Prince Will Destroy You Like 80's Mike Tyson

I am guessing that most of you assumed that I would be writing another rant after the 17-4 ass whooping that the Brewers suffered last night but like I said on Sunday, my expectations are lowered therefore there is no reason to get upset. What I am going to discuss is the fact that former Brewer fuck up Guillermo Mota hit Prince Fielder in the 9th and basically everyone is calling out Fielder for being a girl about it. I tend to disagree here and you can call it bias all you want.

I think that Fielder expected Mota to come back out to talk to him after the game was over. I also dont think he expected a guy who he played with last year and according to all sources, they were friends on the team. I personally could have Jason Schmidt tonight hitting Braun/Fielder in the first or second inning for retaliation. People are saying that Prince went about this immature way by trying to storm the Dodger clubhouse when I really think the media on the coasts have it completely twisted. He was trying to do the right thing and talk to Mota after the game then he felt disrespect leading to him going ape shit.

People who arent Brewer fans are saying that Prince is immature and really doesnt get the game baseball just like this jackass for CBSSports but we all know especially Badger Basketball fans that CBS hates Wisconsin. Prince knows that if he were to get suspended 5-10 games for a fight, the Brewers will likely lose almost all of those games. I feel like he gets that therefore you have your reason why he didnt just tackle Mota.

Any of you Dodger fans who really believe this Brewer team wouldnt kick your ass is foolish. I really hope there is a brawl tonight because for J Russell Martin (can someone inform me why there is a J., my buddy Doz's reasoning "He's fucking Canadian which seems right) who thought this is how the game is played is an idiot. Look you kicked our ass last night, there was no need to go after our best player despite bad ass extraordinaire Chris Smith hit your precious Manny Ramirez. He barely hit him in the arm; its not like he went for his head, knees, or hip like the asshole Mota did.

Also to any of people who say "Thats what he gets for looking at his homers." I will tell you to suck it because Albert Pujols looks at his homers as does A-Roid as does Manny. Every big power hitter looks at his home runs and I have no problem with it. Its been going on for years now get use to it already.

I hope for two things tonight to happen, either Prince hits one out of Dodger Stadium or Prince form tackles Jason Schmidt to the ground. Which ever happens I will be happy with it. Oh and win would be nice too.

-Charlie.

Just Release the PED List.

Once again, the mysterious 2003 PED list has struck again. The New York Times have once again reported two more players with that big list of hunderd and three players. Those two were Los Angeles Dodgers' outfielder Manny Ramirez and Boston Red Sox's first baseman David Ortiz. If you forgot, Ortiz was the same guy who called for a one year ban if someone was doing steroids.... rut roh.

I dont really care about Manny because he already has been suspended this year for the PED issue. I mean he did say that this was his only time and he never did it any other times during the other years. But that not has proven to be false. Big Papi is another story for a couple reasons...

a. Like I said before, he was such a big proponent of steroids are a bad thing and they are completely wrong. Ortiz was adamant about getting PED's out of baseball and seemed like one of the good guys. That's why him saying he was shocked by all of this makes a little sense to me because when the list came out they were made aware.

b. He is Boston's sports hero for baseball right now more so than Manny when he was there and trust me when I was down in the Dominican Republic, he was so iconic there as well. Outsiders like me loved Ortiz for his clutch hitting in the playoffs and his happy-go-lucky attitude about the game.

c. Ortiz making claims that he will try to explain all of the details to his fans through the media is an admirable gesture but who knows what we will actually learn from Ortiz. If Big Papi says look I screwed up and took a doctor's advice to help (insert any injury) didnt realize one of the banned substances was in there.

I have said before a million times, it wasnt banned at the time of using therefore why should it really be that big of a deal? I mean I can only imagine what some of these players were thinking "Oh man, this guy is getting such advantage with steroids, I need to get my hands on those." You really dont think that thought went through a lot of guys heads during the fifteen to twenty years.

Just release the list and let all these guys in the Hall of Fame if they deserve it.

-Charlie.

Mannywood Back in L.A. Look Out NL

I am scared right now. The Los Angeles Dodgers who were the first team to fifty wins get their best player back tomorrow Manny Ramirez from his fifty-game suspension. This deserves the Chuck's Corner special rut roh. I think there is no reason right now without Manny to believe that the Dodgers are the best team in the National League but not its completely crystal clear.

