For Dodgers' Manny Ramirez, it's been less funny, more business this spring
The Dodgers' outspoken clown is gone. In his place is a player approaching the coming season with a quiet intensity.


Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez has shown his serious side this spring training as he tries to find the form that made him an All-Star slugger. (Johnson Liu / Associated Press / March 14, 2010)



By Dylan Hernandez
April 2, 2010 | 5:20 p.m.


Bat in hand, headphones in his ears and sweat covering his face, Manny Ramirez walked across the Dodgers' clubhouse on the last day of spring training in Arizona.

The locker room was nearly empty. A clock in the middle of the room indicated it was 8:42 a.m.

Avoiding eye contact and saying nothing, Ramirez headed toward a computer in the back of the room. The gray shirt he was wearing spoke for him.

"I got 99 problems but my swing ain't one," the shirt read, a play on words in the chorus of a Jay-Z song.

Ramirez hasn't granted any substantive interviews in more than a month. He has continued to exchange pleasantries with some reporters, but has rarely said more than "No, thank you" or "No, gracias" when questioned about baseball.

Ramirez hasn't explained his quiet — not to journalists, not to teammates or coaches either. "I don't think Manny wants to be in the spotlight," third base coach Larry Bowa said. "Manny likes to play the game, go home, sleep, get up, play the game."

Manager Joe Torre offered a similar theory.

"I think he might be trying to stay in that place where he knows he needs to be to play baseball," Torre said. "I think he realizes at this point in time he has to find out where his career is. If that's the way he has to do it, that's the way he has to do it."

The Myth of Manny started to unravel last May when he was exposed as a drug cheat, suspended for 50 games and then experienced a humiliating second half of the season in which he looked nothing like the hitter who earned a dozen All-Star selections. Standing in the eye of a storm of controversy, Ramirez hit .255 with 10 home runs and 34 runs batted in over his last 68 games.

His performance was so substandard that when he predicted on the first day of camp that this season would be his last with the Dodgers, it came off like a face-saving gesture in anticipation of a decision the club would likely make for him next winter.

Ramirez turns 38 next month, and his two-year, $45-million contract expires at the end of the season.

No doubt aware that there were no serious bidders for his services outside of the Dodgers the last time he was a free agent — in the winter of 2008-09, when he was a year younger and coming off a spectacular half-season in L.A. — Ramirez also said this season could be his last in baseball, period.

However, there is no trace of compromise in his actions, according to his coaches and teammates.

The Ramirez they portray isn't the self-absorbed clown in dreadlocks who stole headlines on the day he reported to camp and then went on a three-game exhibition tour in Taiwan last month against management's wishes in order to collect $170,000 in appearance fees.

"He's been far more focused this spring," General Manager Ned Colletti said. "I sense a different determination and approach."

Colletti said that's the impression he got from listening to Ramirez in private conversations. Others said they got the same impression from watching him practice.

"His work is impeccable," said Jeff Pentland, a hitting coach who works closely with Ramirez.

Pentland said Ramirez trained on off-days and was often at Camelback Ranch earlier than Pentland was this spring (the coach usually arrived about 6 a.m.), at least two hours before most of his teammates.

Those extra hours were spent in the weight room, out on the practice fields running or in the video room studying.

"He watches a lot of his swings from over the years," Pentland said. "He's very meticulous about the things he does."

By the time most of the team started to file into the clubhouse, Ramirez was in the batting cages, usually accompanied by Pentland and hitting coach Don Mattingly. But sometimes he would be there with only utilityman Ronnie Belliard.

"We watch each other hit off the tee, and we learn from each other," Belliard said. "He gives me advice, and I give him advice."

Pentland was mostly an observer whose role was limited to helping Ramirez with soft-toss drills.

"He's very, very smart about his business," Pentland said.

Garret Anderson, a three-time All-Star and 16-year veteran in his first spring with the Dodgers, said he noticed that Ramirez was extremely disciplined during batting practice.

"He makes sure he's not taking swings he doesn't take in the game," Anderson said.

Anderson wasn't surprised when he saw firsthand how dedicated Ramirez is to his craft.

