Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Team

Was it the best trade Ned Colletti ever made? "I shouldn't be answering that," the Dodgers' general manager said. Certainly the deal for Manny Ramirez was a pretty good one. A minor league pitcher and a bench player for a future Hall of Fame member whose salary was being paid by the other team? Who wouldn't make that deal? Over time, however, that may pale in comparison to the first trade Colletti made as a general manager, the one that made Andre Ethier a Dodger. Come to think of it, it might be a better trade right now. At 27, Ethier is a decade younger than Ramirez.

With the score tied 2-2, Juan Pierre on third base and two out in the 10th inning, the Dodgers' Andre Ethier faced Colorado Rockies reliever Alan Embree with a chance to win the game. But Embree struck him out with a slider. Three innings later, though, Ethier lined a home run into the right-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium to give the Dodgers a 4-2 win Monday night -- his fourth walk-off hit this season.

The Dodgers announced that they would package "a limited number" of Manny Ramirez bobblehead dolls left over from last month's giveaway with a second bobblehead likeness of the slugger as part of a four-game ticket package. The second Ramirez bobblehead will be distributed to the first 50,000 spectators who attend the Sept. 16 game against Pittsburgh. It depicts Ramirez tipping his cap to the crowd after his pinch-hit grand slam July 22, the night of the first bobblehead promotion.

The doping suspension of Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez on Thursday has revived a debate that Major League Baseball undoubtedly hoped it had put behind it: Is the sport's anti-drug program finally harsh enough to deter potential dopers, or is it still too lenient? Baseball "has come a long way in the last seven years," said Dr. Gary I. Wadler, a New York sports medicine expert and a key official of the World Anti-Doping Agency. "But it's still not where it needs to be."

Hong-Chih Kuo said he wasn't sure whether he would make it back. But nearly three months removed from the night the pain in his troublesome elbow caused him to lob a couple of warmup pitches from the bullpen to the infield at Dodger Stadium, the left-handed setup man was activated from the 60-day disabled list Monday and once again was on the active major league roster. Kuo pitched a perfect eighth inning in the Dodgers' 6-1 loss to the St.

The Dodgers bolstered their bench for the final stretch of the season and perhaps the postseason by acquiring utility man Ronnie Belliard in a trade with the Washington Nationals in exchange for two minor league players. The Nationals received 22-year-old Class-A pitcher Luis Garcia and a player to be named. Belliard, 34, is expected to be at Dodger Stadium today for the first game of a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. To be eligible for postseason play, a player must be on his team's 25-man roster by tonight at 9. Players on the disabled list -- the Dodgers have six, including Hiroki Kuroda -- can be replaced by anyone on the club's 40-man roster.

This should have been the first month of the rest of Joe Torre's life. He could have treated his wife to Sunday brunch, or cheered his 13-year-old daughter at her softball game. He might have joined his fellow New York Yankees' legends for the first weekend of the new Yankee Stadium, or offered expert analysis from a broadcast booth. He should be enjoying retirement today, not managing the home team at Dodger Stadium. That was the way he planned it.

The man in the old Dodgers cap stood with his hands in his pockets. For an hour, Michael Maldonado waited, staring at the closed windows of the box office. The 51-year-old utility worker said he missed work Monday morning to be first in line. By the time the windows opened at 8 a.m., 14 people were behind him. "It's a big deal," Maldonado said.

What a difference a Manny can make. With Manny Ramirez batting third for the Dodgers, Russell Martin no longer has to concern himself about being the big bat in the lineup. Neither does Andre Ethier. And like that, the Dodgers, who were maddeningly inconsistent when it came to producing runs last season, suddenly have what might be one of the best lineups in the National League. "We're starting the season with a better offensive club than we had last year," Manager Joe Torre said.

If Manny Ramirez and Joe Torre don't return to Boston's Fenway Park with the Dodgers in the postseason, they'll have another chance next year under the 2010 schedule released Tuesday. The Dodgers are slated to play the Boston Red Sox at Fenway on June 18-20 as part of interleague play. The Dodgers also will host the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium on June 25-27, the Yankees' first visit to Chavez Ravine since 2004. Fenway, of course, was Ramirez's home during his years with the Red Sox and it was the site of memorable battles between Boston and the Torre-managed Yankees.