Manny Ramirez

Relief in the Bronx The Yankees were giddy at batting practice Thursday evening, as news rushed through the clubhouse and around the field - Manny Ramirez was gone. The reason is simple - Manny owned the Yankees. In his 15-plus years in the bigs, all in the AL with either Cleveland or Boston, Ramirez faced the Bronx Bombers in exactly 200 games. The numbers: a .321 batting average, 55 home runs and 163 RBIs. "He's incredibly smart," Yankees pitcher Darrell Rasner told Jeff Passan of Yahoo!

Schoeneweis back with Diamondbacks Scott Schoeneweis returned to the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday after spending four weeks on the disabled list because of depression following his wife's death. Gabrielle Schoeneweis was found dead in the master bedroom of the couple's suburban home on May 20. The 35-year-old Schoeneweis, a graduate of Lenape High in Burlington County, spent three weeks on the bereavement list at that time before returning June 9. The lefthanded reliever then gave up 15 earned runs in nine innings and was placed on the disabled list Aug. 11. "He was able to get away from baseball for a couple of weeks and stabilize his life at home," Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said.

Manny Ramirez was so quiet. You knew that couldn't last. At the time of his 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy, Ramirez was batting .348 with six home runs. He finished the season at .290 with 19 homers. Almost unMannylike at times, to coin a phrase. But the postseason is his season, and what started in the division series against St. Louis came thundering home with his two-run home run in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Phillies last night at Dodger Stadium.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre said yesterday that Manny Ramirez feels he disappointed his team. The star outfielder was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball yesterday for using a banned drug. "He feels very badly. Right now he's trying to gather his thoughts," Torre said at Dodger Stadium, before the Dodgers played the Washington Nationals. Torre said he called Ramirez and that Ramirez called him back. "The worst thing I think a person can be is a disappointment to somebody else, and Manny feels like a disappointment," Torre said.

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.