Manny 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.

Manny Ramirez is tentatively scheduled to play his first exhibition game of the spring on Thursday, Manager Joe Torre said. The Dodgers will face the second-place team in the Asian bracket of World Baseball Classic that day at Camelback Ranch. The Dodgers' public relations department could be confronted with a logistical nightmare accommodating the national and international media if the visiting team is Japan, which has 200 reporters covering the team.

When Dodgers Manager Joe Torre showed up early one morning this week at the team's spring-training camp, he found a player already working out. "I got to the ballpark at 10 [minutes] to six," Torre said, "and by the time I got into the weight room . . . he was already in there, sweating, in his full uniform." The player: Manny Ramirez. With his new two-year, $45-million contract now signed, Ramirez has been getting in shape for his Cactus League debut today.

As you may have heard -- several media outlets carried the story -- Manny Ramirez is back with the Dodgers. His presence doesn't just change the team's prospects, it changes the local language. As the slugger prepares to make his first spring training start today, here is a glossary of some of the Manny-isms you are sure to hear in the coming months, if you haven't already: Mannywood: The juncture of Manny and Hollywood -- part fairy tale, part farce.

One former Boston teammate blasted him, another may be joining him. Just another day in Mannyzona. Imagine if the star attraction had actually played. Manny Ramirez didn't make his much-anticipated spring-game debut Thursday because of a tight hamstring. But there were a couple of interesting topics to talk about anyway. Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon's calling Ramirez a "cancer" for one.

Once again wearing his crisp, white uniform with the blue "99" stenciled on the back, the Dodgers' Manny Ramirez finally stepped into the batter's box again in a game -- and couldn't find a pitch to hit. Ramirez walked in his first two plate appearances Friday, taking eight pitches before he even swung the bat, and then singled before leaving in the fifth inning of the Dodgers' 4-3 win over the Texas Rangers at Camelback Ranch. Three times up, three times on.

I have a problem with crazy people. I'll get to Lakers fans in a minute, but I begin with the bitter no-lifers who call Boston home. When Manny Ramirez reported for Dodgers duty he tried to explain to us why he was so happy to be out of there. He said he was "suffocating" in Boston, the city and everyone in it relentless in their over-the-top devotion to things that really don't matter.

Bat in hand, Manny Ramirez strolled into the Dodgers' clubhouse before Sunday's game, looked at the lineup card and saw he was listed to play his normal position of left field for the first time this spring. "Left field?" he said, tongue firmly in his cheek. "Are we trying?" Then he walked away and joked, "We'll get 'em tomorrow." But not with Ramirez. He pulled out of Sunday's game against the Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning after aggravating a sore hamstring in his left leg.

Once bitten, twice shy. Manny Ramirez will be kept out of the Dodgers' spring-training games for at least a week as the slugger nurses a sore left hamstring that he aggravated while playing, Manager Joe Torre said Monday. "We're just going to lay low for a while to get rid of this," Torre said before the Dodgers lost a split-squad Cactus League game to the Oakland Athletics, 10-8, at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

Doug Mientkiewicz was considered a longshot to make the Dodgers' opening-day roster when he reported late to camp as a last-minute minor league signing. He has a better chance than that, Manager Joe Torre said. Mientkiewicz looked relieved when he heard that. With five more months in the majors, the 34-year-old utilityman will have 10 years of service time, which would improve his retirement benefits.