Ramirez Struggles in his Return to the Dodgers

Sports Betting News - July 4, 2009 - Written by Bruce

The Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed back their popular slugger Manny Ramirez when he returned to the lineup on Friday night at the San Diego Padres. Ramirez had just finished serving a 50 game suspension which was handed down by Major League Baseball on May 7th for testing positive for a banned substance. Manny ended the night going 0-3 with a walk in his first at bat. San Diego pitcher Chad Gaudin brushed back Ramirez on the first pitch he saw drawing a smile from Manny. He showed a good eye in this at bat and after a 2-2 count he managed to earn the walk. The next three at bats were not as successful as the farthest ball he hit was a pop up to second baseman David Eckstein which was caught in shallow center field. After this pop up ended the sixth inning, Ramirez found out his night was done when he got back to the clubhouse.

Manny has widely been regarded as one of the top hitters in the game for the last decade. When he got suspended for the 50 games baseball fans nationwide were absolutely stunned. Ramirez's suspension was due to testing positive for the banned substance human chorionic gonadotropin, more commonly called HCG. The drug is commonly used as a women's fertility drug. HCG is popular among steroid users because it mitigates the side effects of ending a steriod cycle which is why it is banned from Major League Baseball. When speaking to the media before the contest Ramirez declined to answer questions on why he was suspended. He did however apologize to the fans, his teammates, and the entire organization. He stated that he received great support from everyone and is ready to put this issue in the past and focus on playing baseball.

The sold out San Diego crowed had half of the fans wearing Dodgers blue welcoming him back by cheering Ramirez on. Most of the other fans were booing him loudly which made for an extremely loud first at bat. Of the many signs brought by fans, one that stood out was a Padres fan holding a sign reading "RAMROID". Besides the signs and some booing from Padres Fans there didn't appear to be any problems with the crowd. This was the same San Diego crowd that threw a syringe on the field when Barry Bonds was playing there in the middle of his controversies. With the 1st game back under his belt Ramirez will now try to return to the form that had him batting .348 before his suspension. The Dodgers did manage a very solid 29-21 record when Manny was suspended. With his return though he has brought back a spark to the ball club who owns the best record in the Major Leagues.