FanHouse LarryBowa

Maybe there won't be a classic Brad Penny emotional display when the Giants' right-hander faces the Dodgers, his former team, on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Park.

Apparently Penny and Dodgers' third base coach Larry Bowa, who had engaged in a long distance war of words since spring training, have kissed and made up. Well, minus the kissing part.

Penny and Bowa reiterated their hard feelings toward each other on Friday, before the opener of the Dodgers' series in San Francisco, in separate interviews with John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. Bowa also asked Shea to pass Penny his hotel room number, so they could talk. Penny, who joined the Giants a couple weeks ago, is staying at the same hotel.

Rivalries are a part of baseball just like they are in any other sport. Just look at the Mets and Phillies over the last few years. The Phils have taken advantage of two straight September swoons by the Mets to get into the playoffs, and even parlayed all that momentum into a World Series title last season. Things are so bitter that Carlos Beltran is talking about killing Cole Hamels, though only metaphorically, which does seem rather lame.

NEW YORK -- Joe Torre's name is on the book, but it's a fair estimate not even one-fourth of the words are actually his. He says he's read it six times, perusing line for line, scanning chapters for quotes or anecdotes that have caused so much fuss. It is clear the New York Yankees, Torre's former employer, aren't pleased with the book -- Torre's book -- and there is a decent chance their relationship is forever stained.

And yet, here is Torre, calmly navigating another hot-stove controversy the way he did for 12 always memorable, sometimes controversial seasons as manager of the Yankees. Taking refuge from a snowstorm building steam outside, Torre brushes a few icy flakes from his shoulder and tells me he "wouldn't change a thing."

The impact that Manny Ramirez had on the Dodgers as a team last season was pretty obvious. He took an offense that wasn't exactly intimidating to opposing pitchers and made it pretty darn scary. Where as a young Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier could do some damage on their own, if you put Manny between them in the lineup they become legitimate threats.

Which is probably why the Dodgers are hoping they can bring Manny back this season because replacing the production he gave the team will not be easy if he doesn't. Still, to listen to third base coach Larry Bowa talk about it, you'd think that the losing Manny would be like cutting off the arms and legs of the Dodgers' offense.

Left on Base is MLB FanHouse's link dump.

* Boston's two-year offer to Jason Varitek comes with a deadline -- he has until the end of the week before the Red Sox take the deal off the table.

* The Rangers move into the lead for Ben Sheets, which pleases Kevin Millwood: "I think it would be great for us if he's on our team," Millwood said. "I don't know what's going on with that, but he'll make us a better team."

* All the fake sports-themed Lego men you've ever wanted.

You're not going to see benches clear in the playoffs very often. So when you do, you should appreciate it and enjoy it ... as long as nobody gets hurt. And nobody got hurt in tonight's bench-clearer during Game 3 of the NLCS. But some people did get nasty after Shane Victorino found a pitch come close to his head courtesy of Hiroki Kuroda, seemingly in retaliation for some brushbacks in Game 2 and earlier in Game 3 against Manny Ramirez and Russell Martin.

"Someone was bound to get hit. The situation called for it. Just don't throw at my head," Victorino explained after the game.

Dodgers third base coach Larry Bowa and Phillies first base coach Davey Lopes appeared to be two of the angriest participants in the near-scuffle, yelling at each other before the teams cleared the field. Ramirez also came in from left field and had to be restrained by teammates, manager Joe Torre and an umpire.

"It wasn't at his head, it was over his head," Martin said. "We're just trying to make a statement. It's part of the game. Manny looked a little more steamed than I was."

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot topic.

Leave it to Mannywood -- ahem -- Hollywood to drum up some much-needed October drama. There's nothing like postseason baseball, but let's face it, the nailbiting, heart-stopping tension that makes it so great has been in short supply this month.

In fact, in the 25 completed playoff series since 2005, only three of them have gone the full five or seven games. Conversely, 12 of the series have been sweeps.

The Rays did their part Saturday night to ensure the ALCS wouldn't be a short one, pulling out a see-saw five-hour, 27-minute marathon to pull even with the Red Sox. But playing in a city where every busboy and gas station attendant has a script, the Dodgers and Phillies weren't about to be outdone.

