Sure there was the occasional award-worthy performance, but it came with a lot of baggage. From the moment he stepped off the plane from Boston and into a tight National League West division race in 2008, Manny produced fantastic offensive numbers, but he left the Dodgers during a significant season-long slump in ‘10. That sort of says it all right there.

Let’s take a quick look back at how we got here.

Ramirez’s instant offense after his deadline acquisition brought an energy level to Dodgers stadium that hadn’t been seen in twenty years since the last time the Dodgers won the World Series in 1988. With this came inspiration to a young, talent-rich Dodgers team that had been waiting for a spark. This all allowed a .500 Dodgers team to overcome the defending NL West Champion Diamondbacks and win the division crown.

The 2009 season started out so promising with Jack receiving a batting practice ball from Manny Ramirez at Opening Day in San Diego. (Jason Branch)

Had it not been for a total meltdown in Game 4 of the NLCS by closer Jonathan Broxton (that, for some strange reason, Dr. Sportsfan and The Phoenix keep reminding me of), the Dodgers may have very well rode that inspiration all the way to a World Series Championship. From the moment of his arrival, the Dodgers organization built its entire marketing around Manny, even dubbing a section of left field seats “Mannywood” — and coincidentally charging outrageous prices to sit in those lousy seats and get a “Mannywood” t-shirt. The seats did not even come with bandana and dreadlocks headwear, which didn’t stop it from becoming a staple at Dodgers Stadium very quickly.

The party was seemingly just getting started in April 2009. One of my personal feel-good moments as a baseball fan came on Opening Day in 2009 when the Dodgers came to San Diego. As Manny was shagging an errant ball in the outfield during batting practice, he seemingly nodded in acknowledgment to my “Hey, Manny”, then flipped the ball high over the fence to keep it out of the reach of little kids, and into my glove. This was a definite high for me as a baseball fan as the Dodgers won the game and raced out to 21-8 record, the best record in baseball at the time.

Manny Ramirez had plenty of highs in L.A., but his time in Dodgers blue wasn’t the subject of multiple baseball pieces from CTU Sports Division just for the good times.

The first moment of drama came with the inept offseason negotiations between Manny and  the Dodgers. There were no other visible bidders for Ramirez, prompting team owner Frank McCourt to say “we are bidding against ourselves”. Despite McCourt’s statement, negotiations ultimately resulted in a highly-scrutinized two year, $45 million contract (with the second year a $20 million player option) for Ramirez. Suddenly, this spectacle looked like a small screen Sundance film.

It all came crashing down May 8, 2009: the day Manny Ramirez tested positive for steroids and would be lost for 50 games! With that, a promising 2009 campaign was instantly in jeopardy, and the integrity of a magical second-half run in 2008 suddenly came into question. Manny Ramirez’s presence was certain to not come without serious drama at some point, but this was a Hollywood-style bombshell fit for the cover of National Enquirer.

The “experts” were quick to write-off the Dodgers, but I maintained faith in the still-young Dodgers. I believed they would be just fine without Manny’s physical presence on the field and in the clubhouse, and they had already learned a lot from him. Those who know Jack Bauer know Jack Bauer’s track record of predictions…

When Manny returned, he was not the same. Maybe he was rusty after missing such extensive time, or possibly he was now playing worse off the banned substances. Either way, he was still a valuable asset who hit for a decent average and represented the only true fear factor in the lineup. And Manny still sold seats.

Even though the fans were clearly annoyed at the steroid news, they remained loyal and the energy Manny brought to Dodgers Stadium did not waver. Dodgers fans will never forget when Manny hit a grand-slam home run on “Manny Bobblehead Night” in late July 2009. Only a moment like that could’ve occurred in Mannywood.

Manny Ramirez touching home after his pinch-hit HR in late April 2010, his last great Dodgers moment.

