INSIDE BASEBALL

Manny speaks! (not about that)

This was two days before the suspension. With the Boston Red Sox headed to town, we were curious about what Manny Ramirez thought might be ailing his old pal David Ortiz.

“It’s a long season,” Ramirez said. “David is the type of player that could make his season in a month.”

The months have not been kind to Ortiz since last July 31, when the Red Sox ripped apart their dynamic duo by trading Ramirez to the Dodgers. Ortiz batted .278 last August and .244 last September, albeit after sitting out 39 games because of a wrist injury.

He batted .230 this April, with eight walks, his fewest in any month in four years. Pitchers might be challenging Ortiz more often with Ramirez gone, but Ramirez isn’t buying the theory that Ortiz is lost without him.

“[Kevin] Youkilis is hitting .400. [Jason] Bay is hitting .300,” Ramirez said. “They’ve got some pretty good players.”

In time, Ramirez insisted, Ortiz would be fine.

“Why not? He’s the best hitter on that team,” Ramirez said.

He might be the worst hitter on the Red Sox now. When they benched him Friday, he was hitting .163 in May and .208 overall. He had hit no home runs this season, in 130 at-bats.

His on-base percentage was .318, lower than that of shortstop Julio Lugo. His slugging percentage was .300, lower than that of leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Angels challenged him in three games last week, with no walks, no extra-base hits and no regrets. Ortiz was hitless in seven at-bats Thursday, six of them with runners in scoring position.

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Garret Anderson for Cooperstown?

Ramirez and Garret Anderson were born exactly one month apart, in 1972. Ramirez has 2,424 hits in 2,130 games, Anderson 2,382 hits in 2,032 games, through Friday.

Anderson could finish with 3,000 hits. The only players with 3,000 hits not elected to the Hall of Fame are ineligible (Pete Rose) or have not yet appeared on the ballot (Craig Biggio and Rafael Palmeiro).

By the end of this season, Anderson should rank among the top 100 all-time in hits, runs batted in and total bases, among the top 50 in doubles. Ramirez betters him in all those categories and already ranks in the top 20 in RBIs. Anderson’s power -- relatively light for a Hall of Fame candidate as a corner outfielder -- has tapered as he has aged. He has 272 home runs, Ramirez 533.

But, if voters suspect Ramirez’s positive drug test helps explain his unusual late-career power, the Angels’ Chone Figgins has a question for those voters.

“So how couldn’t you put a guy like Garret in the Hall of Fame?” Figgins said. “Before, I could respect Manny. And he is a great player. But now I respect what Garret has done even more.”

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Roger Clemens, in his own words

Jan. 7, 2008, at a news conference in Houston to announce his filing of a defamation suit against Brian McNamee, the trainer who testified he injected the seven-time Cy Young Award winner with performance-enhancing substances: “I don’t need the Hall of Fame to justify that I put my butt on the line and I worked my tail off.”

Tuesday, in an interview on ESPN Radio: “The Hall of Fame is the final resting place for a player. Obviously, I’d love to get in, but I don’t have any control of that. Look at the statistics. I think they speak for themselves.”

-- Bill Shaikin