Mannywood Invades PETCO

So the circus that was the return of recently-suspended Manny Ramirez turned out to be just what we thought it would.  I took in all three games at PETCO Park this weekend, and it was about 60-40 in favor of the Dodgers.

Manny's return was huge news and drew a ton of crowd reaction.  But I didn't see too many Dodgers fans booing their man.  Padres fans were outnumbered and are typically passive anyway, but they were heard.

What was irritating was just how many Padres fans sold their seats to Dodgers fans.  Felt like a Chargers-Raiders game at Qualcomm Stadium, where Bolts fans for years have "feared" going to these Raiders games because of the unruly behavior and sometimes violent nature of Raiders fans.

San Diego fans really don't have much reason to go out and support the Padres on a regular basis, given just how bad they are.  But the team works hard to make the environment fun regardless of the outcome of the game.  And this was Padres-Dodgers, the closest thing the city has to a rivalry.  So it was disappointing to have so much love for for the neighbors to the north.

Manny went 0-for-3 with a walk on Friday.  He belted a bomb in his first at-bat Saturday, but the real story of that day was the Padres' come-from-behind win behind a sellout crowd of fans waving Beat LA! towels.  Sunday, Ramirez wasn't even supposed to play but the game went into extra innings, and he flied out to right on the first pitch.

We found it pretty humorous that, despite having a 10-game minor league rehab slate at his disposal to get ready, manager Joe Torre kept yanking Manny in the sixth inning of games.  He claimed he needed to let Manny rest his legs.  It cost him Saturday because his turn in the lineup came as the Dodgers fell behind by 3.  I guess 5.5 innings of baseball really wears a guy out when he (supposedly) isn't on the juice anymore and finally feeling the effects of being 37.

He won't see such similar fan-friendly treatment this week, as his circus travels to Milwaukee and then New York.  We can be sure Mets fans are going to let him have it.  And when he goes to San Francisco later this month, watch out.  Dodgers fans gave Barry Bonds the business for years, and now that they have their own villain, payback's gonna be a bitch.  Plus, the two teams are playing well, which should add to baseball's third-best rivalry (behind Sox-Yanks and Cubs-Cards).

(Photo: Getty Images)

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Chase Parker believes in the East Coast bias, stretching triples into doubles, and considers Tommy Boy to be the greatest athlete of our generation.

Unless otherwise stated, no particular sexual orientation of anyone depicted is implied or should be presumed.