Despite the drama, the Dodgers cruised into the postseason and advanced to the NLCS for a second straight season only to fall again to Philadelphia. After the dust settled, the sports paparazzi quickly questioned the future of the Dodgers, and the decision to bring back Manny at that steep price after a possibly tainted 2008 season. Manny quickly exercised his player option to return for $20 million in the wake of his sub-par 2009 season.

Ramirez came out of the gate sluggishly this season, partly due to poor health and an inability to stay on the field. It was clear by the end of April that Manny’s relatively short time of stardom in Hollywood was at its twilight, like many who tried to make in Hollywood before him.

The fans — once maniacally supportive — were no longer energized by Manny — even when he could play — and fan support quickly faded.  Like every fading Hollywood star, Manny did offer one attempt at a comeback, a game I had the privilege to attend in late April. He delivered a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the bottom of the eight against the hated Giants to win 2-1. This only delayed the inevitable collapse of Mannywood.

As a Dodgers fan, I was satisfied with the Dodgers’ decision to allow the Chicago White Sox to claim Manny off waivers. Even though it was the final act of the Dodgers’ fading playoff hopes, Manny had simply worn out his welcome and was clearly no longer the player he was paid expected to be. Despite the lows, I am thankful for the time he spent in Dodgers blue and memories he gave me.

At the end of it all, Ramirez’s time was just an overpriced Hollywood product — excuse me — Mannywood product.

His numbers have been outstanding in his short career. Broxton has a 76 career saves to go along with a 3.00 ERA and flirts with 100 mph on the radar gun — one of the reasons why he has an impressive 480 strikeouts in 363 1/3 innings pitched (through Thursday, August 12, 2010). Broxton just has incredible trouble getting out the boys in the red pinstripes.

Three straight years now he’s run into the Fightin’ Phillies and came out wanting. First it was the Matt Stairs home run in Game Four of the 2008 National League Championship Series. Then it was Jimmy Rollins’ walk-off double in Game Four of the 2009 NLCS. (If you’re a Phillies fan and you don’t get goosebumps watching these highlights, you’re not a Phillies fan I’d like to associate with, frankly.)

Yesterday, it was the four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth, capped by Carlos Ruiz’s game-winning double.

While last night’s heroics from the Phillies offense had to feel like salt in an open wound for the L.A. flame thrower, that blown save pales in comparison to Broxton’s NLCS appearances. Each loss came with the Dodgers set to tie the NLCS series at two apiece, and both proved fatal as the Phillies would go on to win Game Five and advance to the World Series two years in a row. You know Broxton’s thinking to himself that those two blown saves cost his team a chance at back-to-back World Series appearances.

Take solace, Broxton, because you’re not alone.

• Michael Jordan had the bad-boy Detroit Pistons
• Wilt Chamberlain had Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics
• Ted Williams (and every great Red Sox player from 1918 until 2004) had the New York Yankees
• Even your team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, couldn’t get past Joe DiMaggio and Micky Mantle’s Yankees
• Just so you know I’m playing fair, the Phillies couldn’t get past the Dodgers in the late ’70s

Even two of the greatest basketball players of all-time were snake-bitten at one point in their illustrious careers. (Of course, when Nike came up with the “Be like Mike” advertising campaign, I don’t think this is what they had in mind.)

Other than Chamberlain, each person on the above list eventually conquered their nemesis. Jordan vanquished the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals in the first of his six championship seasons, the Red Sox came back from a three-games-to-none deficit in the 2004 American League Championship Series to beat New York and end the Curse of the Bambino, the Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Yankees in a seven-game World Series in 1955, and the Phillies overcame NLCS losses in ‘77 and ‘78 with a victory in the ‘83 NLCS as well as the ‘08 and ‘09 NLCS (thanks to Broxton).

Another thing working for Broxton is his age: 26. As good as Broxton’s been –  you know, when he isn’t pitching against Philadelphia — he’s still just approaching the prime of his career. The Dodgers have a young nucleus around him in right fielder Andre Eithier (28), pitcher Chad Billingsley (26), first baseman James Loney (26), center fielder Matt Kemp (25), and ace Clayton Kershaw (22) so they should contend for a title for the next several years — even though this year is beginning to slip away from them.