"You can't sustain that kind of level of play for as long as he has without working. You can't do it," Anderson said. "To play into your mid-30s, you have to take care of your body, you have to work at it."

The result of the work was a Ramirez whom both Pentland and Mattingly described as being better balanced at the plate this spring.

"I've seen a guy who knows what he needs to do," Torre said. "He came here knowing what he had to do and worked on it before he got here as far as the mechanics were concerned. He's going to be a productive hitter."

Leadoff batter Rafael Furcal said he has no doubt Ramirez will hit .300 and drive in 100 runs.

Pentland offered this story from his days as a hitting coach with the Seattle Mariners as a warning to opponents:

"We'd come in and he'd be swinging terrible," Pentland said of Ramirez. "Pitchers would be bragging how they got him out. The next series, they couldn't get him out.

"So he's very good at adjusting and adapting to a situation. I think that's what you're going to see."

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

Percentage down slightly from last year

Associated Press
NEW YORK -- The percentage of Major League Baseball players born outside the 50 states dipped slightly from last year.

It was 27.7 percent at the start of this season, down from 28 percent on Opening Day in 2009.

The commissioner's office said Tuesday that of the 833 players on rosters at the end of Monday, 231 were born outside the 50 states. That was down from a high of 29.2 percent in 2005.

The Dominican Republic leads with 86 players in the majors. That's five more than last year but two fewer than in 2008 and down 12 from 2007. Venezuela was next with 58, an increase of six from last year.

Puerto Rico was third with 21, a decrease of seven, followed by Japan (14), Canada (13), Mexico (12), Cuba (seven), Panama (five), Australia (four), Taiwan (three) and Colombia, Curacao, South Korea and Nicaragua (two each).

The New York Mets had the most foreign-born players for the fourth time in five years and had a record high of 18, including natives of Canada, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

The Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers have 10 apiece.

There were 3,370 of 7,026 minor leaguers born outside the 50 states, with the percentage increasing to 48.0 from 47.8 last year.

Fat lazy amrican youngsters do not want to compete in sports so much now. Must be all the junk food!
S.

Actualizado: 3 de mayo de 2010, 20:25 EDT
Tres latinos entre los jugadores del mes
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AP

Jiménez

Liriano

Canó

NUEVA YORK -- El béisbol de Grandes Ligas designó el lunes a tres dominicanos entre los cuatro mejores peloteros de abril, al premiar a los lanzadores Ubaldo Jiménez, de los Rockies de Colorado, Francisco Liriano, de los Mellizos de Minnesota, y al segunda base de los Yankees de Nueva York, Robinson Canó.

La MLB declaró a Jiménez, que terminó abril con foja perfecta de 5-0 y lanzó el primer partido sin hit de la temporada, el lanzador del mes de la Liga Nacional, en la que el segunda base Kelly Johnson, de los Diamondbacks de Arizona, fue nombrado jugador del mes.

Liriano y Canó, en tanto, se llevaron los premios correspondientes de la Liga Americana.

Canó, de 27 años, logró el mejor promedio de bateo de las mayores, con .400, al irse de 85-34 en 22 partidos de abril. Pegó cinco dobles, un triple, ocho cuadrangulares, anotó 21 carreras y remolcó 18. Sólo otros tres Yankees han logrado el mismo promedio en abril desde 1961: Clete Boyer (1962), Willie Randolph (1976) y Paul O'Neill (1994 y 1996).

Liriano terminó abril con foja de 3-0 en cuatro aperturas y sólo permitió tres carreras limpias y 18 imparables en 29 entradas. El zurdo nativo de San Cristóbal, de 26 años, terminó con una efectividad de 0.93 y fue el único lanzador de la Liga Americana que en abril tuvo menos de 1.00. Además, no concedió jonrones para continuar una racha de 38,1 entradas sin cuadrangulares que inició en septiembre del 2009.

Jiménez terminó el mes con apenas tres carreras limpias en su contra y una efectividad de 0.79 en 34,1 entradas. Sólo Mike Pelfrey, de los Mets, logró mejor efectividad en las mayores. El dominicano ponchó a 31 y dejó a sus rivales en un promedio de bateo de .186.
By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

05/03/10 6:44 PM ET

Getting off to a good start is preached about often in the Major Leagues.

