Sports Then and Now

Since his return from a 50-game suspension, Manny Ramirez has struggled to regain his offensive form.

Manny Ramirez has had a long strange trip on the way to this year’s postseason.  The question on many lips then is: “Is Manny still Being Manny?”

Boston fans and media coined the phrase “Manny Being Manny” as a gentle, catch-all euphemism many of the things that the slugger did while playing for the Red Sox.  There was his outfield play that sometimes bordered on the comical.  There were is strange behaviors with the press, putting forth a sort of “I’m shy” affect where reporters were concerned.  When he had to answer nature’s call (or a call on his cell phone) he was known to disappear in the Green Monster to… well, do whatever he needed to do.

All of Manny’s quirkiness was tolerated with a smile and a shake of the head for one reason: He hit a ton.

Well, to be specific, he hit a ton when he wanted to.  Read the rest of this entry →

Albert Pujols will look to power the Cardinals past the Dodgers.

For much of the 2009 season the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals appeared to be the two best teams in the National League. However, a late slide by the Cardinals suddenly pits these two traditional contenders against each other in the opening round of the National League playoffs.

In Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez, this series features two of the best known players in the game. However, while Pujols is at the peak of his game, Ramirez has struggled to regain top form since missing 50 games due to a positive drug test.
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The New York Times is reporting that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are among the 104 players that tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003.

Okay, enough already with this slow leak of the names of Major League Baseball players who reportedly tested positive during the infamous 2003 performance enhancing drug testing program.

First it was Alex Rodriguez, then Sammy Sosa and now the New York Times is reporting that two sluggers from the 2003 Boston Red Sox: Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz also were among the 104 players who tested positive during the period.

Of course, fans of the rival Yankees are already saying “told you so” and claiming the two World Championships claimed by Boston in 2004 and 2007 are now tainted.

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