The law of averages has to catch up to Broxton and the Phillies eventually. The more chances he has against Philadelphia, the more likely it will be for him to succeed. It’s just basic statistics.

As a Philly fan, I can’t help but remember the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their back-to-back losses to the Eagles in the wild card round after the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Then, after the Eagles embarrassed the Bucs during a game in the 2002 regular season, Tampa Bay came in and ruined the last Eagles game ever at Veterans Stadium by thrashing the locals in the NFC Championship Game before rolling over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. (I intentionally kept this off my above list. I hate the 2002 Buccaneers!)

So, we should be careful when celebrating the misfortunes of Broxton. One day, he might leave us Phillies fans wanting.

(Then again, maybe not!)

While I am not as much of an NBA fan, I will certainly take the Lakers thrilling defeat of the ‘Evil Empire’ of the NBA, the Boston Celtics. The Lakers aren’t quite the same to me as the Philadelphia Eagles or UCLA basketball, so you can understand why an NBA Championship could never mean as much to me as seeing the Eagles hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy or watching UCLA cut down the nets at the Final Four. (I’ll even take titles from the Los Angeles Dodgers or Flyers since they haven’t done it in my memory.)

In light of the Lakers’ revenge against the team that was once coached by Red Auerbach, the man known for lighting up a cigar when victory was in hand (hence the saying, “Close, but no cigar”), I think now is as good a time as any to reflect upon a pain that has tormented me the past 10 years and finally purge my inner sports fan’s soul of all the “Close, but no cigars” that I have endured.

2000: Flyers took a commanding 3-1 lead over the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals only to lose the next three games, compounded by the huge hit on Eric Lindros from Scott Stevens, which ended his Flyers career, in a 1-0 loss in Game 7.

2002: Eagles fell to the St. Louis Rams in a competitive and winnable NFC Championship game in which they actually led at halftime. Led by a stellar defense that was only the fourth team in NFL history to not give up more than 21 points in a game that season, this game was the only time all season the defense did so.

2003: Eagles fell in a second straight NFC Championship, 27-10, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game that was supposed to be money in the bank. After thoroughly dominating in the Bucs in the regular season, the coach Jon Gruden and the Tampa-2 defense flipped the tables on the Birds in the final game ever played in Veterans Stadium.

2004: Groundhog Day! The Eagles lost their third straight NFC Championship Game to what appeared to be an inferior Carolina Panthers team. This was the Eagles best opportunity to win it all with the New England Patriots fielding their weakest championship team. This is the toughest of all the “close, but no cigar” for me to move on from as it was the most depressing Eagles loss in my lifetime — if not in the entire 76 year history of the franchise.

2004: Lakers “Dream team” featuring four future Hall of Famers is stunned by the Pistons, who needed only five games to win the NBA Finals. Six years later, I am still in disbelief.

2005: Eagles finally reach football’s promised land after three straight near-misses but still lost to the Patriots, 24-21, in Superbowl XXXIX.

2005: UCLA Men’s Volleyball fell in the decisive fifth set of the National Championship game to rival Pepperdine at its home arena, Pauley Pavillion. I know it’s just volleyball, but this does count because I attended the game as a UCLA student.

2006: UCLA basketball lost in the National Championship game to Florida. Thankfully, I attended UCLA’s victory in the Final Four. My lone victory in championship-level games that I have attended came on the strength of a personal legendary road trip:

I left LA Saturday morning at about 6:30am for San Francisco to pick up tickets. I reached the Bay Bridge and it took two hours to cross due to traffic and weather (I discovered during the drive up that radiator was almost dead and my car nearly fried on the Bridge because it took so long to cross). I picked up the tickets and went back across the Bridge to Oakland Arena to watch UCLA battle Memphis to win the West region of the NCAA Tournament and advance to the Final Four. The game ends in a UCLA victory in one of the ugliest and physical basketball games ever played in the “Shot-clock Era”, and I drove home to San Diego after the game and “zombied” into bed about 3:30am.

