So now Manny is a Dodger and he's wearing No. 99. He started in left field last night, batting cleanup against legendary Arizona lefthander Randy Johnson. He finished 2 for 4 and grounded into a double play in the ninth inning as the Diamondbacks prevailed, 2-1.
When Joe Torre, Manny's new manager, was asked about the goofy outfielder's famous dreadlocks, the skipper said: "I just asked how important it was to him. I asked him what he wanted to do. He'll clean it up a little bit. He wants to be treated like everybody else."
Hmmmm. Tell that to Terry Francona. Tell it to Tito's doctor. Tell it to his former Boston teammates, who saw Manny quit in his final days with Boston.
Everything was all better in Mannyworld when Ramírez popped out of the Dodger dugout just after 4 p.m. (Pacific time). He engaged in a 10-minute group interview, some of which was conducted in Spanish. The Los Angeles press was extremely friendly and Manny addressed several reporters as "sir." There was a smattering of applause at the end of the session. You can tell it's going to be just swell here for Manny.
The only time things got remotely edgy, almost Boston-like, was when a reporter said Theo Epstein had revealed that some of Manny's veteran Boston teammates wanted him traded.
"I'm not going to waste energy when people talk like that," Manny answered. "I want people to judge me on what I do here, not what I did in Boston . . . Whatever happened in Boston is in the past. When people ask about Boston, I put my brain on pause."
He lobbed a bouquet at the legion of Sox fans who worshiped him for 7 1/2 seasons.
"From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank the fans of Boston," he said. "I love you guys. You've been with me through ups and downs."
Manny flew out of Logan Airport on American Airlines Flight 725, departing at 11:05 a.m. He sat in a window seat in the first row of first class and was accompanied by Justin Taglianetti (a member of agent Scott Boras's agency) and longtime friend Angel Pena.
"People were great to him at Logan," said Taglianetti. "They were hugging him, bidding him farewell."
