Friday is the night that many a Dodgers fan has been waiting for. After serving his 50-game suspension, the home run-hitting, fertility drug-taking wonder that is Manny Ramirez will be back in the lineup as the Dodgers take on the Padres in San Diego. Now if you're wondering what to make of all this I invite you to give our latest BaseCast a listen as Prez and Fletch have already broken it down for you.
One question I have for tonight's game is how Manny will be treated by Padres fans. These are the same people who greeted Barry Bonds with giant syringes after all. Of course, while we know that Manny is bound to hear some boos while on the road, what kind of reaction will he get in Mannywood? Well, if Kevin Patra at the Los Angeles Times gets his way, Dodger fans will boo Ramirez.
MLB Power Rankings:Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
It's a funny thing, sometimes, to see how Power Rankings shape up over the course of the season. Just like when we started the year, there are a number of teams from one particular division sitting atop the rankings. Of course, there are plenty of surprises -- WHERE DID THE FREAKING GIANTS AND ROCKIES COME FROM?? -- and some other interesting stuff, like the fact that the Mets and Cubs just haven't been that good, which we discussed on the inaugural BaseCast recently.
You might think that baseball players would stay as far away from Victor Conte as possible. The BALCO founder's name is synonymous with illegal drugs, see Barry Bonds and Marion Jones, but Marlon Byrd of the Texas Rangers isn't put off in the least. He openly admits that Conte advises him and is proudly featured as a client of Conte's new company, Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning, on their website.
There's no reason to believe that the supplements Byrd gets from Conte fall afoul of baseball's drug policy since he's never failed a drug test. Not that he bothered finding out what's in the pills and potions he gets from Conte.
A few weeks ago there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez, steroids and a blog. More specifically, a media firestorm started when a blogger named JRod wrote a post on MidwestSportsFans.com that looked at the possibility of Ibanez using steroids because of the way he'd been playing in the 2009 season.
The Philadelphia Inquirer then picked up on the story, brought it to Ibanez, Raul responded and then the next thing we knew Jerod Morris, JRod, was showing up on ESPN's Outside the Lines and was berated by Ken Rosenthal and John Gonzalez. Morris was shown off as the latest example of all things wrong with blogging and had to be reprimanded for his seemingly innocuous deed.
When it comes to surprises, last week's revelation was like finding out Iran's elections were juiced for the incumbent. If you want shocking news, however, you've come to the right place.
We are ready to reveal all the players who failed baseball's 2003 drug test. The results were supposed to be kept confidential, but Alex Rodriguez's name was leaked to Sports Illustrated and Sosa was outed last week in the New York Times.
There are 102 names to go. This drip-drip-drip could go on for years, but we're not going to let it.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Indians had a night to forget on a day they honored a movie about their days as lovable losers. The Brewers and famed announced Bob Uecker were in town for a memorable night in which Uecker's team was on the right end of a few big homers.
The Indians led 8-3 in the fifth and 12-7 in the eighth before the Brewers scored seven runs to win, including four on Prince Fielder's first career grand slam. Fielder's big blast was set up by three consecutive Indians walks, which Uecker must have called by saying "Ball Four. Ball Eight. Ball 12."
"Overall, it was a very bad night on the mound," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "We continually got ourselves in bad situations. They kept coming, and we kept making it tougher on ourselves."
Because the NFL rules the sports landscape in North America, it shouldn't be a surprise that Bill Cowher, former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 15 years, has worked his way into the storyline of the NHL's Eastern Conference final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes.
Prior to the start of the series, there was some debate as to Cowher's rooting interest for the series, seeing as how he not only coached in Pittsburgh for a decade-and-a-half, but because he was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and now currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. Prior to Tuesday's Game 4, Cowher will be sounding the Hurricanes' pre-game warning siren, and, as far as many people in the steel city are concerned, turning his back on Pittsburgh.
Saturday Spotlight is a weekly lightning-round of questions delving into the personalities and stories of major leaguers. This week the Spotlight goes multimedia, with its premier audio edition.
Randy Winn has been overshadowed throughout most of his career because he's shared an outfield with Ichiro Suzuki and Barry Bonds, but Winn has put up some numbers of his own. He's been an All-Star and a member of Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. He's also a former teammate of a third MVP: Steve Nash.
I'm a baseball writer, not the Pope. I've got a Hall of Fame vote, not the key to heaven. Manny Ramirez is a baseball player, not the President.
As such, I don't think I've got a right to expect much in the way of morality. I don't think Ramirez needs to be held to as high a standard as my son's kindergarten teacher.
In the days since we learned that Ramirez violated baseball's drug policy, most likely by using steroids, most of the media has rushed on a herd of high horses to condemn him.
You really do need a scorecard to keep up with the falling stars. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of trying to remember who's on first and who's on Winstrol.
You're never going to get rid of the dirty people. The only way to clean up the game is to get rid of the rules that turn people into dirtbags.
Friday is the night that many a Dodgers fan has been waiting for. After serving his 50-game suspension, the home run-hitting, fertility drug-taking wonder that is Manny Ramirez will be back in the lineup as the Dodgers take on the Padres in San Diego. Now if you're wondering what to make of all this I invite you to give our latest BaseCast a listen as Prez and Fletch have already broken it down for you.
You might think that baseball players would stay as far away from 
A few weeks ago there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding Phillies outfielder 
So it turns out 
Starting Five
Because the NFL rules the sports landscape in North America, it shouldn't be a surprise that 
I'm a baseball writer, not the Pope. I've got a Hall of Fame vote, not the key to heaven. 