• 889 miles
• 21 hours
• 13 hours straight of sleep
• UCLA victory
• Priceless.

2007: UCLA basketball returned to the Final Four, only to lose to Florida again, this time in the National Semifinals.

2008: UCLA basketball reached a third consecutive Final Four, only to lose in the National Semifinals to a Memphis team lead by the SAT wizard himself, Derrick Rose. This one really hurts because I was there, and Memphis had to vacate the entire season because of Rose. Memphis would not have won the game without Rose, and UCLA could have defeated eventual champion Kansas.

2008: Lakers fall in Game 6 to Boston in the NBA Finals.

2008: Dodgers reach the National League Championship Series but lose to the Philadelphia Phillies in five games.

2009: Eagles lose to the Arizona Cardinals in their fifth NFC Championship Game appearance of the decade. In what developed into an instant classic, the Eagles recovered from an 18-point halftime deficit and were a fourth down stand and blown pass interference call away from possible victory. For the record, I was there with Dr. Sports Fan.

2009: Dodgers fall in the NLCS in Game 5 to the Phillies for the second straight year.

2010: Flyers fall in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals to Chicago.

DEMONS OF THE PAST EXORCISED! A new decade has officially begun for me in sports with the Lakers 2010 title. May we all pray for the Eagles and UCLA Basketball so Jack of All Sports can finally attain sports nirvana!

Each week, Take Back columnists Kevin O’Connor (Dr. Sports Fan), Adio Royster (The Phoenix), and newcomer Brittany Page (Black Lung) debate a sports topic to keep from losing their minds at work.

This week’s 5-Minute Break topic: Who Is the Best Team in the National League?

Kevin:

Since I have the honors, I’ve gotta start with the defending champs. The Fightin’s got a little better on paper, and they’re currently nipping on the Dodgers’ heels for home-field throughout the playoffs. True, the team’s best pitchers from from last year (Cole Hamels & Brad Lidge) are scuttling, but the addition of Cliff Lee & his 2008 Cy Young are putting my mind at ease. (I’ll give honorable mention to the Colorado Rockies.)

Brittany:

Since I’m surrounded by idiotic Phillies fans, I will dare to be different and say the Cardinals. While Kevin states they got better on paper, that doesn’t mean anything in the real game. In the playoffs, I would love to see a Pujols/Lidge rematch and put my money on Pujols, by the way. Sure, Philly has beaten St. Louis in their season series, but I’m predicting Lidge choke in the playoffs similar to the one he had with Houston in 2005. The Cards bats will win over Philly’s pitching. Sure, Lee won the Cy Young last year, but before then, what did he do? Everyone can have a fluke year, and the Cards are getting hot as of late.

The Dodgers are great, but their inexperience will be their downfall. Now I am not an avid baseball fan — as the Padres make me want to gauge my eyes out much like Macbeth — but F*** the Phils! Except Utley because he’s hot.

P.S. Myers will choke too.

Adio:

Wow … How do I follow that paragraph of jealous hatred?  See, folks. This is what happens when you live in a city the fields the corpse of a major league ball-club.

But, I digress …

The NL comes down to two teams: Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Yes, Matt Holliday has been knocking the cover off the ball since he decided to remember how to hit a baseball (OAK stats/STL stats), and yes, the Cards have Mister Pujols — I use “Mister” out of respect — but I have two main concerns: Cardinals pitching and defense. The Cardinals rotation is NOT EVEN CLOSE to championship caliber, and the Cards have one of the worst fielding percentages of any team in the NL (STL fielding stats). Pretty sure if you’re missing two out of three needed components (offense, defense & pitching), you can’t be the best.

