MANNYWOOD -- The Dodgers are finished two weeks ago, Jose Lima still standing as the team's postseason hero over the last 20 years, if it isn't for Manny Ramirez.
He not only puts the Dodgers in the playoffs, stretching the season out an additional eight games and making millions for the Parking Lot Attendant in souvenir sales and additional ticket sales, but he single-handedly makes the Dodgers relevant again.
He plays 61 games in Dodger blue, hitting .410 with 21 home runs and driving in 63 runs, and there's actually some folks in the media debating whether to bring the showman back?
The paying customers in the left-field pavilion, apparently not caring that some reporters can't get past what happened in Boston, are chanting, "Manny stay, Manny stay."
If Frank McCourt, the image-minded owner of the Dodgers who talks about winning championships while raising prices every chance he gets, doesn't throw every available dime at Ramirez, he can never again be believed.
"Ned [Colletti] and I will talk," McCourt says after the game, but when asked, isn't it a no-brainer? he says, "It's not a no-brainer to bring him back. It takes two to tango."
McCourt has proven to date to be a good tap dancer, but the tango with agent Scott Boras will be something else, Ramirez laughing when McCourt shakes his hand and says, "We'll talk soon."
"You see," Ramirez says, "that's the second time he's talked to me. The other time was the day I arrived."
Outside a group of fans are still in the stadium calling for Ramirez, so he obliges and returns to the field to wave to them. Oddly, they are not calling for Andruw Jones, although the Dodgers had no problem paying him $18 million a year.
"I want to thank the fans for their great support; I think it was a great trade," says Ramirez, and if he wants $20 to $25 million a year, how much will McCourt will have to put out after selling more tickets, earning additional cable revenue and selling more Manny Mania?
"I just want to go home [to Florida] and spend some time with my family," Ramirez says, while adding with a grin, "I want to see who is the highest bidder. Gas is up and so am I."
The Dodgers will have a 15-day window to talk exclusively with Ramirez once the World Series is over, and while McCourt ought to be knocking on his door every day loaded down with money bags, the suspicion here is McCourt will try to get away finishing second in the bidding process, later telling everyone he did what he could.
