Hollywood show over, Manny Ramirez brings act to White Sox
Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez is heading to the Chicago White Sox after being claimed on waivers Monday. (Aug. 26, 2010) Credit: AP
Manny Ramirez's stay with the Dodgers featured a little bit of nearly everything, but it lacked a Hollywood - or, if you prefer, Mannywood - ending.
The Dodgers awarded the slugger to the White Sox Monday on a waiver claim, giving up on Ramirez for nothing more than about $4.3 million worth of salary relief.
The White Sox, who entered the night trailing the Twins by 41/2 games in the American League Central - hope that Ramirez will contribute toward a long-shot playoff run.
"He's not going to be a savior," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters prior to his team's game against the Indians in Cleveland. "He will help us, but he can't save us. We need to get all our guys as a group to play better."
Ramirez is expected to arrive in Cleveland - the city where he spent his first eight seasons in the major leagues - early this morning. He could make his White Sox debut Tuesday night.
The 38-year-old played in just 66 games for the Dodgers this season, hitting .311 with eight homers and 40 RBIs. He served three stints on the disabled list, and he clearly burned his last bridge Sunday when, pinch hitting with the bases loaded, he got ejected from the game after disputing a first-pitch strike call.
His finale represented a significant nosedive from when he took Los Angeles by storm following a July 31, 2008, trade to the Dodgers from Boston, which had grown similarly tired of him. With a prolific final two months of 2008, featuring a .489 on-base percentage and .743 slugging percentage, Ramirez led the Dodgers into the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers rewarded him with a two-year, $45-million extension and established a Dodger Stadium section known as "Mannywood," as a tribute to him.
In 2009, however, Ramirez served a 50-day suspension after Major League Baseball gathered sufficient evidence that he was using performance-enhancing drugs. And even though the Dodgers made the NLCS again last year, Mannywood seemed doomed. Now, it's closed.
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