Manny Ramirez

Manny being Manny. Charlie Manuel knew what that was long before the rest of the baseball world, long before the expression was coined. He got his first glimpse of it in June 1993, when he was manager of Cleveland's triple-A Charlotte club and Manny Ramirez was an Indians prospect on a fast track to the big leagues. Manuel, the Phillies' fourth-year manager, started laughing recently when he recalled the day Ramirez arrived in Charlotte. Ramirez came right from the airport to the ballpark.

Be sure of this much: When Manny Ramirez walks to the plate for the first time tomorrow night for the Dodgers, Fox analyst and former Phillie Tim McCarver won't pull his punches. Never has, never will. "It's extraordinary - the dichotomy between what he was in Boston and what he is in Los Angeles," McCarver said. "I mean, talk about wearing out your welcome in a town, and it was a long welcome with the Red Sox. But some of the things he did were simply despicable, despicable - like not playing, refusing to play.

So this is love. Dodgers fans and Manny Ramirez, dysfunctionally connected since last summer, seemed to go through the entire gamut of their relationship during Game 1 of the NLCS. There were high points and cheers, dramatic reunions and crushing disappointments. In the end, after the Phillies won, 8-6, they left it where it started, somewhere between devotion and suspicion. In the NLCS opener, Ramirez stepped to the plate in the fifth inning, with the Dodgers losing 5-2 and a runner on base.

DALLAS - The suddenly splurging Miami Marlins landed their second big free agent in a matter of days, agreeing Sunday night to a $106 million, six-year contract with all-star shortstop Jose Reyes , a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press. The Marlins gave the NL batting champion a deal that includes a club option for 2018 that would make the contract worth $120 million, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not yet been announced.

Terry being Terry about Manny being Manny After manager Red Sox Terry Francona heard Friday that his former star performer, Manny Ramirez , was going to retire rather than face a potential 100-game suspension for allegedly violating baseball's substance abuse policy a second time, the Boston skipper needed time to mull it over. "I thought about it last night a little bit, and I think my answer is I really don't have a comment," Francona said Saturday before his team lost to the Yankees.

LOS ANGELES - Something had to be done. That was basically the message Manny Ramirez carried to people after last night's 7-2 scrum-infested Dodgers victory here. That, and this: It's done. "What happened in Philly, we think that wasn't right," the Dodgers' leftfielder said. "You know we're here and we want to send a message that we want to play the game right. " Manny seemed to want to do more than just send a message after both benches emptied last night. Led by coach Bob Schaefer, several Dodgers had to pull him away from several Phillies.

Wow, the Yankees' Russell Martin must really not want to run the risk of facing Tampa Bay or Los Angeles in the playoffs. If not, why would he give Boston (11-4 against New York this season) great bulletin-board fodder such as this to light a fire under the fading Red Sox, up 21/2 games on the Rays and Angels in the AL wild-card chase? "I hate the Red Sox," the all-star catcher said Thursday, contemplating the three-game series in New York this weekend. "Anything to get the Red Sox out would be awesome for me. " (Of course, it could be reverse psychology - maybe he just wants the Red Sox to think he wants them out, because then they'll press to stay in, and he really doesn't want the Rays to win, unless it's really the Angels he wants . . . ow, head-game headache!

This is that precious swatch of the endless season when baseball players lean forward and absorb the nuance of every pitch. Even if they aren't in the game, whether in the dugout or the bullpen or even in the clubhouse, there is nothing more important than what happens next. Unless you're Manny Ramirez, of course. What was Ramirez, who had been removed from Monday's game in the bottom of the ninth for a defensive replacement, thinking when Jimmy Rollins doubled into the gap to score the tying and winning runs and beat his Dodgers?

From the miracles-do- happen department: Major League Baseball will not expand the use of its instant-replay system this season. The bosses - who had looked forward to reviewing trapped balls, fair-or-foul rulings, and fan interference - now hope to do so in 2013. This season will be the same as last season: Replay will remain an option only on disputed home run calls. According to the Associated Press, which cited sources familiar with the situation, there were at least two roadblocks to expanding replay reviews: umpires and players.

