CINCINNATI — On the eve of his return to Fenway Park, Manny Ramirez is mum.
“What are you doing here?’’ a surprised Ramirez asks the reporter from Boston, giving him a hug.
Asked how he’s doing, he says, “I’m good.’’
Asked if he expects to be booed or cheered tomorrow night when he makes his first appearance in Boston since leaving town on bad terms in July 2008, he does an about-face.
“No thank you,’’ he says over his shoulder.
End of interview.
Ramirez hasn’t talked to the media all season. His power numbers are down since he served a 50-game suspension last spring for testing positive for a banned substance, a female fertility drug. This year, he is hitting .296 with 33 RBIs in 47 games but has just 7 home runs (adding one last night in LA’s 6-2 win over the Reds). Since returning from a stint on the disabled list with a right calf strain May 8, he has hit .250.
His swagger is not what it once was.
“I think his suspension last year certainly knocked him a little bit,’’ says Dodger manager Joe Torre. “I think he was embarrassed about it, the whole thing.’’
Might the Fenway Faithful expect Manny Light?
“ ‘Manny Light’?’’ says Torre. “As far as his power numbers, maybe, but not his production numbers. He was on the DL but to me he’s still a force, RBI-wise. I’m not really concerned about home runs as long as he has the same impact with men in scoring position.’’
Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly says Ramirez’s timing has been “off and on’’ and that he’s been “a little quiet at times’’ this season.
“But he’s been great to work with,’’ says Mattingly.
Torre says things have changed with Ramirez since 2008, when he almost singlehandedly propelled the Dodgers into the playoffs after coming over from the Sox in a three-team deal.
“He’s still having fun, but when he first came over here, he was like giddy,’’ says Torre. “It sort of rubbed off on the players.’’
Orlando Cabrera, the starting shortstop on the Red Sox’ 2004 world champions, also sees a different Ramirez.
“He’s not the same person, not the same guy,’’ says Cabrera, now with Cincinnati. “He’s been through a lot of personal stuff. He kind of wants to be private this year and last year because he kind of went through a lot.’’
Complicated case
When Ramirez was sent to the Dodgers in the deal that brought Jason Bay to Boston from Pittsburgh, he bad-mouthed the Sox on the way out the door.
“I was unhappy for eight years in Boston but still put up great numbers,’’ he told the Los Angeles Times.
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