Let this be a warning to all members of the media attending game three, and possibly game four. Wear a hat. And cover James Loney’s eyes. I don’t wanna see him blinded by the bubbly.

I didn’t get to see enough of the contestants to say that the guy in the video was the best choice, but I have to believe that this cat gave him a run for his money.

I posted a video of Manny Ramirez leaving Fenway Park so I had to post this video of Manny’s first day at Dodger Stadium. Manny is accompanied by agent Scott Boras as team owner Frank McCourt and icon Tommy Lasorda show him around his new stomping grounds. The best part of the video is when Manny talks to catcher Russell Martin about his new jersey number.

MR: What’s going on with the number? 99?
RM: Wayne Gretzky bro. You’re the Wayne Gretzky….
MR: I’m not a hockey player.

The jersey number doesn’t matter because Manny Ramirez has been on fire since joining the Dodgers. Wayne Gretzky took the L.A. Kings to the NHL finals in the 99 jersey. Will Manny get the Dodgers to the World Series?

Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers, youtube, video

Manny Ramirez was shipped from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three team deal that saw Jason Bay land in Beantown. Man-Ram finally got the trade he was seeking, and can be seen is this video leaving Fenway Park for the last time. Manny’s bat will help the Dodgers offense tremendously, but the clubhouse could be a disaster with Jeff Kent and Manny Ramirez sharing space.

Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, Los Angeles Dodgers, video

Joe Torre, MLB, beer commercial, video

Call me crazy but I assumed a brotha that plays golf would be a fan of hockey. This is not the case for one Eldrick Tiger Woods. The Great One on the links was speaking via satellite during a news conference at Oakland Hills Country Club when he was asked which team he’s rooting for in the Stanley Cup finals.

“I don’t really care. It’s all about the Dodgers. I don’t think anyone really watches hockey anymore.”

Ok, he’s right. Nobody watches the NHL anymore, but it’s only because nobody knows where to find the NHL on television. As far as Tiger being a Dodgers fan, that’s cool. He’s an Orange County guy so the Angels would be more understandable, but at least he’s not front running and showing up in the stands at Rays and Marlins games.

Tiger Woods doesn’t care about Cup finals. Courtesy of the Detroit Free Press

Tiger Woods, NHL, Los Angeles Dodgers, PGA

Jose Canseco isn’t the most credible man in the world but, love him or hate him you have to admit he’s a necessary evil of the steroid era. He might not have done it with the right intentions in mind but Jose’s book “Juiced” helped get the anti-steroid ball rolling. Canseco’s new book, Vindicated, spills more dirt although the information seems less reliable this time around.

Jose writes about people that he unsuccessfully tried to blackmail, and reminisces about the good ole days of being a washed up 38-year-old ballplayer that’s trying to catch on with the Los Angeles Dodgers.. At an open tryout. Jose remembers the day well..

“I was so desperate to get back in the game, in fact, that I did an open tryout for the L.A. Dodgers, a team that was in miserable shape back then. I ran well, I threw well, and I hit well, but they still didn’t want me.”

Newspaper reports from that fateful day paint a different picture.From the L.A. Daily News:

We retrieved the Daily News account of what happened that day at Vero Beach, Fla. Staff writer Rich Hammond wrote that Canseco “flubbed groundballs and flailed at offspeed pitches.” He documented that “in a timed sprint at the start of the workout, Canseco started a half-second early, then refused a request to run again. As his colleagues lined up to field grounders at shortstop, Canseco walked to the dugout and didn’t participate in the drill. In 18 batting-practice swings, Canseco hit one home run and four balls to the warning track, then went 2 for 5 with two singles, a walk and two strikeouts in a game among the tryout participants. He played an awkward first base during the game.”

I don’t know what it is but for some reason the newspaper’s account seems more like what happened.. Could it be because it’s the truth? Do PEDs affect the memory? That would explain Jose mistaking the play described above for hitting, running, and throwing well. It would also explain why Andy Pettitte misremembers details about Roger Clemens.

WALL: Canseco squeezing out more juice. Courtesy of the Daily News

Tags: Jose Canseco, baseball, steroids, book

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6K-Sz9c2NM]

They’ve got 99 problems and knowing how to rap is about 98 of ‘em.

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12 years ago Hideo Nomo became the first Japanese player in Major League Baseball since Masanori Murakami pitched for the San Francisco Giants in 1965. Baseball was caught up in Nomo Mania as the Dodger hurler twisted and pitched his way to the Rookie of the Year award. Hideo’s success proved that a Japanese player could make the move from the NPB to MLB and opened the doors for players such as Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui. There are now 14 Japanese born players in the Majors and they all should tip their hats towards Nomo.

The latest “next big thing” from Japan is Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice-K). Matsuzaka mania started when the Red Sox paid $51mil for the right to negotiate with Dice K. The Sox then shelled out another $52mil (over 6 years) to have the owner of the mythical gyroball in their rotation. That’s a helluva lot better than the $2mil signing bonus and league minimum $109,000 Nomo got in his first year, and the 3 year $4.3mil contract he signed in 1996.

I know the financial landscape of baseball has changed drastically, but Nomo got robbed. He’d be worth at least 5 million a year now.. I mean 5mil per before he had even thrown a pitch in the majors. If I was Nomo I’d be downing handfuls of HGH pills trying to get my Roger Clemens on… It wasn’t all bad for Hideo Nomo.. I mean, like I said earlier, he did win the Rookie of the Year, and he threw one of the most unlikely no hitters of all time at Coors field in Colorado.

If you’re like me and wonder about weird shit from time to time (like how did Eric Gagne pitch exactly 82 1/3 innings in ‘02, ‘03, and ‘04?!?) then you wanna know how do Nomo’s first 6 starts match-up with Matsuzaka’s first 6. Let’s take a look.

Hideo Nomo: 0-1 (5 no decisions? good lawd!!), 3.82 ERA, 49k’s, 25bb

Daisuke Matsuzaka: 3-2, 5.45 ERA, 39k’s, 15bb

Hideo’s control was an issue and he got to face the hitter friendly National League, while Dice-K has picked up wins but watched his ERA go up every game. What did I learn by doing this? Nothing really…

Japanese players are enjoying success in the states but what’s happening back in Japan? The NPB is feeling the loss of it’s stars to the United States. Hideki Matsui’s old team, the Yomiuri Giants, have seen their tv ratings decline more than 50% since Matsui left in 2002. 40 Yomiuri Giants games will be shown on Japanese network tv this year, that’s nothing compared to the 250 MLB games that will be shown. Maybe we can ship off our reality tv shows to fill the programming gaps in Japan. One country’s loss is another country’s gain.

Hideo Nomo 1995 Game By Game Pitching Logs. Courtesy of Baseball-Almanac

Daisuke Matsuzaka player page. Courtesy of MLB.com

Land of Rising Sun sees interest falling as Japanese stars depart. Courtesy of The Baltimore Sun

The Boston Red Sox (D. Matsuzaka) @ The Toronto Blue Jays (T. Ohka). Preview Courtesy of ESPN.com

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