Ramirez Apologizes to Fans, Teammates

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Los Angles Dodgers' Manny Ramirez walks with agent Scott Boras second from right, to Petco Park prior to the Dodgers' baseball game against the San Diego Padres Friday, July 3, 2009, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

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Ramirez refused several times to talk about the reason for his suspension.

"First I want to say that God is good and good is God. I don't want to get into my medical records right now. I'm happy to be here. I missed the game. I'm ready to play. I was practicing in Triple-A and I can't wait to get into the field."

He did apologize.

"Well, I want to say I'm sorry to the fans, to my teammates that they're always there for me," Ramirez said. "I want to thank Frank McCourt for his support," he added, referring to the Dodgers' owner.

Asked what he was sorry for, he said: "Not being there for them. For not playing the game, because I'm a huge part of the Dodgers and I'm proud to wear that uniform. When I say I'm sorry, I let those fans down, that they go out there to see me."

Ramirez seemed relaxed yet said he felt "a lot" of anxiety. "But I'm pretty sure I can handle it. This is not my first rodeo. So I know I'm going to be fine. I know I can play this game. I'm going to enjoy it the most I can."

He also admitting being embarrassed by the whole episode.

"But we're humans. We learn from our mistake."

Teammate Andre Ethier was happy to see Ramirez back.

"It's nice. It's just a thing where I guess we got our team back to square one where we were when we started the year," Ethier said. "We got a little sidetracked with him getting suspended. But we're ready to go and in the same place or even a little better position than when we lost him."

Ramirez was suspended on May 7, and the Dodgers lost 11-9 that night to the Washington Nationals, leaving them with a 5 1/2-game lead atop the NL West. They entered Friday night's game with a 7 1/2-game lead.

"I'm not mad anymore," Ethier said. "He made a mistake. It was his choice. I guess I'd be more mad if we were sitting 10 games under .500 right now after his suspension and weren't in a good spot. But we came back and played well and are able to be a better team because of him."