Gibby keeps on giving, but how much will it take to keep Manny?
LOS ANGELES -- Here he came, dramatically, about two-thirds of the way through Los Angeles' swansong for 2008 Wednesday evening in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series.
That old warhorse, Kirk Gibson. Trotted out again.
You were thinking
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| Is this Manny Ramirez's last goodbye to the dreadlock-loving fans? (AP) |
As Casey Blake flied to center, Matt Kemp flied to deepest center and Nomar Garciaparra said goodbye with a harmless pop foul near the Dodgers dugout -- the clip they'll be playing in Philadelphia for years to freeze in time the moment the Phillies captured the '08 pennant -- it was clearly evident how time has changed in Dodger-land.
For one thing, Wednesday was the 20th anniversary of the Gibson shocker against Eckersley, one of the all-time great World Series moments.
And they've milked it enough in Dodger Stadium that the most amazing thing nowadays isn't that a gimpy, crippled Gibson fired a shot for the ages, but that the World Series started on Oct. 15 way back then, for crying out loud -- one solid week before this year's will start Wednesday in Tampa Bay or Boston.
The Dodgers, by the way, are investigating whether they can send Manny to the World Series and leave everyone else home.
Failing that, as they face a winter of hard decisions, owner Frank McCourt soon will learn whether Ramirez is as interested in being romanced for the long term as he was for the short term. Question No. 1 in the minds of many Manny fans is whether the Dodgers can re-sign their marquee free agent.
"It's a great sales pitch, when fans embrace a player," McCourt was saying in the early moments of the Dodgers winter while saying his goodbyes in the clubhouse late Wednesday. "It's very special. And it's up to the player to (determine) how special it is.
"These things are always much more up to the player. Of course we'd like him back."
Manny?
"I just want to go home (to Florida) and spend some time with my family," Ramirez said.
