Thank You, Jon Weisman

After reading another couple stories in the L.A. Times about how Manny is a cheater, and how the fans are idiots if they choose to cheer him (Kurt Streeter, and surprise surprise, Bill Plaschke's 2nd article on the subject, following his two-day anti-Manny crusade all over ESPN), I was ready to come on here and write an article about how I wish someone would get off their high horse and look at this from the perspective of most fans.

I mean, can you imagine? You open up a copy of the L.A. Times, flip to the sports section, and the story you see is headlined: "Manny Got Suspended For Drugs, Who Cares?" I can't imagine anyone on the Times columnist staff speaking out in that way. Yeah, that's over-dramatic, but can you imagine anyone doing something half that bold?

Nope, they are respected journalists, and they take the high road. Ban cheaters! Shame on Manny! And please, won't somebody think of the children!?


Is it any wonder why more and more readers are moving away from newspapers and to the blogosphere for their news and articles?

The bloggers talk from a fan's perspective. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather read stuff from a person who knows what I'm going through, rather than someone who sits on their throne and wags their fingers down at the reader.

So, in steps Jon Weisman. The connection between both worlds.

Wiesman runs Dodger Thoughts (see the link section), arguably one of the most respected Dodger blogs on the internets. Weisman's been doing it a long time, and has a ton of readers.

So much so, that Weisman got his own section on the L.A. Times website.

Imagine that, a blogger on a newspaper's website.

And all credit to Jon, he's been keeping it real. He hasn't changed his style. He hasn't started writing articles degrading the fans. He still is a fan.

Look, there's not been a lot of standing up for Manny. And sure, that's understandable for the most part. I'm not going to say people can't have a negative opinion on the whole Manny scandal. You feel he cheated, you feel he tainted the game, whatever. Write an article about his now tarnished career. Write about how it hurts the Dodgers chances until he gets back.

But don't start doing stupid things like saying he should be banished from baseball. Nor drop some cheesy line about protecting the children from cheaters.

And, worst of all, don't you dare start spewing ridiculous garbage about how the fans should feel bad for cheering Manny. Or insinuate that we are ignorant or any less of fans for doing so. Yeah, Plaschke, I'm talking to you.

Which brings me to why I'm thanking Jon.

Jon wrote a piece standing up for the fans who still want to cheer Manny when he comes back. And in it, he also calls out Plaschke and Streeter on some of the crap that leaked out of their minds and into their columns.

And Jon, I really appreciate that. Thank you. Sincerely. You are the highest ranking member of the media who's taken a stance that most fans can understand.

Yeah, it's sooo shocking that Dodger fans want to support a player who made a mistake and is being punished for it. A member of the team they care about. One, especially, who's a major part in helping that team win. Yeah, really shocking to see support for that...

Jon, you called out the columnists on their own website. You did it to their face, the way we all wish we could. Thank you so much for that.

That brings me to this one last thing, since Plaschke brought it up. You see, the article Plaschke wrote that got under my skin so badly was entitled: "Manny Ramirez supporters resemble Giants fans"

OH NO! He compared us to Giants fans. *shame*

See, here's the problem with all this.

For all those years when Barry Bonds was with the Giants, I always booed him. Every game, every at-bat, and every time he trotted out to left field. I booed him because he was the best player on the Giants. I booed him because he always seemed to hit a crippling homerun against us. I booed him because he was a jerk. And I booed him because I felt, in my heart, that he was a steroids user.

But you see, the point is, I booed him because he was the combination of all these things. Not just for one in particular.

And I never booed a Giants fan. I never questioned why they cheered him. He was their guy. He was a San Francisco Giant, and as long as he was, they would cheer him. And they still did, when he showed up at a game earlier this season in San Francisco. Because he was still a Giant to them. And they can cheer him if they want, because that's their prerogative.

So, yes, when Manny returns to the Dodgers, I will cheer him. He's a Dodger, and he's there to help us win. He's there to help the team that I care about win. So I can, and will cheer him.

That's my prerogative.

And, quite frankly, I'm also going to probably stop reading most of the trash that comes from the columnists in the L.A. Times.

That's definitely my prerogative.