*POINT OF ORDER #1: “Everyone can have a fluke year.” Funny you say that, B, because Chris Carpenter’s 8-0 record after the All-Star break and Julio Lugo’s resurrected bat (LUGO B.A.) has me wondering if A-Rod’s cousin is a Cardinals nutritionist.

The other two teams are way too close to call. If the Phillies are #1, then the Dodgers are 1 ‘L’-A (get it?). Wouldn’t surprise me at all if either of these teams won. Both teams have offensive firepower from 1-8, and both teams are solid defensively — although Rafa Furcal could cough up an error at any time. The Phillies have the smallest edge (Kate Moss’s body small) because their rotation is the best in the NL. I repeat: BEST IN THE NL! Hamels, Lee and Blanton can all win playoff games in a short series with J.A. Happ or “Jamie Martinez” having more than enough ability to get one if either of the first three trip up.

The Dodgers rotation comes with one simple question: other than Chad Billingsly, who else can win a playoff game? Randy Wolf? The zombified body of Jason Schmidt? The better closer is Jonathan Broxton, who I refer to as “Johnny Bravo”, but if the starters leave games with the score 7-1 or 8-3, will Broxton even be a factor?

*POINT OF ORDER #2:  Hey, B, You think Lidge would be spooked by Pujols? That’d be nothing compared to Johnny Bravo sweating like a hooker at a Kennedy convention if he has to face Matt Stairs again. The last time these two met, Stairs destroyed a pitch that landed in Oregon somewhere … YESTERDAY! Look for Phils v. Dodgers II this year. This time … it’s for money!

K:

Sorry, B. I’ve gotta side with Adio & the rest of the Phillies fans on this one. True, Lidge looks like Rick Vaughn did for most of “Major League 2”, but he was the second coming of Mariano Rivera last year. Something tells me there’s a happy medium somewhere in between.

St. Louis doesn’t have the lineup to play with the Phils or the Dodgers (any leadoff hitter in the Gateway City?), and who can handle the Philies starting rotation? Hamels tied a post-season record with four wins. Cliff Lee has flirted with TWO no-hitters in his four nearly flawless starts in the NL, Joe Blanton has been solid — if not their best starter all year — and J.A. Happ has been a revelation. With Jamie Martinez and Pedro Moyer handling the fifth spot, Brett Myers can slide into a late-inning role for the stretch run. Remember, he was a good closer during the ’07 division championship season.

The verdict?  The Phillies have too many bullets in the chamber to not be considered the top team.

P.S. They are the DEFENDING CHAMPIONS!

B:

In the last ten games, the Cards are 9-1 while the Phillies are 6-4.

You both make arguments about pitching, but the numbers don’t lie:

PHI Pitching

Blanton  7-6  3.88 ERA
Myers  4-3  4.66 ERA
*Lee  11-9  2.72 ERA
Hamels  7-7  4.69 ERA
*Happ  9-2  2.66 ERA
Lidge  0-5  7.21 ERA, 23 saves

*Asterisks mean that I agree they have had solid years.

You both say the Phils rotation is sooo superior, but what about the Cards pitching?

STL Pitching

Carpenter  13-3  2.27 ERA
Pineiro  11-9  3.25 ERA
Wainright  14-7  2.61 ERA
Franklin  2-1  1.13 ERA

Sure Wellemeyer has 31 saves and is 7-9 with a 5.67 ERA, but he can win a few games, too.

Furthermore, Philly bats have struggled this year. Victorino is the only player batting over .300, so your Holliday argument is BS. Lugo may not be good on the field, but he is batting .298 to go along with Yadier Molina’s .296.

I still stand by the Cards.

Usually in the playoffs, you only get four pitchers anyway, right?

A:

*sigh* … I’ll defer to Kevin. I’ve already destroyed one argument today. There are only so many waves of mutilation I can inflict on someone.

K:

B, I can’t help you here, so I’ll let Lil’ Jon do the talking.

