I've got a Manny-traded-to-the-Dodgers headache

August 2, 12:11 PMSports ExaminerPaula Duffy

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Tommy Lasorda, out of Dodger Blue, greets the newest team member

It's the morning after the big debut out here in So Cal of Manny being West Coast-Dodger Blue Manny. And when I say blue, I mean the biggest blue lens shades this side of Flavor Flav.

His first day as a Dodger was mostly about media and personal grooming.  Anything related to Manny passed for sports news in Los Angeles: he agreed (agreed?) to cut his hair; he couldn't decide what uniform number to take; he  had a 13 minute press conference with 200 journalists in attendance.

Oh yeah, and then there was the game. Joe Torre lost his mind by putting Andruw Jones into the lineup in center field next to Manny. Their inability to cut off a long double that they made into a triple might be a hint of the team's future.

I guess neither of them wanted to break a sweat or something. That combo will not work. They need someone to play half of left field as well as center with Manny out there. Or maybe the hair cut will add to his speed. Nah, don't count on it.

His every plate appearance was cause for cheering, even the ground out to short. He did go 2-4 but wiped out the potential tying run in the bottom of the ninth when he grounded into a double play. A Hollywood type day with no ending to match. The Dodgers lost their second straight game to Arizona by one run. In the midst of all this believe it or not there is a pennant race going on.

If Manny can make up for potential runs scored by Dodger opponents with his slugging percentage I'm OK for the show to be going on all the time. If not, then no matter how much the McCourts made in ticket and merchandise sales, it won't make up for being home again in October.