. Now, it's all about hanging tough until he comes back. Fire him? Run him out of town? You must be joking.
Considering the Giants' dreadful hitting and Arizona's refusal to play smart baseball, the Dodgers could easily find themselves three or four games off the lead -- if not still leading -- when "ManRam" (or as talk radio's Jim Rome now calls him, "WomanRam") comes back.
This is definitely a huge blow at the Dodger Stadium souvenir stands, where people will sadly be packing away the Manny wigs. It's a tough thing for Dodgers fans to tell their kids.
Just remember, today's kids are used to drug stories, and Dodger Stadium is invariably jammed with (a) street-tough guys who love to do drugs, start fights and look for more violence in the parking lot and (b) celebrities who don't even think this is a story. They're too busy comparing their Botox treatments, tummy tucks, amphetamine trips, HGH obsessions and you-know what enlargements.
In L.A., Manny always fit right in. That's not going to change.
(E-mail Bruce Jenkins at bjenkins(at)sfchronicle.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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