After being suspended for 50 games due to a positive performance-enhancing drug test, Manny Ramirez was quiet in his first game back. In his second outing, he got right back to business by hitting a home run.

In the top of the first inning, Ramirez hit a solo shot to put the Los Angeles Dodgers up 1-0. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, they weren’t able to hold onto the lead. The San Diego Padres tied the game in the third and went on to win by a final count of 7-4.

Ramirez finished the game 1-for-3. On the season, he’s hitting .337 with seven homers, 21 RBIs and 23 runs. His on-base percentage is .480 and his OPS is 1.123.

Even with the loss, the Dodgers have baseball’s best record at 51-30. The disappointing Padres upped their record to 35-45 with the win.

The Dodgers play the Padres again on Sunday before starting a series against the New York Mets. Ramirez is expected to keep playing left field and hitting in the three hole in the lineup.

Manny Ramirez hit a home run (Image: Zuma Press)

The Chicago White Sox had a number of slumping batters heading into Wednesday’s contest against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Six homers later, the White Sox had posted a 10-7 victory over the Dodgers.

In the first inning, Alexei Ramirez hit a homer to break the seal. In the third, Jermaine Dye went deep. Josh Fields hit a homer in the fourth. In the fifth inning, Chicago got homers from Paul Konerko, Jayson Nix and a second from Josh Fields.

On the mound, Gavin Floyd went six innings while allowing six hits, two walks and only one earned run. With the win, Floyd improved his record on the season to 5-5. Bobby Jenks pitched a hitless ninth inning to pick up his 18th save.

Despite the loss, the Dodgers still have the best record in baseball at 47-25. The White Sox, on the other hand, are in third place in the AL Central with a record of 34-37.

Josh Fields - Chicago White Sox (Image: Zuma Press)

Now that we’re into June, the MLB power rankings are starting to mean something. The meat of the MLB season is where the men are separating from the boys.

Here are our 2009 MLB power rankings as of June 1st:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
Even without the suspended Manny Ramirez, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the best team in baseball. They aren’t quite as good without Ramirez but they have a good shot to hold onto their National League leading record.

2. Texas Rangers
Are the Rangers for real? It’s difficult to tell for sure. The fact that their bats are hot isn’t the story. The real story is that their pitching finally appears to be decent, which is bad news for the rest of baseball.

3. New York Yankees
All the millions the Yankees handed out this summer appear to be paying off. Mark Teixeira is hitting well and C.C. Sabathia has become the ace. Once Alex Rodriguez really heats up, the Yankees will be tough to beat.

C.C. Sabathia seems to be worth the money (Image: Newscom)

4. Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies aren’t getting any help from their starting pitchers and their bullpen has been shaky (especially closer Brad Lidge), they have only lost four times in their last 16 games. Once their pitching becomes decent, watch out!

5. Boston Red Sox
Like the Phillies, the Red Sox are winning despite their starting pitching. However, with John Smoltz getting closer and closer to returning and a strong bullpen, Boston appears to be in good shape to make the playoffs.

Over the last few days, there’s been a lot of talk about the Vote for Manny campaign. Many baseball fans are voting for Manny Ramirez to make the 2009 All-Star Game — for various reasons. Some fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers want to see him play, while other baseball fans believe that Ramirez’s selection could force commissioner Bud Selig to make changes to the All-Star format.

Vote for Manny - Joe Torre Won't Do It (Image: Zuma Press)

However, don’t expect to see Dodgers manager Joe Torre vote for his suspended outfielder. When asked about Ramirez playing in the All-Star game, Torre had a simple retort.

Said Torre: “No. I think if you asked Manny, he’d give you the same answer.”

Torre later went on to talk about how the point of the All-Star game should be to reward the players who played the best in the first half of the baseball season.

Although Torre said that Ramirez himself wouldn’t accept a starting spot in the National League All-Star outfield, the suspended native of the Dominican Republic hasn’t addressed the issue as of yet.

After getting a feel for the 2009 baseball season, a few teams are starting to make a run up the standings. Here is a list of the hottest teams in baseball at the moment.

5) Los Angeles Dodgers
Even without Manny Ramirez, the Dodgers have the best record in baseball at 28-13. A big reason for their success is that Juan Pierre has been able to fill in for Ramirez and the Dodgers haven’t skipped a beat.

4) Detroit Tigers
The Tigers started slowly but they are now turning it around. They have won four straight games and are 12-5 at home on the season. Dontrelle Willis recently had a very good game and if he can return to form, Detroit would be dangerous.

3) Philadelphia Phillies
The reigning World Series champions are starting to get back into a groove. They’ve won five straight games and are now 21-16. Oddly enough, they are 8-12 at home and 13-4 on the road.

2) New York Yankees
The Yankees had three straight games with a walk-off and now with Alex Rodriguez hitting homers once again, New York is looking very good. They’ve won seven straight games and are sitting at 22-17.

1) Milwaukee Brewers
Winners of seven in a row and nine of their last ten, the Brewers are the surprise team in the NL at the moment. That said, it’ll be tough for the Brewers to hold on after they learned that Rickie Weeks is out for the season.

