'Embarrassed' Manny 'Beat Up' Over Test: Torre

(NEWSER) - Manny Ramirez ducked questions about drug use and praised the Lord hours before his scheduled return to the major leagues, MLB.com reports. "First, I want to say that God is good and good is God," Ramirez told reporters in San Diego tonight. Asked about the banned substance that earned him a 50-game suspension in May, Ramirez whiffed: "I don't want to get into" that, he said. "I've already said I'm sorry." More»

(NEWSER) - Manny Ramirez met with his Dodgers teammates today to personally apologize for flunking a drug test and drawing a 50-game suspension, the Los Angeles Times reports. Team management had encouraged the outfielder to talk with the squad. “He knows he made a mistake. I forgive him,” third baseman Casey Blake said. “It's his business.” More»

Suspended slugger looks set to join baseball's hall of infamy

(NEWSER) - The only Hall of Fame that Manny Ramirez is now likely to find himself in is the one for lame excuses, Phil Rogers writes in the Chicago Tribune. Unless Ramirez, who says he flunked a drug test because of "a personal health issue," wanted to get pregnant or had some other legitimate reason for taking a female fertility drug, he looks certain to join the ranks of baseball's fallen stars, Rogers writes. More»

Dodgers get one loopy guy, but hey, they got him for nothing

(NEWSER) - Look out, LA—Manny Ramirez is coming. The ex-Red Sox outfielder brings "510 career home runs inside 510 pounds of baggage,” writes Bill Plaschke of the LA Times. And "the only thing that flops around more than his trademark dreadlocks are his moods." But the deal was a no-brainer for the Dodgers: "They do not have to pay someone who immediately becomes their best hitter." More»

Defending World Series champs now up 2-1 over Dodgers

(AP) - Cliff Lee dominated the Dodgers and Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth provided the big swings early as the Philadelphia Phillies cruised past Los Angeles 11-0 last night for a 2-1 lead in the NL championship series. Lee provided another brilliant playoff start, striking out 10 and allowing only three hits in eight innings. "Cliff Lee, what can I say about him? He was absolutely outstanding," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. More»