Blanton isn’t having a solid year with an ERA under four in one of the most notorious “hitter’s parks” in all of baseball!?!

WHAT!?!

The Cards do have solid pitching, but Ryan Franklin has played in Philly, too, and he was el terrible when he did play there. I’d be willing to concede the Cards pitching is not sub-standard.

OKAY!!!

Please don’t compare the two lineups. The Phillies have four, YES four guys with 25 or more home runs. That stat will soon change to four guys with 30 or more home runs. Jimmy Rollins is tearing the cover off the ball in the second half, so don’t act like he’s a hole in the lineup.

The Phillies don’t hit for average, THEY SLUG THE BALL!

With Myers set to join the set-up crew (and to spell Lidge), the best bullpen in the majors last year gets a major upgrade. Factor in that the Phillies had the best record in the NL in September in both ’07 & ’08, and I’d say the best is yet to come…

YEAH !!!

B:

The Cards have a better team average overall. Sure, you can hit the crap out of the ball and still strikeout a lot (see Sammy Sosa, Jim Thome and Ryan Howard — not once, but twice).

Arguing with you two about this topic is like arguing with former President George W. Bush on why the current war was not a good idea. You can’t tell him what’s going on in reality, but in the end, he will still live in a comfortable state of delusion.

K:

Great. I love being compared to George W. Bush.

The 2008 Dodgers’ record prior to the Manny Ramirez trade on July 31, 2008.

30-24.

That was Dodgers’ record after the arrival of Manny Ramirez (not including the postseason).

Jack will always remember when Manny tossed him that ball... or was it a syringe?

The Los Angeles Dodgers without Ramirez were an average team in a below-average division last season. This season, the Dodgers are off to a major-league-best 21-8 record. Manny certainly has been a big part of that, and he will be dearly missed. As a Dodger fan and someone who frequented many games last season in Dodger Stadium (as well as Opening Day this year in Petco Park), the contrast in the energy and attendance before and after the arrival of Manny was incredible. He was an instant fan favorite and still is, even leading the Dodgers to designate two sections in left field as “Mannywood” this season.

Fans and the Dodgers’ front office are the biggest losers of Manny’s recent positive test for performance-enhancing drugs and subsequent 50-game suspension. Dodgers Stadium is likely to see a drop-off in attendance and overall energy in the crowd without Manny in the lineup, but the 2009 version of the Dodgers, even without Manny until July 3, will be fine.

Without Manny, the Dodgers this season will be the same story as last season, an average team with a great manager in a below-average division. The difference this season is that the Dodgers will begin their campaign without Manny with a six-game cushion, rather than playing the entire first two-thirds of the season two games out of first place, as they did in 2008.

Joe Torre, the manager-extraordinaire of the Dodgers (Hank Steinbrenner, if you’re reading right now, I know you agree with me. No disrespect to Joe Girardi, but he is not Torre.) will keep the Dodgers ship sailing even without Manny. He dealt with the vicious New York media for 12 seasons, the calamity that is the Yankees’ front office, the A-Rod situation, and the Roger Clemens situation. He will, as he has been able to the past 13 seasons as a major-league manager, find a way to keep the Dodgers  together despite lacking the goofy demeanor and reliable bat that made Manny a clubhouse favorite.

Even without Ramirez, the Dodgers still have a lineup that strikes fear in the heart of the opponents. The development of the Dodgers’ young core of batters — James Loney (.276 BA, 20 RBI), Matt Kemp (.275 BA, 17 RBI), and Andre Ethier (.317 BA, 27 RBI) — has picked up where it left off after the NLCS last season. No doubt, having Ramirez in the heart of the lineup boosted the production of everyone around him, but these other three young hitters are another year older, and with that comes more poise. I don’t expect to see a significant drop-off in their production.

