The playoffs are almost over and the stage is set for the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies to face the dreadnought New York Yankees ... or the Los Angeles Angels Angels, pending a dead Christopher Lloyd-style miracle. 
The 1997 Cleveland Indians have finally been reassembled on the 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers, and it is up to venerable Dugout protagonists Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez to lead them through the playoffs and to the promised land, whether they've been there already or not. 
The "youth movement" continues in Los Angeles, as Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez continue their countrywide trip to reunite the championship hopeful 1997 Cleveland Indians on the championship hopeful 2009 Dodgers. If you've missed where they've been so far, check out the numbered links below. If you haven't, and you are still somehow entertained by caps lock and typos, continue after the jump to read part seven of our epic special event.
Welcome to part five of our apparently 30-part series about how Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez play for the same team, just like when they were part of the 1997 World Series challenging Cleveland Indians. 
Not to ignore everything else that is happening in the world of baseball, but Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez are on the same team and you should be reading about it.
Part 1
As you may have read yesterday, Jim Thome was awarded to the Los Angeles Dodgers like so much sassy Sapphire, reuniting him with former Indians teammate Manny Ramirez. In the Dugout universe (which is the real universe, because we are somehow still convincing people that these are legitimate transcripts) this is big news, and in yesterday's episode the two realistically-portrayed superstars took off across the country on a bicycle built for two to rebuild the 1997 Cleveland Indians in 2009 Los Angeles and reclaim the World Series ring that was rightfully theirs.In the most important "real life benefiting The Dugout" moment since Barry Bonds dressed up like Paula Abdul, rosy-cheeked Faulknerian idiot man-child and Dugout regular Jim Thome has been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. This reunites him with another Dugout regular, Manny Ramirez, who he has not played with since they both played for the Cleveland Indians in 2000. 
In case you have not heard and are unable to read any other words on this page, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz join the list of approximately 100 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003. Ortiz has been vocal about banning players who tested positive, and Manny is currently being celebrated as some sort of RBI-giving folk hero in Los Angeles. The relationship between Ortiz and Manny has been an important one to the development and growth of The Dugout's overreaching narrative, and in times like these we have to dig deeply to find the right thing to say.
Andre Ethier does not want to take a picture with you. According to the Internet, Andre believes that people would use the photos against him on the Internet. He goes on to blame the hard economic times for making people want to do this. How many baseball players have felt the sting of a fan photo getting out, where an overweight lady (or whatever) is seen standing next to them while they are on the field in their baseball uniform? Did you see how happy she was? I bet they're dating! I bet he was out with her at Dodger Stadium, canoodling instead of playing baseball! 
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