Righthander Tim Wakefield retired Friday after pitching the last 17 seasons for the Red Sox. The 45-year-old knuckleballer made the announcement at JetBlue Park, Boston's spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla. After two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the righthander signed as a minor-league free agent in April 1995. He was 186-168 with a 4.43 ERA with the Red Sox. Only Roger Clemens and Cy Young had more wins (192) with the team. Wakefield is first in team history with 3,006 innings and 430 starts, and second in games and strikeouts.

Speculation over the Prince Fielder sweepstakes continued Saturday, but about the only certainties at the end of the day were: The Texas Rangers remain interested in the slugger; the Chicago Cubs are not; and those two stances could change, lickety split, before a deal is done. Rangers president Nolan Ryan acknowledged Saturday that the AL champions met Fielder and his agent, Scott Boras, in a Dallas-area hotel Friday afternoon but downplayed the discussions. "It was very preliminary, and it's very early in any type of negotiation process to even say if there's anything that's going to come of that or not," Ryan said.

DALLAS - The suddenly splurging Miami Marlins landed their second big free agent in a matter of days, agreeing Sunday night to a $106 million, six-year contract with all-star shortstop Jose Reyes , a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press. The Marlins gave the NL batting champion a deal that includes a club option for 2018 that would make the contract worth $120 million, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not yet been announced.

Wow, the Yankees' Russell Martin must really not want to run the risk of facing Tampa Bay or Los Angeles in the playoffs. If not, why would he give Boston (11-4 against New York this season) great bulletin-board fodder such as this to light a fire under the fading Red Sox, up 21/2 games on the Rays and Angels in the AL wild-card chase? "I hate the Red Sox," the all-star catcher said Thursday, contemplating the three-game series in New York this weekend. "Anything to get the Red Sox out would be awesome for me. " (Of course, it could be reverse psychology - maybe he just wants the Red Sox to think he wants them out, because then they'll press to stay in, and he really doesn't want the Rays to win, unless it's really the Angels he wants . . . ow, head-game headache!

Terry being Terry about Manny being Manny After manager Red Sox Terry Francona heard Friday that his former star performer, Manny Ramirez , was going to retire rather than face a potential 100-game suspension for allegedly violating baseball's substance abuse policy a second time, the Boston skipper needed time to mull it over. "I thought about it last night a little bit, and I think my answer is I really don't have a comment," Francona said Saturday before his team lost to the Yankees.

LOS ANGELES - Charlie Manuel understood what "Manny being Manny" meant long before most. Manuel managed Manny Ramirez at triple A in 1993. Then, he was hitting coach and manager for the Cleveland Indians during Ramirez's six full seasons there. "The more money he got, the more he hit, the more they let him be Manny," the Phillies' manager said. On Monday, Ramirez wasn't playing against the Phillies as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Instead, he was en route to Cleveland to join the Chicago White Sox for a pennant-race boost.

He's done both coasts. Time for the Second City? Manny Ramirez may be moving the grating but sometimes-entertaining "being Manny" operation to Chicago. The White Sox were awarded a waiver claim with exclusive rights to make a deal to acquire Ramirez, 38, by 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jayson Stark of ESPN reported, citing a source monitoring the waiver wire. The Associated Press later reported the same thing, also citing an unnamed source. The Los Angeles Dodgers placed Ramirez on trade waivers Wednesday.

The Oakland A's put lefthander Dallas Braden on the 15-day DL with elbow stiffness. Braden, who hasn't pitched since June 22, was scratched from his scheduled start in Baltimore on Tuesday. Dodgers. Manny Ramirez is back on the 15-day DL due to lingering problems with his right hamstring, retroactive to Tuesday. Rays. Centerfielder B.J. Upton returned Saturday after missing four games with a quadriceps injury. He had his first start at Minneapolis since a dugout confrontation with Evan Longoria.