Manny Ramirez

There are your players, your stars, your superstars, and then there are the icons.  Performers who change everything for a team. By necessity, there are only a few icons, and the Dodgers have one of these now in Manny Ramirez.

It goes beyond what he is able to produce in the lineup or on the field. It becomes part of the mindset of a team and its fan base. It puts some style in the swagger, swinging the hips and bringing a dance step to the feet.

The Los Angeles Dodgers flew down to Houston riding high after sweeping their opening homestand against the Giants and Rockies, and having won a total of eight straight games. The Astros help bring them back to Earth taking the first two games of the series before the pitching of Chad Billingsley (pictured above) prevented a sweep in the final game.

Manny Ramirez continued his torrid batting, going 5-for-12 with five RBI. It wasn't enough however, as the Dodgers struggled to deliver in the clutch, a measly combined 3-for-29 with runners in scoring position.

Whenever I'm feeling particularly agitated, I turn to the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Why you ask?  Because, as a die-hard San Francisco Giants' fan, I can spew venom all over the Bums and do so haphazardly with little or no repercussions.

That's the beauty of being in a blood-rivalry.

As long as I stay away from really crossing the line in a personal manner, especially with regards to Dodger fans, I feel confident that all will be forgiven if I'm wrong.

If you're a Dodger fan, which of the following are you thinking when you wake up these sunny Los Angeles' mornings?  After you've had your coffee and read the latest Manny Ramirez updates?

1.  Oh [expletive], Manny's hurt.

2.  Oh [expletive], Manny's already faking an injury to dog it.

3.  Oh [expletive], Manny's got an option after 2009 so we have to do this all over.

4.  Even if Manny only plays 100 games hard, we're still the favorites to win the National League West (as long as they're the right 100 games).

1. Manny being Manny

Breathe easy, Hollywood. Manny is back and hopefully better than ever.

After a rousing first act with the Dodgers in 2008, Manny returns as the superstar and the face of the Dodgers.

Like so many things in Hollywood, this has pros and cons. Manny is of course Manny...and thus will tear the cover off the ball as long as he is healthy and motivated.

But still, Manny is Manny, and is prone to cancerous and curious antics that tend to divide and hurt teams. Which Manny will the Dodgers get? Very interesting sub plot.

(If you haven't got a clue what I'm talking about, read this.)

Manny Ramirez's hamstring injury will now keep him out for at least a week of spring training.

Joe Torre said that the Dodgers are going to keep him out and let him rest so that he can come back 100 percent, instead of possibly injuring it further.

Ramirez aggravated his sore left hamstring Sunday while playing the outfield for the first time this spring.

“Mr. Epstein,” said the ace reliever, Jonathan Papelbon. “There is a cancer on your baseball team.”

It sounds like something out of the Nixon Administration so many decades ago.  Back then it took a brave man named John Dean to go into the lion’s den and tell the President of the United States that his Administration was suffering from a fatal disease.

A failure to act condemned Nixon and his tenure in office.

Manny: "Ah mi Dios. Otro día en escuela", (Oh my God. It is another day at school) said nine year old Manuel-ito Ramirez from his squalid little tenement in the Washington Heights section of the Bronx.

Manny thinks: Oye tiene cuidado mi ventana. Estoy en las sombras del Estadio Yanqui... (Hey look out my window. I'm in the shadows of Yankee Stadium...)

Manny: "No quiero ir a la escuela hoy." (I don't want to go to school today)

Narrator: Excuse me Manuel-ito. This is Bleacher Report. Please habla in English.

In a recent article titled Papelbon on Manny: It's Like Cancer, Jonathan Papelbon criticized former teammate Manny Ramirez on his attitude. In the article, Papelbon is quoted as saying “You have somebody like him, you know at any point in the ballgame, he can dictate the outcome of the game. And for him not to be on the same page as the rest of the team was a killer, man!