Mariotti writes "Just to refresh your memory, Manny is a shamed steroid cheat. He used a female fertility drug that produced artificial testosterone, making him the latest in a pathetic line of high-profile players who have done performance-enhancers and contaminated an entire baseball era. He also is a petty quitter, having stopped running out groundballs in a hissy-fit ploy that forced the Red Sox to trade him to the Dodgers. So why were people cheering him when he returned last weekend after a 50-game suspension? And giving him long, robust standing ovations?... Because most of these goofs were Dodger fans."
That really says it all.
Dodger fans while passionate, are some of the most obnoxious people to watch baseball with. They boo shamelessly, bail on games early and lack sophistication.
That said the LA faithful really only care about one thing, championships. They would turn a blind-eye if they had a team of cheats as long as the Blue stood on top in October.
That's why they welcome back a known-cheater back standing on both feet. Manny was a monster last year producing a .396 average with 17 homers in the final two months of the '08 season, followed by an amazing postseason. Dodger fans need Manny, just as much as the goofy outfielder needs LA.
There's one small consolation in our star worshipping culture, only helped by ESPN's daily Manny-minor league updates, that is Ramirez and fellow cheat Alex Rodriguez will be very absent from this week's All-Star festivities.
