JT the Brick

Welcome once again to the Dead Zone of sports. That void between the end of the NBA season and the beginning of NFL is always hard to take.

But don't fret. I'm here to help get through this trying time when most members of the media take an extended summer vacation, wave a white towel or get lazy with their sports coverage. This is the two to three weeks where you will hear topics on the radio such as "What was your all time favorite sports memory?", or "Which city has the best sports fans?”. It tends to get slow this time of year, but in recent years several high profile athletes either found trouble with the law or just made personal mistakes that propelled them into the headlines.

I reside in LA and can't wait for the return of Manny Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. The only problem is that Manny has yet to apologize to you or the several million Dodgers fans that help pay his salary. I am one of the few members of the media who wants to see him squirm and apologize before he takes the field in San Diego.

It’s been bizarre to watch one of the greatest power hitters in baseball history tour the minor leagues this week like a circus clown who has gone through a few costume changes. He was forced to play in Albuquerque while wearing a silly cap and the word "Isotopes" across his chest. He then had to perform on the small stage at "The Diamond" in San Bernardino for the Inland Empire 66ers with his extra long locks blowing in the intense heat. Typically, this would be the most embarrassing moment for any player accused of taking performance enhancing drugs let alone a man who was once a lock to gain entrance to the Hall of Fame.

Before he was banned for 50 games this past May 7, Ramirez was an L.A. sports god who could do no wrong. Since his banishment from Major League Baseball, he has taken his suspension in stride with his typical "Manny being Manny" attitude. He has signed a few autographs to some lucky fans. From what I've herd and read, he didn't apologize to any of the fans that he met in Albuquerque and the Inland Empire. I guess he only believes that he needed to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mr. Torre and his teammates while serving his 50-game suspension because they include the person who pays him, manages him and the guys that he works with.

Haven't we learned that one of the perks of living and working in America if that when anyone makes a critical mistake that a sincere apology is the best and quickest away to put the mistake in the rear view mirror? Especially in baseball, where several cheaters have been caught with their hands in the "enhancer jar," but were smart enough to apologize and move past their baseball transgression.

Jason Giambi, Andy Pettite, Miguel Tejada and Alex Rodriguez eventually got the correct advice and admitted to their mistakes. Others such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro have either fallen silent because of their impending legal issues or just disappeared from society in the hopes that this topic would eventually go away.

I'm very interested to see how Manny Ramirez handles the media and fan scrutiny that awaits him in the next few weeks. Will he get booed on the road? How will he be treated by the media?

I lived in San Francisco and watched how the home fans cheered Barry Bonds as he closed in on Hank Aaron's home run record, but also witnessed how brutal opposing fans treated him on the road. Ramirez was recently as popular as Kobe Bryant in L.A. Owner Frank McCourt treated Manny like a member of his family while Ramirez returned the favor by helping turn the Dodger's merchandise stores into some of the most profitable retail outlets in the Southland.

Yet still no apology to the fans? The eyes of the baseball world will be on Chavez Ravine when Manny returns to Los Angeles and the Dodger’s lineup on July 16. That is the game when we will finally get to see how L.A. fans act while the cameras are turned on them. I expect that the majority of them will cheer Ramirez like an astronaut who just returned to Earth from a moonwalk. These same Dodger fans treated Barry Bonds like a convicted felon when he took his position in left field because he was accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Dodgers fans are currently in the midst of a postseason slump as the franchise last won a World Series in 1988. They currently have the best record in baseball, reside in the league’s worst division, and should easily cruise to the playoffs.

Joe Torre has done a masterful job of keeping his team in first place as the Dodgers have not lost more than two consecutive games to date. Still Manny Ramirez is the only shot that the Dodgers have at getting back to the World Series, and Manny understands this better than anyone who resides between Brooklyn and L.A.

Don't expect to see Manny apologize, but it would be nice if he got the right advice from his agent Scott Boras and showed sincere remorse. He needs to make a statement directly to the great Dodger fans that deserve an explanation of why he took a woman's fertility drug to enhance his performance.

I’m ready to move on, but only after some form of an apology or comment on the record.

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