I've been doing sports for over 20 years and I've never come across an unusual a day as we had Saturday. Here goes some of our 10 p.m. rundown of stories.

Manny Ramirez plays for Class A Inland Empire against Lake Elsinore and hits a home run in his first at-bat. Good for Manny, bad for Albuquerque because he couldn't do it here, and bizarre because Manny still isn't talking about his 50-game drug suspension from Major Leauge Baseball.

Former Moriarty High baseball standout Kyle Blanks shines for the San Diego Padres against the Texas Rangers. Blanks had two doubles and three RBI's. Good for Blanks, always good to see a local kid do well.

Albuquerque boxer Hector Munoz was to fight Demetrius Hopkins, nephew of Bernard Hopkins, in Atlantic City. Didn't happen. Demetrius got busted at his hotel room on a warrant for non-payment of child support. Hopkins didn't make the weigh-in and Munoz was left holding the bag. We'll call that bad for Munoz, even worse for Hopkins, and bizarre all the way around.

Former Lobo football star Hank Baskett marries Playboy playmate Kendra Wilkinson at the Playboy mansion in Beverly Hills. Good for Hank, hoping he finds the love of his life in Kendra, but bizarre too. Face it, Lobos don't marry Playboy playmates every day.

Other than all that, a pretty normal day. What will Sunday bring? That's why we do this in order to find out.

Manny Ramirez arrived in Albuquerque Tuesday afternoon with all the fanfare of a rock star. He left Thursday night like a shrinking violet.

Ramirez's final and only words to us Thursday were "no thank you" in asking if he wanted to talk. The silence was deafening in light of reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating a Miami doctor and his son as Ramirez's source for the performance enchancing drugs he took that led to his 50-game major league suspension. You kinda knew when this report came out that Manny was gonna go silent, but c'mon, the man's gotta face the music sometime and his actions Thursday were highly disappointing.

Just as disappointing was another full house at Isotopes Park that didn't get to see Ramirez play. People who put down their hard earned money deserve much better than to be stiffed by Manny, though this was somewhat understandable with the slick field conditions from an hour of rain.  He could at least have come out, acknowledged the 15-thousand plus crowd, signed some autographs and then left.  Did he do that?  NO!  Maybe he would have melted in the rain...I doubt that.  At least the Isotopes have kinda made it up to those fans by offering them a ticket to a future Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday home game the rest of the season.

But back to Ramirez. He now moves on to southern California where he's expected to play three A-ball games, before returning to the L.A. Dodgers July 3rd in San Diego. He's going to be hounded by media even harder there. Manny could have made it easier for himself if he talked here and got it out of the way. But he didn't.

End of the Albuquerque Manny circus. Fade to black.

I don't know if it was the rain at Isotopes Park or if it was an overdose of fever pitch in atmosphere there Tuesday night, but day and night 2 of Manny Ramirez's stay in the Duke City didn't have the buzz of day and night 1. Some of the out-of-town media, including the MLB Network, have moved onto other things. ESPN is still around. In fact, Manny spoke to us and ESPN in the clubhouse prior to Wednesday night's game. Though he didn't say much, at least it was something! You can see and hear it here on krqe.com (shameless plug). Still no comment from Manny about the 50-game suspension but we'll keep trying.

While the crowd was once again heavily pro-Manny, I did see one sign in the stands implying Ramirez should go a certain taco business to get a steroids-type product...we won't name names here to protect the innocent. 13-thousand, 77 rain-soaked fans did get a chance to boo and many did when Ramirez walked in his first at-bat...not exactly what people paid to see. Ramirez went 0 for 1 with a groundout to short, but hey, at least he got on base and advanced to second on a bunt. And he did get to catch a fly ball out and play a wet baseball off the left field wall, hitting the cutoff man and holding the hitter to a single. Though baby steps, it's progress in his comeback.

Manny is expected to play at least seven innings in Thursday night's Isotopes game against Nashville, before heading to southern California for three A-ball minor league games and returning to the Dodgers July 3rd in San Diego. What will the third and final act of Albuquerque Manny-mania bring? Stay tuned!

By about 3:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, you could tell it was not going to be a normal day of batting practice at Isotopes Park. There were more cameras and TV, radio and internet media personnel on the field this day than at any other time in Albuquerque minor league baseball history. All of this attention for Manny Ramirez, the L.A. Dodger serving the end of his 50-game major league suspension for using a performance enhancing drug. In a way, this was like covering a freak show; all this attention heaped upon a guy who got caught cheating. But covering something like this is now something society wants to see, so we do it.

Ramirez did not say much if anything about his visit to Albuquerque and his suspension. Trust me, many efforts were made to get him to talk but he chose to stay quiet and talk more with his temporary teammates.

By game time, the stadium was in a feeding frenzy. This in Isotopes Stadium buzz truly topped that of the 2007 Triple-A All-Star Game in Albuquerque. There was nothing minor league about this Tuesday night. The out-of-town national media I spoke with were very impressed with what they saw out of the show Albuquerque put on.

Ramirez drew loud cheers in walking up to the plater in his first at-bat. His second, a smattering of boos but an overwhelming amount of cheers. Ramirez's performance was nothing to get to excited about: 0 for 2 with a foul-tip third strike strikeout and a groundout to shortstop in his four innings of work. According to several Isotopes players, Ramirez was good in the dugout, not afraid to blend in with his teammates and counsel them on things he's learned about baseball over the years. That is good to see, unlike some players who come down from the majors and don't want anything to do with anybody. At least Manny acted like a good guy though he didn't speak much with anyone outside a baseball uniform.

We get to do this drill again Wednesday and Thursday. Stay tuned...the Manny circus is just getting warmed up.

In the final game before "you know who" is expected to show up, the Isotopes won a thriller Sunday night over Omaha 5-4 in 12 innings. the Isotopes trailed 4-3 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, but Jovanny Rosario scored on a Juan Gonzalez sacrifice fly to tie the game and force extra innings. In the bottom of the 12th with one out, Chin-lung Hu singled to center to score Jason Repko for the Isotopes game winner. The Isotopes improve to 36-35 on the season.

The Isotopes have Monday off before the "you know what" circus begins. Manny Ramirez is expected to arrive in Albuquerque Tuesday to begin his minor league rehab assignment in coming off a 50-game major league suspension for taking performance enhancing drugs. Ramirez is expected to be here through Friday, then go back to southern California for a couple of A-ball games, then rejoin the L.A. Dodgers July 3rd in San Diego.

Ticket sales are fast and furious for Man-Ram's visit. As of early Sunday evening, 10-thousand tickets have been sold for Tuesday night's Isotopes game against Nashville. The stadium seats around 14-thousand fans, so the best advice is if you wanna see Manny-mania up close and personal, get those tics early!! Also expected are a lot of out-of-town media for Manny's appearance...ESPN and the MLB Network are planning to cover Ramirez' visit.

Should be an interesting few days in the Duke City, and as always, stay tuned!!!