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Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp and second baseman Orlando Hudson celebrate after an 11-4 victory over the Reds on Saturday. (Al Behrman / Associated Press / August 29, 2009) |
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Reporting from Cincinnati -
Manny Ramirez wanted to know something.
"Do you know the song that goes," started Ramirez, who proceeded to sing the rest of his question, " 'Pero sigo siendo el rey'?"
The line is from a ballad by Mexican ranchera singer Vicente Fernandez and translates to, "But I'm still the king."
Wonderful. More nonsense, more of what Manager Joe Torre described as an attempt by the slumping former All-Star to convince himself that he's still having fun.
But later Saturday, that forced bravado had the effect Ramirez said it would.
Ramirez hit and the Dodgers won -- the former always seems to lead to the latter, doesn't it? -- as his first-inning two-run home run put them on the path to pounding the overmatched Cincinnati Reds, 11-4, at Great American Ball Park.
Rafael Furcal, Matt Kemp and Orlando Hudson also hit home runs, as the Dodgers took advantage of an inexperienced pitching staff to score more runs than they had in any of their previous 22 games on an afternoon when Andre Ethier, Casey Blake and Russell Martin were out of the lineup.
For Ramirez, the home run was his first in 16 games and his second extra-base hit in 14 games.
Ramirez said that the confidence he has continued to express in recent weeks isn't fake.
But he acknowledged that he believes that he has no choice but to think the way he does. Thinking any other way would doom him to failure.
"You have to think positively to get positive results," he said.
He said he doesn't let his mind stray to the negative -- like how he's 37, how he's embroiled in a steroid controversy or how he was booed at Dodger Stadium a week ago.
Ramirez had a miserable night Friday, as he was one for five and left eight men on base. The bases were loaded when he struck out looking to end the game.
"But every time I was at the plate, I thought, 'I want to be in this situation,' " he said.
That part, Torre said he believed.
"He's not shying away from it," Torre said.
Whatever the results, Ramirez said he's still having fun.
Really, he insisted.
"The world continues to turn," he said. "Have fun. Life is too short. You never know when the man upstairs is going to call you."
A perspective passed down from his mother, he said.
"Do you know the song that goes," started Ramirez, who proceeded to sing the rest of his question, " 'Pero sigo siendo el rey'?"
The line is from a ballad by Mexican ranchera singer Vicente Fernandez and translates to, "But I'm still the king."
Wonderful. More nonsense, more of what Manager Joe Torre described as an attempt by the slumping former All-Star to convince himself that he's still having fun.
But later Saturday, that forced bravado had the effect Ramirez said it would.
Ramirez hit and the Dodgers won -- the former always seems to lead to the latter, doesn't it? -- as his first-inning two-run home run put them on the path to pounding the overmatched Cincinnati Reds, 11-4, at Great American Ball Park.
Rafael Furcal, Matt Kemp and Orlando Hudson also hit home runs, as the Dodgers took advantage of an inexperienced pitching staff to score more runs than they had in any of their previous 22 games on an afternoon when Andre Ethier, Casey Blake and Russell Martin were out of the lineup.
For Ramirez, the home run was his first in 16 games and his second extra-base hit in 14 games.
Ramirez said that the confidence he has continued to express in recent weeks isn't fake.
But he acknowledged that he believes that he has no choice but to think the way he does. Thinking any other way would doom him to failure.
"You have to think positively to get positive results," he said.
He said he doesn't let his mind stray to the negative -- like how he's 37, how he's embroiled in a steroid controversy or how he was booed at Dodger Stadium a week ago.
Ramirez had a miserable night Friday, as he was one for five and left eight men on base. The bases were loaded when he struck out looking to end the game.
"But every time I was at the plate, I thought, 'I want to be in this situation,' " he said.
That part, Torre said he believed.
"He's not shying away from it," Torre said.
Whatever the results, Ramirez said he's still having fun.
Really, he insisted.
"The world continues to turn," he said. "Have fun. Life is too short. You never know when the man upstairs is going to call you."
A perspective passed down from his mother, he said.
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