Manny Ramirez served his 50 game suspension. He did everything that he was supposed to do. On Friday July 3rd, he returned to baseball and everything was supposed to be normal. However; he was called out on strikes twice in last night’s game on pitches that were nowhere near the strike zone. He argued after the first strikeout and was visibly disgusted after the second one where he threw his helmet and bat towards the dugout then flipped his elbow guard in the direction of home plate umpire John Hirschbeck.

Ramirez was ejected and although he played it off like it was no big deal because he was leaving after the 5th inning anyways, it is a big deal because it appeared as if Hirschbeck had a vendetta against Ramirez. Hirschbeck is a seasoned umpire and has a lot of experience, he is a good umpire and making two calls like this against one player makes it appear like he had a personal agenda.

I’m not ready to call out Major League Baseball and suspect them of a conspiracy until the Dodgers play a couple more games. I’ll assume that this was just Hirschbeck’s way of saying that he is still angry at Mann for cheating, but if Ramirez keeps getting this kind of treatment in the next few games, we will have to wonder what is going on in the front office of the MLB.

If this continues, I believe that Bud Selig feels like Ramirez did not get the negative treatment upon returning that A-Rod and other players have gotten so Selig feels that Ramirez should get some harsh treatment from the men behind the plate.