And no one did that better in the American League this year than Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano and Twins starter Francisco Liriano, who were named the AL Player and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, on Monday.

In a star-studded infield that features the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira, it was Cano who stood out thanks to his eight homers, 18 RBIs, 21 runs scored and Major League-best .400 batting average in April.

Liriano, meanwhile, has looked like the Liriano of 2006. The 26-year-old left-hander, who went into Spring Training competing for the fifth-starter spot in the Twins' rotation, finished the opening month 3-0, with an ultra-slim 0.93 ERA.

Liriano finished April as the only AL starter with a sub-1.00 ERA. During his final start of the month, against a high-powered Tigers offense, he struck out a season-high 10 while hurling a masterful eight shutout innings, prompting opposing manager Jim Leyland to say, "That's the best I've seen him for quite a while. He looks like he's obviously back to where he was."

Liriano also had a 23-inning scoreless streak -- second only to Johan Santana (2004) since 1993 for Minnesota -- and didn't allow a single home run. He finished surrendering just three earned runs on 18 hits in 29 innings.

Cano, meanwhile, became one of just four Yankees in the expansion era (since 1961) to bat .400 in April through a minimum of 50 plate appearances, joining Clete Boyer ('62), Willie Randolph ('76) and Paul O'Neill ('94 and '96).

The 27-year-old reached base safely in 21 of his 22 April games, notched 11 multihit games -- including a four-hit performance against the Angels on April 24 -- and added four multi-RBI games. He became just the second AL player to record a .400 batting average with eight home runs for the month since the expansion era, joining Manny Ramirez (2001).

Cano was also named Player of the Month in September 2006.

"It feels good -- not because I'm having a great season but because the team is winning," Cano, now batting .387 with nine homers through 24 games for the 16-8 Yankees, said recently. "I get on base for my teammates. What matters here is just winning games."

The runner-up for Player of the Month was Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who batted .344 with eight homers and a Major League-leading 25 RBIs for April. Finishing in second for Pitcher of the Month was Rays starter Matt Garza, who went 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA.

Originally Published: May 7, 2010

Robinson Cano swinging a 'magic wand'
Yankees' second baseman flourishing in his new role in 2010 as the team's No. 5 hitter

By Jerry Crasnick

Ask Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter for a breakdown of Robinson Cano's strengths at the plate, and he immediately cites his teammate's knack for hitting the ball to the opposite field. Given Jeter's pedigree as an inside-out swinger, that's the baseball equivalent of Usain Bolt saying, "Hey kid, nice wheels.''

"You can teach someone to pull the ball,'' Jeter says. "It's tough to teach someone to hit the ball the other way, and Robby's always been able to do it. That makes it tough to pitch to him.''

First baseman Mark Teixeira takes a longer-range view in assessing Cano's game. Scouts like to talk about prospects they can "dream on.'' But even the most established players have some fan in them, and they speak with a certain Christmas morning exuberance when they see a young peer blessed with exceptional skills (see: Heyward, Jason).

"I told Robby, 'I've played with a lot of great players. I've played with A-Rod and Chipper Jones and Vlad Guerrero, and you have a chance to be the best. Keep working hard and getting better, and in 15 years we're going to be talking about you like they talk about those guys,''' Teixeira says.

Listen to those sentiments, and they help substantiate the notion that Cano is about to graduate from very good player to another realm. If his fellow Yankees gawk when he takes an impossibly difficult pitch and shoots it to the gap or beyond, what on earth must opposing pitchers be thinking?

As the Yankees prepare to begin a three-game series against Boston at Fenway Park on Friday night, there's a sense in the clubhouse and among the men taking notes in the scouts' section that New York's second baseman is taking his game to a different level at age 27.

Cano was hotter than an Icelandic volcano in April. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he became the first player in Yankees history to hit .400 with eight home runs in the opening month. The last major leaguer to achieve the feat was San Francisco's Barry Bonds, who hit .472 with 10 homers in April 2004.

