Manny Ramirez

Think about this. For the first year, he would earn $25 million, making him the highest-paid athlete in Los Angeles and the second-highest-paid player in baseball. If he failed, the following year he still would earn $20 million. If he succeeded, he could immediately void the contract and sell himself for millions more. It was a real offer. It was written on a real contract. It was handed over during a time of real national economic distress.

Increasingly frustrated with their inability to close a deal with Manny Ramirez, the Dodgers took an unexpected turn in their negotiations with his agent, Scott Boras. They made it personal. The Dodgers took a swipe at Boras in a strongly worded news release they issued Thursday night to report that the free-agent outfielder had rejected the two-year, $45-million offer the team made Wednesday.

While the counteroffer presented by Manny Ramirez's representatives sat on the table Friday night, multiple sources in the Dodgers' organization wondered aloud how owner Frank McCourt's personal feelings toward agent Scott Boras could affect the club's pursuit of the popular outfielder.

Today in a Phoenix suburb, the Chicago Cubs' Jeff Samardzija will throw a first pitch with two lasting meanings. The Dodgers will officially join the Cactus League. Manny Ramirez will officially become a distraction. Both occurrences are certain to be hot and prickly, buffeted by a breeze that will stir up enough stuff to make your eyes water. Yeah, Manny is not even signed yet and already he owns their clubhouse, their dugout and their bleachers.

I'm b-a-a-a-ck. Was he ever. And the media were ready. So were the fans. More than a dozen television cameras were lined on the second-floor balcony where the Dodgers staged their Thursday morning news conference to re-introduce Manny Ramirez. The crowd behind Field 1 at Camelback Ranch grew to double its normal size when Ramirez took batting practice.

Because he said so. That was more or less the reason Dodgers owner Frank McCourt gave Sunday morning for refusing to consider a proposal made to him by Manny Ramirez's agent, which differed from an offer the Ramirez camp made last week only in the timing of the payments.

Hurray for Mannywood. Concluding a four-month run that was part slapstick, part soap opera, and completely surreal, the drama between the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez is finally over. The guy with the dreadlocks, pajama pants and 450-foot home runs is back. So, too, is the buzz that turned Dodger Stadium into a Manny splendored thing.

Walking by a crowd that had assembled in front of the Dodgers' clubhouse, James Loney smiled. "Where's Manny?" he asked, pretending to be searching for his teammate. "Is he here?" He wasn't. But he will be today. The Dodgers' grueling, four-month negotiation with Manny Ramirez ended Wednesday when the All-Star outfielder inked his name on a new contract that ensured that Mannywood will retain its 90012 ZIP code for at least another season.

The lead on the late ESPN "SportsCenter" Wednesday night was that the Dallas Cowboys were releasing Terrell Owens. And, oh, by the way, Manny Ramirez had reached an agreement with the Dodgers. On the KLAC-AM (570) radio show Wednesday afternoon, there was a big discussion by host Chris Myers about the quarterback controversy with the Denver Broncos. In 30 minutes of listening to a local station in the middle of the day I heard not a peep about Ramirez.

"How will Manny do this year? I think Manny will thrive." So said a woman who should know, psychologist Jean Rhodes, speaking by phone from a restaurant near Fenway Park. "Los Angeles, the way it's relaxed out there, the way people give him space, the fans . . . perfect fit." Here in L.A., where he has been charming and superlative and nothing less, we like to think we know Manny Ramirez, like to believe we have a fix on him. But honestly, we don't.