MANNYWOOD COMES TO ALBUQUERQUE!!!

Tonight, the legendary baseball player Manny Ramirez will don a Albuquerque Isotopes (Triple A Affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers) Uniform. He will be playing as he prepares to rejoin the Los Angeles Dodgers after his 50 game suspension.

The buzz around Manny playing here, has created a demand for tickets never seen before in Albuquerque. I went to get mine today, and the only ticket I could get for tonight is on the "Berm", which is the grassy area behind the right field wall. I'll take it.

I was able to get a ticket down the Left Field Line for tomorrow nights game though. That was a come up. Hopefully, Manny will get a few AB's and play a little Left Field, so I can get a few photos to show you.

No matter what Manny was accused of, he is still for my money, one of the best ball players today. You never know what he will do next, but you can bet it will be good.

The Albuquerque Isotopes take on the Nashville Sounds starting at 7:05 p.m.

-Beno

Readers are Leaders-Beno's Books-Bases Loaded by Kirk Radomski

Being that I am a huge baseball fan, I picked this book up on the humbug, at the public library. After perusing it for a few seconds, i saw that the author, Kirk Radomski, was actually a New York Met clubhouse attendant and that he was "deep" in the game.

After reading, Notorious C.O.P., I dove into Bases Loaded. It was a very good read, that gave me insight into the New York Mets in the mid 1980's as well as into some of my favorite players at the time (Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden).

Kirk, lays out how he began working out, and the fact that at that time, most Major Leaguers did not. In fact there was no work out equipment and the like available to players at the stadium. So as Kirk started to become a successful body builder, he began fielding questions from ball players who wanted him to prescribe workout routines and supplements, etc. His first client was Lenny Dykstra, which eventually would lead to him supplying steroids and Human Growth Hormone (HGH).

The book gives you great insight, on how MLB players and minor leaguers began taking steroids, and HGH.

Ultimately, Kirk paid a huge price, becoming a government witness to reduce his own time. However, he felt that the people that he gave up, where ones, that already had done the same to him.

If you are interested in a real quick read on MLB and the history of Steroids and HGH, I recommend this book.