First off look at the lineup the Dodgers trot out everyday as my buddy Doz said to me "Its like an All-Star lineup that really gets forgotten with the others like Boston and New York." Totally true. I really believe that Andre Ethier is one of the more underrated players in todays game and none of us have really took the time to realize how good of a player Ethier is. The only part of his game that needs some fine tuning is working on getting his batting average higher. Other than that, its all gravy. I enjoy Matt Kemp's play and just found out that Joe Torre really isnt a fan which is disappointing. Kemp has the opportunity to be a great 1-2 punch with Ethier in that lineup for years to come.

Now Mannywood is back and ready to get going again which I think will make the Dodgers if healthy a 100 win team this year. The Dodgers will be so feared for the rest of the year with Manny back in that lineup. He will energize the Dodgers way more than I think we even think about. I could see Los Angeles winning like six out of seven right out of the gates with Manny (lets hope not the Brewers play LA next weekend). I think there is no reason to believe that the Dodgers wont be in the NLCS for sure and possibly the World Series.

-Charlie.

Manny Did Do Roids

I apologize for my first article because I reacted to the original media story and didnt wait to get all the facts about Manny Ramirez steroid abuse. What we learned today was that Ramirez used a women's fertility drug called hCG which masks testosterone after a steroid cycle.

There you have it. Manny did steroids and destroyed his legacy as one of the best players in baseball in last twenty years. The legacy is blown up because Manny was such a well-like player by the fans more so than A-Rod and everyone in L.A. "loved him" at the same level of Kobe Bryant. He had his own section called "Mannywood" and many jerseys were bought. Who knows what fans will think of them now.

Although despite this I gained some perspective as I was talking to my friend Craig who said,"I dont know what to think about any player in that era, I think we all knew Clemens, McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds were all on something but after A-Rod and Manny, I just dont know." I couldnt agree more with that statement because it provide a new outlook on the "Steroid Era" in baseball. I have always been one of those guys who said these players are ruining baseball and they have no right to be in the Hall of Fame which is consider the highest honer out of any four major professional sports. But now after Manny's problems with steroids, I think you have to let these guys into the Hall of Fame.

Someone will ask me the question "Is it right to support cheating?" Well no, it isnt but heres the thing everyone did in the late 90s to early 2000s with the pressure from everyone to take performance-enhancers. These guys had loose drug rules and they took advantage of them just like the NFL in the 1980s. I guess I never understood why the players of the 80s in football never got criticized like Manny or A-Rod did in this day and age. The only real reason why is the ever-growing sports media. In the 80s you didnt have college sophomores like me writing articles about steroids and why these players should be ashamed of themselves.

I truly believe what you will see in the next ten years as baseball begins to become pure again, you might start seeing Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, and Alex Rodriguez's names getting closer and closer to the Hall of Fame. I will reiterate it once again, yes they cheated but everyone else did too so why should they be punished more than the others? I mean I am willing to bet some guys who get elected in the Hall of Fame in the upcoming years will have had performance-enhancers and never been called out on it.

-Charlie.

Manny Didnt Do Roids

Well you can file this under another case of "Manny being Manny" I guess as today Los Angeles Dodger slugger Manny Rameriez was tested positive for banned substances by Major League Baseball and is now suspended for fifty games. Dammit.

According to the ESPN article, Manny said this..
"Recently, I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me," Ramirez said in a statement issued by the players' union.

Now Peter Gammons of ESPN has also said that the positive test was a personal health issue and not a steroid thing. The doctor said that he believe this would clear the MLB policy but Manny didnt care enough to took a look to make one hundred percent sure that he would clear the policy. Gammons also ask the Boston Red Sox front office about this and they didnt believe it for one second either.

Of course you will have people that will shrug Manny's story off to claim it's steroids but I really do trust in Manny that he wouldnt take steroids because he was so consistent, year in year out without much injury. I mean seriously think about a time where Ramirez seemed bigger almost like Barry Bonds? He never got overly big in muscle; actually Manny just got fatter as the years progressed. I think people should be ashamed of themselves if they decide to throw this one on steroids.

Another reason why this isnt steroid-related in my opinion is because Ramirez had so much guaranteed money on the line in these next two years that he wouldnt want to mess things up in that sense either. He now loses out on 7.7 million dollars off his contract for missing a third of the season and we all know Scott Boras will not be happy.

The Dodgers are thankful that they are in a division that sucks and they have already built a nice cushion therefore when Manny does return I expect them in the top two of that division. Also even without Manny, they have a good team with guys like Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and Russell Martin. In addition, a great pitching staff led by Chad Billingsley and a good closer in Jonathan Broxton.