Cano ranks among the American League leaders in almost every major offensive category, and he's doing it against lefties and righties, fastballs, curves and everything in between. The only things he hasn't done yet are pound the ball at Yankee Stadium, where he's hitting .261, and draw walks: He has only eight bases on balls in 116 plate appearances.

After Cano went 8-for-13 in a recent three-game series in Baltimore, a National League scout observed that "he might be the best hitter in the game right now.'' Orioles color analyst Jim Palmer even mentioned Cano in the same sentence with Ichiro Suzuki, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs and George Brett -- fellow lefty hitters who've combined for 16 batting titles.

"He's got the magic wand,'' Palmer said during a broadcast.

[+] Enlarge
Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
Robinson Cano leads the Yankees in batting average (.362), home runs (nine) and RBIs (21).
The high point came on April 15, Jackie Robinson Day, when Cano honored his namesake with two home runs to lead the Yankees to a 6-2 victory over the Angels.

The low point? Well, he is hitting a mere .200 (4-for-20) in five games in May.

"I've always thought the world of Robby,'' Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long says. "There have been stretches at times where his discipline has gone to the wayside, and he needs a little kick in the butt and he needs direction. But the main thing with Robby is giving him something to focus on. Don't let him just go up to the plate without a game plan.

"There was a time where you wondered, 'Will he ever figure out the strike zone?' But that's not acceptable to me or to him. He's got to learn how to do that. And if he does, that magic wand turns into a powerful wand because of the strength and the size he has.''

If Cano has indeed elevated his game, it's just another step in an arduous growth curve. Former Yankees manager Joe Torre tossed out comparisons to Carew in 2005, and Torre's successor, Joe Girardi, benched Cano in 2008 for a lack of hustle. On his worst days, Cano has been called unfocused and lackadaisical, but he's made major strides to improve his defense, plate discipline and physical strength through work in the weight room. After a lengthy apprenticeship in the bottom third of the Yankees' order, he replaced Hideki Matsui as Alex Rodriguez's protector in the No. 5 hole this season.

Hard work, maturity and the glow from the New York spotlight helped mold Cano into the player he is today. Long before that, designer genes and an ability to adapt helped chart his course in life.

A born ballplayer
Cano grew up in the Dominican Republic in the town of San Pedro de Macoris, the "cradle of shortstops.'' His father, Jose, spent two decades as a professional pitcher in Mexico, Taiwan and the U.S., and made six appearances with the Houston Astros in 1989. Jose threw his fastball in the mid-90s, and passed along the strong arm to his boy. He urged his son to pursue a career as a pitcher, but young Robinson was always more interested in swinging the bat.

As a teenager, Cano spent three years living in New Jersey with his mother, Claribel Mercedes, who had a sister based in Newark. Claribel and Jose were married at the time, although they eventually divorced.

"Newark was the No. 1 town for stealing cars back then,'' Cano says. "You'd see the guys on the street, and it was bad. But you know what? I really liked it. I had fun, I went to school and learned English, and I met some really nice people.''

“
You can teach someone to pull the ball. It's tough to teach someone to hit the ball the other way, and Robby's always been able to do it. That makes it tough to pitch to him.
”

-- Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter
on teammate Robinson Cano

Cano kept quiet, stayed out of trouble and watched enough Yankees games to adopt center fielder Bernie Williams as his personal baseball hero.

When Cano returned to the Dominican to finish high school, Yankees scout Victor Mata continued to monitor him, and the team signed him in 2001 for a bonus in the $100,000 to $150,000 range. Cano was regarded as a very good but hardly transcendent prospect: During one stretch in the minors, he hit .276 for Staten Island, .276 in Greensboro and .276 for Tampa in the Florida State League. He finally got off the treadmill and hit .280 with Double-A Trenton in 2003.

Mark Newman, the Yankees' senior vice president of baseball operations, says the team didn't receive many "hits'' on Cano in trade discussions through the years. When Baseball America ranked the Yankees' top prospects in 2005, Cano was No. 2 behind third baseman Eric Duncan.

"He kept improving as a hitter and always looked like a hitter,'' Newman says. "But people didn't buy into him a lot when he was a young player, probably because he wasn't a plus-plus runner. I never quite understood it.