And in front of Loney, Kemp, and Ethier is a platoon of Rafael Furcal, Orlando Hudson, and Juan Pierre occupying the top two slots in Torre’s lineup card. Whatever combination of these three it is on a given night, the Dodgers will have a top of the order as good as anyone’s in all of Major League Baseball. At this early point in the season, Hudson, not Ramirez, is the MVP of the Dodgers, if not all of baseball, batting .342 with 17 RBI, .964 OPS, and 23 runs out of the number two spot.

I haven’t even mentioned Russell Martin yet, an All Star the last two seasons, who is off to a meager .242 start but bound to improve, and the veteran Casey Blake, who will not bat .225 the entire season. Even without Manny in the lineup, this team has eight solid pieces of lumber that can carry the load and maintain a team batting average that right now is tops in the NL at .283.

The last, and possibly most important, reason why the Dodgers will survive until July 3 without Manny: The NL West BLOWS, period. Sure, it is still early in the 2009 season, but the division’s record (not including the Dodgers) is a dismal 50-62 . The San Francisco Giants currently sit in second place at 14-13, thanks to pitching sensation Tim Lincecum and an overachieving 35-year-old catcher named Bengie Molina. The Giants have improved the past couple of seasons, but this team is still far away from contending for the NL “Worst” crown.

In third place are the San Diego Padres at 13-16, and this record is inflated by the Padres overachieving early and starting the season 9-3. The Arizona Diamondbacks are better than their 12-17 start and are likely to be the only team to challenge the Dodgers this season, with or without Manny. As for the Rockies, well they are still the Rockies after the anomaly that was their 2007 NL Champion season (Editor’s Note: Those bastards!).

The reality is that the NL West has not improved as a whole over last season when 84 wins was enough to win the division. I do not intend to downplay the addition of Manny, which was a huge boost to the Dodgers’ team and fan base, and made all the difference for the Dodgers in the postseason. But in last year’s regular season, the Dodgers were only six games over .500 during their two months with him. The Dodgers won’t continue to reach a .724 winning percentage without him, but they will still win more than half of their games between now and July 3. The Dodgers were bound to cool off anyway, given their hot start and scrappy pitching staff, which has benefitted from pitching all but four games against the aforementioned NL “Worst.”

And for those who want to push the panic button and jump ship, I remind you, Manny will be back July 3 having only missed 50 games out of a 162-game season. By choosing not to appeal the positive test and suspension, Manny will be back 28 days before the day on which he arrived last season. He’s helped to get the Dodgers off to a 21-8 start and six games clear of the second place, and will be back in time help the Dodgers make the push for the playoffs into August and September, and … possibly October?

It will be a struggle for the Dodgers in the 50 games without Manny because the schedule gets tougher with games against the AL West, NL Central and NL East (not to mention that the Dodgers’ pitching is still suspect). But the rest of their division will play these teams also, and the Dodgers are still the best team in a lousy division.

On July 3, I expect the Dodgers to still be in first place in the NL West, with a record around 46-33. I predict they will still play .500 baseball without Manny, which is exactly what they did last season. I see this team as approximately equal to last year’s squad. The improvement in the young offensive core this season makes up for the pitching, which is inferior to the 2008 staff.

As for Bill Plaschke, the L.A. Times writer who said as a panelist during Around the Horn on Thursday afternoon that Manny should never return in a Dodgers uniform, Jack “Bauer” of All Sports has this to say to Plaschke:

Do you really think the Dodgers would not bring Manny back, considering the 21-8 record with him, Dodgers Stadium’s average of 42,815 fans per game thus far in this economy, and the time spent in the offseason by the front office to bring him back? Come on Bill, you sound like Woody Paige! Manny is beloved by Dodgers fans — and will still be when he returns to the lineup — and moves merchandise. The Dodgers can’t afford to not keep him, even if they were to consider it, and need him to take the next step this season, which would be reaching the World Series.

(Do I hear any support out there for a spot on Around the Horn?)

Chavez Ravine will be Mannywood once again on July 3, and expect the Dodgers to still be in first place in the NL West when that time comes.