-Charlie.

Papelbon Isnt a Fan of 'Manny Being Manny'

Once again, I am sorry for being slow with my articles but my school work has been unbearable so now that I am on Spring Break now I have time to write some articles.

One of the bigger stories that came out in the past couple of days were the comments of Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon on former teammate Manny Ramirez. The quotes of the Boston Riverdancer....

"It takes 25 guys on a team to win, not 24, and that was blatantly obvious," Papelbon said after the Red Sox' workout at City of Palms Park. "It doesn't matter who you are - you could be Babe Ruth - if you're not in that same cubbyhole with the rest of the guys going to war with you, you're all going to die. That almost happened." Wait there is more so it can make my article longer...
"Once we saw that, we weren't afraid to get rid of him. It's like cancer. That's what he was. Cancer."

Ouch. Strong words from Papelbon for ManRam and of course in classic Manny fashion said that none of this really bothered him and he will move on to focus on baseball. I like both of these players but was it really that bad?

We all had heard that Manny was slowly infecting the Boston locker room and he wanted nothing to do with the Red Sox last season. Its puzzling to me because he seems like a happy go-lucky guy who seems to just go with the flow not be a problem. Maybe I have my head buried in the sand because I like Manny and want to see him do well. Bill Simmons of ESPN and my friend wrote a big article about how Manny completely changed when Scott Boras became his agent so thats the reason why he became this 'cancer'. But according to Papelbon, he isnt the type of guy you want around your clubhouse comparable to a Terrell Owens.

I think we all want to see Boston/New York against Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series this year. I know it is the media frenzy that would be pounded in our head more than any other World Series in the past couple years. Just think about, the hated Manny/the hated Torre vs. the Red Sox or the newly hated Torre/Yankee-hater Manny vs. Yankees. Either would be fantastic.

-Charlie.

Manny Loves L.A.

Finally when the dust settled, Manny Ramirez finally got his deal that he always wanted from the beginning of the free agent season. Two years, 45 million dollar deal.

The Dodgers definitely caved in because they had to but thats to say that they wanted to. The reason they had to do it was because if the Dodgers didnt have Ramirez, they would be a possible National League West Division winner and maybe a long shot at the Wild Card. Now they are the contenders in the NL West because Manny is a guy who will give you 35+ home runs and over 100 RBIs every year. Then you combine the power Manny brings with the coaching of Joe Torre, you have got yourself a contender right there.

Now I dont really condone what happened with Manny throughout this free agent season. I think it was bullshit that he held out this long to get his contract but in the end, the shark that is Scott Boras made sure his guy on his money. Boras basically gave the middle finger to the baseball once again with making sure Manny was going to get his contract that he always desired no matter what. This just means that Boras is going to keep pulling this shit before someone stops him. The only thing is when people need his clients, they will do whatever means necessary to get his client.

Now I think the baseball media world is looking forward to a chance at a New York-Los Angeles World Series clash which first off all would pit the two biggest cities in the United States and second off, you get a matchup of all the new Yankees facing off against Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez, one of the most hated non-Yankees in the past five years.

-Charlie.

The Curious Case of Manny

I dont know think it can be called "Manny just being Manny" anymore. Its more like "Manny listens to his money-hungry agent for anything."

If you did not hear today, Manny Ramirez rejected the Dodgers offer today which was 2 years for 41.1 million dollars. This is the fourth offer made by Los Angeles this off season and every time, they have told L.A. no. This is just getting ridiculous for multiple reasons.

1. No one else is pursuing Manny anymore so I see no reason why Scott Borass thinks another team is going to come in and make an attempt at the desired 45 million over two years. I think its just time for Boras to bury the hatchet and realize he has lost this battle. I mean hell he got 180 million for Teixiera therefore he should be proud of himself.

2. Manny's image as a selfish player is now fully cemented. I love Manny, I think he plays like he is a 10 year old out there and really doesnt care what people say about him. I think its obvious that Manny is Boras' puppet and he just lets Scott control whatever is going on in contract negations.

3. This is killing me with a fantasy keeper draft coming up and I want to keep Manny. If he isnt signed in the next couple of weeks this becomes a major decision that I have to make.

4. How bad will this be for the Brewers when Fielder is a free agent in two years. Good god. Boras will try to milk the Milwaukee out of every beer they got. Its a scary thought to think about right now.

-Charlie.