Manny Ramirez returns to the Dodgers’ lineup tomorrow not as a pariah, but as a prodigal son. All has been foriven after his 50-game exile for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs when he takes the field for the Dodgers in San Diego.

Mannywood, otherwise known as the left-field bleachers, will be back and open for business as a Dodger marketing tool — as National Sports Examiner Paula Duffy notes.

Dodger owner Frank McCourt has been shamelessly passing out All-Star ballots with Manny’s name encircled. (Full disclosure: I voted for Manny several times to be an All-Star this year — but not out of a love for Manny, but to shame MLB and highlight the absurdity of its lax steroids policy).

Even Joe Torre, usually a man who can be counted on to stick up for integrity in the game, publicly voiced his eagerness to get Manny back in the lineup. In fairness, it’s Torre’s job to help the Dodgers win games, not be an embassador for the games. But would it have been too much to ask for Torre to be perfunctionary and staid in his response to the inevitable questions?

As Yahoo notes, when Manny visited Dodger Stadium in early June, he said he was ready to move on and didn’t want to be a distraction.

“I didn’t kill nobody, I didn’t rape nobody, so that’s it, I’m just going to come and play the game,” Ramirez said.

And that’s about the extent of Manny’s remorse (meaning none), and he will probably will say nothing else of substance beyond that as the circus that will surround him starting on Friday. After San Diego, the Dodgers head to New York. Expect the rabid press there to try to give him the business. And expect Manny to give nothing back.

Getting to Manny’s affect on the lineup, it can only be good. He’ll be right back in there hitting in the 3-hole, and his very presence — even if he takes a while to get his stroke back — will make the Dodgers lineup better. And while the offense has been in a bit of a slump lately, the Dodgers have been just fine without him. They’re on pace for 100 wins, and — as TrueBlueLA points out — the Dodgers have the best record in the NL since Manny exited the lineup. In fact, despite shuffling lately, the Dodgers still have the best record in baseball.

One has to feel bad for Juan Pierre, who will be sent to the bench for the second time by Manny — and has done nothing but produce for the Dodgers when called upon. Pierre is hitting .322 on the season, and has not just scored runs and caused havoc on the bases, but has driven in runs. He’s been the player the Dodgers thought they signed to play full-time in the outfield before landing Manny was a dream of the McCourts last summer.

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Suspended for 50 Games

For those of you that read about Manny obtaining hCg from a doctor for a “personal issue”, here’s a thorough article from ESPN on hCG that should be an eye opener.

Here’s an update on Manny’s suspension from the ESPN article:

ESPN.com reported later Thursday that baseball‘s drug testing revealed that Ramirez had an elevated level of testosterone from an artificial source in his body, although that is not the reason for the 50-game suspension announced Thursday. The suspension was hooked to baseball’s documentation of Ramirez’s use of hCG.

For those of you like me who haven’t got a clue as to what hCG is, here’s a brief description of hCG and what it is used for per that same ESPN article:

It is not an anabolic steroid but rather a fertility drug that is widely considered to be part of the chemical enhancement game played by athletes. The hormone is produced naturally by women during pregnancy and often is used by steroid users to reboot their body’s natural testosterone production coming off a steroid cycle. It is also associated in the sports and the bodybuilding communities with serious and prolonged steroid use.

Given that last line, I now have to ask myself this question. How long has Manny been taking steroids if hCG is associated with prolonged steroid use? Before this I still thought there was a chance that he might has only used steroids as he started to notice he was losing his edge, but now I’m not so sure.

The next question this begs is whether or not the Dodgers will pick up Manny’s option for the second year of his contract. Before this I thought that option was a no brainer, but now I’m not so sure it will be a no brainer with the same outcome I had thought previously.

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Behind the arm of Ace Cole Hammels andd the bat of 2B Chase Utley, with a little help from a Brewers error, the Phillies took game one. In game two, will CC Sabathia be too tired to pitch deep into this game after pitching on short rest 4 starts in a row? If history is to repeat itself, then the Brewers should have looked at last year’s ALCS where CC looked wornout against the Red Sox in his two games. Only time will tell.

Dodgers vs. Cubs

Dempster looked good until the 5th inning when he topped 100 pitches, the same inning where 1B James Loney launched a game winning grand slam to secure game one for the Dodgers as Derek Lowe gets the win. Big Z is up against Billingsley in game two and my gut tells me that even though the Cubs have lost 10 playoff series after losing game one, this isn’t your average Cubs team. I think that Big Z comes up real big in game 2 to tie the series.

