Manny Ramirez signing could spice up Angels-Rangers rivalry

The Angels had their share of battles with — and laughs at the expense of — Manny Ramirez when he played for the Boston Red Sox and Dodgers, and they could get another dose of the enigmatic and always entertaining slugger this summer after he signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers on Wednesday.

“He’s actually one of my favorite hitters to watch,” Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick said. “He stayed through the middle a lot, stayed on breaking balls, he was a great hitter. He’s the same type of guy Miguel Cabrera is today, a guy you want to watch even if you’re playing against him.”

Ramirez, who was playing in Taiwan, is 41 now, but Angels Manager Mike Scioscia recently watched video of him and said, “He has the same swing he had when he was 30.”

Ramirez, who twice tested positive for using banned substances and served a 50-game suspension with the Dodgers in 2009, will report to triple-A Round Rock Thursday and could join the Rangers after the All-Star break.

“I don’t think they would have signed him if they didn’t think he could help them,” Kendrick said. Will he spice up the Angels’ rivalry with the Rangers? “We’ll see,” Kendrick said. “I know he can make things very lively.”

Ramirez inflicted plenty of damage against the Angels, including his memorable three-run walk-off home run off Francisco Rodriguez in Game 2 of the 2007 American League division series, a prodigious shot that hit the giant Coke bottle above the Green Monster in Fenway Park.

And who could forget his Manny-being-Manny moment in July 2008, when he fell short on a dive for a ball in left field? Thinking he’d get to the ball quicker, Ramirez rolled over like one of those stop, drop and roll fire-escape moves and rolled on top of the ball, which was lodged between his rear end and the ground.

“It was definitely fun battling against him,” Angels ace Jered Weaver said. “He had a lot of success, and he has fun playing the game. You can’t really hate on him for that.”

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