If fans in Section 51 somehow understand how much shame Ramirez has imprinted on the game, then there’s a better understanding. Instead of gratitude, people who care about the Dodgers should be booing Ramirez, not welcoming the deceitful left-fielder home with warmth receptions, long standing ovations, and advertisements of Mannywood. By any means, all of this is just absurd nonsense, and I never could understand the point of a proud crowd embracing someone of wrongdoing.
He committed the most heinous crime, and hasn’t even won a World Series with the Dodgers. You swear the fans are cheering on the purest hitter in baseball who just bolstered them to new heights and title chances. Because the population in Los Angeles is too inattentive and forgetful to face the truth, Ramirez can get a free pass of his gruesome crimes. Perhaps I can remind everyone that he used a fertility drug that produced artificial testosterone, and from there humiliated himself, tarnishing and corrupting a legacy that is now tattered.
A crippled legacy isn’t the way Dodgers fans described it on Thursday night, selling out Dodger Stadium to come see the fraudulent Ramirez for the first time since the 50-game suspension. On the first night back in his friendly environment, fans wear dreadlocks, No. 99 jerseys, and cheered each time he stepped into the batter's box. So, this means fans are condoning doping, careless of how it has ruined the game and integrity of baseball? Either way they look at this foolish ordeal, Ramirez’s legacy has diminished and just because he receives cheers from a heedless crowd doesn’t mean he gets off of violating baseball’s drug policy.
But Ramirez should have being evicted, not anointed for using banned substance. I have a problem with fans anointing him as if he’s innocent of his erroneous juice bust. If anything, it should have urged fans to take it to greater measures, by ignoring his cartoonish antics and refusing to purchase any merchandise. Theory is fans persist on alleviating Ramirez with essential accolades for two reasons: First and foremost, once the season closes, he will become a free-agent. And secondly, as long as he is producing and the Dodgers win enough games to absorb a large fan base and potential appearance to the World Series, fans will worship him and ignore the fact the he ever used performance-enhancers.
For much of the night, fans in the outfield sections blew kisses, hoisted signs, and ridiculously chanted Ramirez’s name. The Dodgers have currently reopened Mannywood, a campaign and sections in the Dodgers Stadium that should have stayed removed from the amiable crowd who erupted into frenzies and tried to inveigle him to toss the ball into the stands. One reason the Dodgers decided to reopen Mannywood was to maintain high results in marketing. Another reason was to appease and entice Ramirez to remain in Dodgers blue.
Why, when the Dodgers were fine without Ramirez, and still managed to produce runs and hits?
Why, when images and distractions affected the organization a bit?
And why, after Ramirez mislead owner Frank McCourt, who was irritable of learning that he used something to produce performance level?
Courtesy of fans whose pesky phone calls annoyed management and tempted the organization to renew Mannywood. Still, fans believe he’s the reason they have turned into a legitimate contender, and could possibly even win their first World Series title in 21 years. Good guess, but Ramirez isn’t the cure of the Dodgers. Sure, he takes pressure off of teammates such as Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. Sure, they can amass more runs and hit much efficiently with Ramirez back in the lineup. And sure, he can drill homers to ignite the crowd.
But he can never repossess creditability, unless there are naïve fans. And shamefully there are. But he will be praised for hitting .352 with nine home runs and 29 RBI.
While Ramirez served his time, the Dodgers didn’t miss him at all. They went 29-21 and remained atop the National League, while Ramirez was in the proverbial slammer, and portrayed as the biggest doper in baseball. It is definitely the biggest scandal and the wildest fans have ever supported a player convicted of fraud.
Sadly, the fans will never face the truth. And as it seems, the fans are the ones with egregious antics.
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