Red Sox vs. Angels

The Sox continue to dominate the halos in the post season. Surviving cancer patient Jon Lester is looking like potential ace status as he closed the door after a mildly rough 1st inning where he allowed a run to score. He pitched 7 innings and recorded 7 K’s, then rookie Justin Masterson pitched the 8th and closer Jonathan Papelbon struck out 3 of the 4 he faced to get the save. Big night at the bat came from rookie Jacoby Ellsbury (3 hits, 2 SB and a great diving catch in the 8th), and Jason Bay (aquired in the Manny Ramirez trade at the deadline) who hit the game winner, a HR to LF. One other key note was Vlad Guerrero’s base running blunder in the 8th. Vlad was on 1B when a bloop single was hit just past the diving reach of 1B Kevin Youkilis who threw out the hoppling Vlad (DH) as he, in true Angel aggressive base running style, tried to make it to 3B and was thrown out! Just about killing any chance of an Angel rally. It’s hard to say if it was just a bad base running decision or a great play by Youkilis, but in reality, it was probably a little of both. Matsuzaka goes against E. Santana tomorrow night. Edge, Red Sox as Matsuzaka has been lights out on the road this year and has walked fewer batters of late.

Rays vs. White Sox Game 1 Tonight

Shields pitches against Vasquez tonight in game one. Edge goes to the Rays due to the pitching match up and the exhaustion factor the Sox have to be facing with those two extra and stress filled games played against the Tigers and Twins just to make it to the ALDS. Focus on the Rays pitching to outduel the White Sox and Griffey Jr. to shine in the first playoff series he’s been in for quite some time. Other players to watch in this series are the rookies Evan Longoria, the Rays 3B and Alexei Ramirez, middle infielder for the Soxwhose grand slam against the Tigers got them to the duel against the Twins. My pick in this series is the Rays. The fairytale will continue…

I like both teams here, but I have to pick one. I’m not impressed with either team’s bullpen and I have to give the edge to the Brewers with their starting pitching, especially if Gallardo can pitch like he did last year. Catching, 1B, SS and 3B are just about even, but the Phillieshave the edge at 2B and closer. The Brewers have the edge in the OF corners especially if Burrell doesn’t play due to injury. Cameron, Braun & Hart beat out Burrell, Victorino and whoever the Phils put out in RF (Jenkins, Werth, etc.). After the dust settles, this one might just go 5 games. They are both good teams. Whoever gets hot & stays hot will win.

LA Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs

The Cubshave a lot more fire power even with the Dodger’s newest LF, Manny Ramirez. I don’t think he will be enough, but the wild card here is Joe Torre. I’ve seen him enough times to know that you just can’t count one of his teams out too soon. He just gets the most out of his players. LA is a perfect fit for him! This should be another good series, going 4 or 5 games unless the Dodger’s bats go missing, which is a possibility. They do own the worst record of all of the 8 teams in this year’s playoffs. Cubs advance due to an overpowering offense.

Boston Red Sox vs. LA Angels of Anaheim

The Red Sox have dominated the Angels in the past 9 playoff appearences although the Angels had key players hurt last year. What happened in the regular season is almost insignificant. What does matter is the addittion of Teixiera and Hunter in the Angels line up this year. Also a concern is the ability of the Sox injured to play up to par. Lowell‘s hip is a huge concern and Drew‘s back could loose some punch in the line up, but they can survive that and add speed with an OF of Bay, Crisp & Ellsbury (The Human Sparkplug) The Sox youth movement up the middle at 2B and SS (Pedroia and Lowrie) have an advantage over the Angels, but the biggest concern is with Beckett and his oblique. If he is hindered, the Sox could survive this series, but if they were to continue into the ALCS, it would be a major concern against either the White Sox or the Rays. Either way, I like Boston‘s starting pitching over the Angels, but LA has the better bullpen all around. I still like the Sox to advance though.

Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay Rays

I think this is Tampa Bay‘s year to shine! I just think that the extra two games played the past two days are going to hurt Chicago although an all Chicago World Series would be great baseball! Just don’t hold your breath. The Rayshas the pitching strength of the 2005 White Sox, and a solid deffense behind them and without Quentin, the Sox have a less firepower than they had in the regular season. The only question that remains is how many Raysfans will turn out in Tampa in these games? I would like to see Griffey Jr. go deep into the playoffs, but I just don’t see it happening this year!

Now, if the games were only on another station. The announcers last year were painfully bad, but I did enjoy Eckersley & Ripken after the Sox and Twins game last night. Eck’s colorful baseball lingo is a breath of fresh air if you can keep up with him, that is.