"I remember Joe Torre saying, 'This guy is going to win a batting championship.' If Robby swings at good pitches, I think he'll win one. He can hit .350 or .360 with 30 home runs because his swing is so good. One thing about Robby is, he can hit any pitch. It's like when people called Yogi Berra a bad-ball hitter and he said, 'They don't look bad to me.' That's about the way Robby is, too.''

Turning points
Cano can reflect on two watershed moments in his tenure with the Yankees. The first came early in his rookie year. He went 2-for-23 in his first seven games, and the manager summoned him for a chat.

"Mr. Torre said, 'Come here, sit down,''' Cano recalls. "I said, 'Am I getting sent down?' He said, 'No, don't worry about it. Keep swinging good and they're going to start falling.' That's when I started doing good.''

Cano went on a 13-for-22 tear after that little exchange, and he was on his way.

He learned an even more enduring lesson in September 2008, when Girardi benched him for lollygagging after a ball in short right field against Tampa Bay. Cano, seven months removed from signing a $30 million contract extension, needed someone new to prod him after third-base coach Larry Bowa left the Yankees to join Torre in Los Angeles. To his credit, Cano took responsibility for the incident and learned from it.

"Joe said I wasn't playing hard,'' Cano says. "I made a mistake and I paid for it. I'm human. I'm not perfect. That was a bad year. It just happened.''


Robinson Cano
#24 2B
New York Yankees
2010 STATS
GM
27
HR
9
RBI
21
R
23
OBP
.405
AVG
.362
Cano has sleepy eyes, a ready smile and a relaxed demeanor that can be confused with a lack of passion at times. But his love for baseball is ever-present. Several hours before a recent game at Camden Yards, he ducked down to the indoor batting cage for some early hitting, then returned to the clubhouse and plopped in front of a laptop to dissect some recent at-bats. Shortly thereafter, he could be seen dribbling a miniature basketball between his legs in the clubhouse.

A little later, as Cano did an interview at his locker stall, Jeter playfully cuffed him on the side of the head, big brother style.

"Qué pasa?'' Cano said, his voice rising in agitation.

"I've been habla-ing bueno about you,'' Jeter replied. "But I can change that.''

What's not to like? If baseball people have stopped comparing Cano to Rod Carew, it's partly because he hits the ball with a lot more thump. Carew topped out at 14 homers a season, and Cano, big by second basemen's standards at 6-foot, 205 pounds, slugged 25 last season. He might reach 30 this year.

It's also worth noting that Cano has 899 hits at second base since his major league debut in May 2005. Philadelphia's Chase Utley ranks second at the position with 875 hits in that span.

"I hate it when they always try to say someone is the next somebody else,'' Jeter says. "Just let him be who he is. Why does he have to be Rod Carew? There's only one Rod Carew. Let Robby be Robby.''

To which the Yankees say, "Amen.''

Jerry Crasnick is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Click here to purchase a copy of his book, "License To Deal," published by Rodale. Crasnick can be reached via e-mail.

The "outspoken clown" is not going to be quiet for long.......it's not his nature.

Maniac Ramirez


Manny ramirez reports to Dodger spring trainig in Glendale, Arizona facility for the Sportsminded Insane


Maniac Ramirez, this is the man who turned Beantown into Madmen by slumping, then scoring, then faking injuries from cancer to leprosy. Finally the RedSox nation received a reprieve and the Washington Heights, NY nutjob moved on to punish a man who had survived the Steinbrenners.

Yes, Saint Joseph Torre who has survived real cancer and three Steinbreeners received the blessed advent of Ramirez the Maniac as the pretty new LA Dodger skipper:

Torre said that he had never before been called pretty but he could only agree with the psychiatric evaluation of a certain dreaded and dreadlocked lunatic:

"Remember, I managed A-Fraud after he was A-Roid and that was while being zookeeper at the world famous zoological park in the Bronx that Ruth built and a cavalcade of psychos have tried to tear down! I guess the Steingrabber twins have finally manged that one...but I'm in LA soaking uop the sun and the skin cancer and trying to keep a maniac in his team jacket, straight that is..."

Welcome back Blutarsky, some of us missed you.