Los Angeles had had just about enough of pitches up and in, high and behind and low and on the kneecap to Manny Ramirez and Russell Martin when, in obvious retaliation, Hiroki Kuroda buzzed Shane Victorino in the third inning of Game 3.

Like a good actor, the fiery Victorino played his role perfectly, gesturing vividly to his head and his ribs repeatedly. Moments later, the benches cleared. Ramirez had to be held back by Martin and Joe Torre. The Phillie-turned-Dodger Larry Bowa and the Dodger-turned-Phillie Davey Lopes were screaming at each other. And the FOX cameras caught it all.

The Dodgers are flat-lining right now, but the division is still within reach thanks to the overall futility of the NL West. A little heimlicking and they'll still have a month to win this thing.

The difference in approach was called "good cop/bad cop" in the LA Times, while I prefer Riggs/Murtaugh due to my affinity for the Lethal Weapon series. No matter how you slice it, though, Joe Torre and Larry Bowa are a complete 180 from each other in how they are dealing with the players in light of the recent onslaught of losing. They are even arguing like the explosive fictional LAPD officers, which was kickstarted Monday night by this:

"I've seen teams play like this when they're 30 games out," Bowa said Monday. "There's no excuse for it."

He also said the team should be "embarrassed."

Torre had a closed meeting with the team Tuesday to remind players not to lose their "spirit." The team responded by losing to the Washington Nationals. Ouch.

Torre didn't speak only to the players, of course, he spoke out to the media about his fiery third-base coach.

"He's a tough-love guy," Torre said. "I see where his emotions are. He's frustrated by it, just like a lot of the players."

As you may or may not have seen (and if you haven't, by all means go look before you do anything else this morning), Larry Bowa went absolutely berserker when umpire Ed Montague tried to tell him to get back in the coach's box the other night.

It was a big deal: Bowa got ejected, he threw stuff in the dugout, spilled drinks, screamed a lot and after it was all over, Tony Kornheiser made Dirty Dancing jokes. Good times. Naturally, Bowa was suspended, especially considering his tirade resulted in Joe Torre bumping into Montague several times. And naturally, Bowa is not what you would call "excited" about his suspension.

'For getting kicked out of the game and to get a three-game suspension, that's a joke,' Bowa said. 'It's totally uncalled for. You got guys that tested positive for steroids and they admitted they took them. No suspensions. I get kicked out of a game and get three games plus fined? There's no justice.'

Bowa also indicated that Bob Watson, baseball's vice president of on field operations, has "an agenda" against him, and went so far as to say that if "Bob Watson was a man, I think he'd call me on that one." Ohhhh. The Commissioner is going to freaking rip him a new ... oh right. This is baseball. Bud Selig probably won't do a thing, other than let Watson chastise Bowa in public (maybe) and force the grouchy third base coach to serve his sentence.

Bowa does have a point though -- a three game suspension for participating in the time honored tradition of dirt kicking and screaming at an umpire seems a bit steep when Guillermo Mota just can't find his way out of baseball, even if Montague, as some reports indicate, told Bowa mid-tantrum that he was headed for a suspension.

Jon Weisman from Dodger Thoughts explains the situation:

It happened after umpire Ed Montague ordered Bowa to get back inside the coach's box. Bowa took exception, and Montague ejected him quickly. It then fell upon Joe Torre to restrain Bowa, and quite honestly, Torre was barely strong enough for the task. Trying to get at Montague, Bowa pushed Torre into Montague - though no serious damage was done.

"That vein in Bowa's neck could have held a screen up in the Coliseum," Vin Scully pricelessly commented. "Easy, Larry - you get into a thing like that, you wind up getting suspended."

Such vim! Such vigor! And we're only two games into the season! Of course, Bowa is somewhat notorious for his dustups with umpires (and baseball's establishment in general), but the weird thing is that this was completely avoidable. Umpires have been instructed to enforce the rule that coaches stay in the box this year, and Montague even went out of the way to warn Bowa a few times before giving him the hook.