Oh joy of joys, Manny Ramirez wants a second chance. Or third. Or fourth. I don’t know, I’ve sort of lost track as to how many times this guy has screwed up.

Beat writer Marc Topkin of the St. Pete Times referred to Ramirez as “disgraced” and I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment.

Manny has been disgraced and if a team signs him, he could very well disgrace Major League Baseball again.

Topkin wrote:

But as baseball’s winter meetings get under way today, Ramirez is making a bid to get back in the game, filing for reinstatement under a negotiated deal that would reduce his ban to 50 games.

The Rays are not expected to be interested this time around.

Ramirez, 39, hit just .059 (1-for-17) in five games for the Rays before the news broke, and his departure caused what appeared to be a major void in their lineup, coming a few days after 3B Evan Longoria was injured.

Grrr….the thought that this guy could get a reduced ban is infuriating. When the news broke, MLB asked via their Facebook page if you would sign Manny. My first thought was, “Hell to the no.”  Fellow Aerys Sports writer Laura Schulte, whose Texas Rangers have not been burned by Manny, said, “I think my answer would just be laughter. Lots of laughter.” The Rangers reportedly went after Manny last winter.

If there was even an inkling that the Rays would go for Round 2 with Manny, I’d probably have to laugh to keep from crying.

Until Man-Ram’s pres conference with Johnny Damon prior to the 2011 season, I had never liked the guy. But then, he said the people from Tampa were nice and I decided to give him a chance. Now, it makes me a little sick to my stomach to read what I wrote following that press conference and although I’m still head over heels for Johnny, I can’t watch the video footage of it.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

I will not be fooled by you a second time, Mr. Ramirez.

It looks like only The Onion can report on something noble that Manny has done in recent years. Trust me, you wanna click that link to learn more about Manny’s search for the underwater kingdom of Batlantis.

I have been waiting a week to say this, so please excuse the caps lock:

THE RAYS WON!!!

Final score Rays 9, White Sox 7

Unearned runs, shmunearned runs.  I will take the W any way. Dan Johnson, AKA the game’s hero, said in a post-game interview with Todd Kalas: We’re trying to find any positives we can right now.

Well Dan, your three-run shot to win the game certainly made that easier to do on Friday.

But hold on.  It’s not all sunshine and happiness for Tampa Bay.

You can forget about that Manny bobblehead.  Make sure you scroll all the way down for a list of the Rays Opening Day DH’s.  FYI: It’s bookended by Jose Canseco and Manny Ramirez.  [Rays Index]

Regarding Manny and the Hall of Fame Craig Calcaterra writes: We’ll have a better sense of what to make of Manny Ramirez some day. We have to.  Because God knows we’ve never had a good idea of what to make of him these past 18 years. [HardballTalk]

Earlier this spring Manny asked Scott Miller to “put in a good word for him.”  Following Manny’s retirement due to “an issue” with Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Progam, Miller puts in these words: Good riddance. [CBS Sports]

Some Manny related angst from a local writer. [St. Petersburg Times]

Catcher Kelly Shoppach left the Friday’s game early with a leg injury. [RotoWorld]

Manny Ramirez has announced his retirement due to a Major League Baseball drug policy “issue.” Follow this link for the story from Rays beat writer Marc Topkin.

I did not expect “Manny being Manny” to take this turn this year. My only sweet Rays memories of ManRam will be from his press conference with Johnny Damon when they announced they had joined the team.

Jeremy Hellickson will make his first start of the season for the Rays in today’s 1 p.m. game against the Angels.  The young Hellboy, who will need to help fill the hole left by the trade of Matt Garza, will try to get Tampa Bay their first win of the year.

Dan Haren will start for the Angels.  Haren allowed one run in seven innings of work against Kansas City on Friday, but got a no-decision in the 2-1 Angels loss.

Manny Ramirez, who is 1-16 on the season and was booed in last night’s 5-3 loss to LA, was scratched from today’s lineup.

Joe Smith of the St. Pete Times reports:

Manager Joe Maddon initially had DH Manny Ramirez in the lineup, but said he wanted to give him a break because he feels the veteran slugger is pressing, and trying to do too much for the struggling offense.

Turns out, Ramirez will have a two-day break, as Maddon said he will also miss Thursday’s series opener in Chicago as he has to tend to a “personal matter” linked to the one he had a few weeks ago when he missed the Rays final exhibition game.