Can the Brewers Stay Hot without Rickie Weeks? (Image: Zuma Press)

For the first time in team history, the Los Angeles Dodgers have won their first ten home games. Their latest win was on Sunday against the San Diego Padres. After getting off to a fast start, the Dodgers were able to hang on for a 7-3 victory.

The Dodgers got three runs in the bottom of the first inning thanks to RBIs by Orlando Hudson, Andre Ethier and James Loney. On the mound, Chad Billingsley improved to 5-0 by going seven strong innings. He struck out eight batters and allowed only two earned runs. His ERA on the season is 2.21.

The San Diego Padres got solo shots from Jody Gerut and Brian Giles but that wasn’t enough to stop from lowering their season record to 11-14.

The win bettered the Dodgers record to 18-8. In their perfect 10-0 home start, they have defeated the Padres four times, the Colorado Rockies three times and the San Francisco Giants three times.

Dodger Stadium (Image: Flickr)

We knew Manny Ramirez was serious this year about wanting to be traded, based on actions and remarks like this. We also knew that the Boston Red Sox were ready to cut him loose.

At last, it’s official . . . but with a last-minute plot twist. The buzz most of the day surrounded a possible three-way deal involving the Sox, Florida Marlins, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

But as the 4pm deadline approached, it was the Los Angeles Dodgers who grabbed the $20M now-ex-Beantown slugger, with outfielder Jason Bay of the Pirates headed to Fenway.  

BIG KUDOS to reader and Sox fan extraordinaire Bacchus for the update the moment it hit the ‘Net.

And how does this Red Sox-red bleeding bloggerette feel? Meh. Manny being Manny was fun and his bat was awesome, but when a player stops playing, distracts his teammates (no doubt the team’s recent slide is attributable at least in part to the Manny drama), and just doesn’t care anymore, it’s hard to shed tears.

Not that we’re the crying type anyway. It’s hardly worth it, what with the tears freezing up as soon as they touch our skin and all.

The Los Angeles Dodgers got the heck out of Dodge. Well, technically, it’s Dodgertown. But the pun still works.

While our hardly-a-secret allegiance to the Boston Red Sox makes us darn near genetically disposed to anti-Yankee rhetoric, it doesn’t preclude us from being nice to other teams. (Unless they’re our opponents in the playoffs and/or World Series, in which case we ridicule them to the best of our abilities.)

We have a soft spot for the Dodgers because the ‘rents live in Vero Beach, home to the team’s spring training camp and thus, tailgate parties.

The Dodgers are saying sayonara to the facility, affectionately called Dodgertown, for hotter pastures in closer-to-home Phoenix. ESPN reports that a reflective Tommy Lasorda felt the weight of the memories as they said goodbye.

Now, not to ruin a moment here, but what the heck, we’re anxious to share.

In March 2007, we saw Tommy Lasorda tooling around in his golf cart before the game and even said hello. And then during the first inning, we saw him taking a nap (my parents had tipped us off to the fact that Lasorda nods off frequently during a game). The Bee’s paparazzi-style, long-lens shot didn’t catch him in the act, but here is his right after waking up . . . looking like he just woke up:

 Ah, memories.

You know we’re feeling charitable when we post a video of a game that resulted in an L for the Boston Red Sox. Maybe it’s because the game took place in Vero Beach, home of the ‘rents, on-the-spot reader Pat, and the spring training Los Angeles Dodgers.

Anyhow, this isn’t quite as impressive as that unassisted triple play we posted the other day, but Dodger Clayton Kershaw’s curveball (25s) is one of the meanest ev-ah.

Is it really dorky to admit that we this just made us think of The Who’s rock musical Tommy and that line about how he can play a “mean pinball”? (You don’t have to answer that.)

As for Kershaw, the kid isn’t even old enough to drink or gamble legally. (He’s 20).

Love is in the air this week, so here are 10 people in the sports world in need of a hug. Maybe they’ve had a rough year, maybe the public doesn’t like them, or maybe they’ve had one too many SpongeBob-made Crabby Patties–whatever the reason, Cupid made us do it.

Mike Gundy   The rant heard ’round the Internet last fall made him a target of both support and ridicule.

Trent Green   The 2007 QB for the Miami Dolphins just got canned. Ouch! This makes him the fourth consecutive quarterback on the team’s chopping block.

A-Rod   We need to qualify this one, given our Red Sox loyalty: This guy needs a hug from Yankees fans (not us) . . . he’s not exactly a crowd favorite come October. 

Joe Torre   Yeah, the former Yankee skipper landed on his feet with the LA Dodgers, but we still think the Steinbrenners treated him worse than a half-blind umpire.

Bill Belichick   We don’t care what color hoodie he’s wearing, we have a soft spot for the guy. The same can’t be said for the press and public outside New England.

Latrell Sprewell   When an ex-NBA star’s home is in foreclosure and his yacht is sold at auction, you know he’s seen better days.

Barry Bonds   Imagine being the Homerun King and being regarded as a bum rather than a hero? He made his own bed, but boy . . . we wouldn’t want to be Barry.

Roger Clemens   Sure, we’ve had a blast poking fun at him, but did you ever stop and think . . . what if he’s not guilty?

Braydon Coburn   This defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers is sidelined with a torn buttock artery. Need we say more?

And finally, ESPN anchor and YouTube sensation Chris Berman, who’s had some bad days at the office lately (1m, 22s, adult language):