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Rawhide to Manny: Please, please play here

The Cal League's Visalia Rawhide issued an invite to Manny Ramirez to visit Recreation Park on a rehab assignment, but it looks like the Dodgers slugger is done with his stint in the minors.

The Visalia Rawhide (High Class A; California League) issued an invite to Manny Ramirez to visit Recreation Park on a rehab assignment, but it looks like the Dodgers slugger is done with his stint in the minors.

Ramirez made waves in the minors during his two rehab stints with the Albuquerque Isotopes (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) and Inland Empire 66ers (High Class A; California League). Both stints were in fairly controlled situations, with the Dodgers farm teams playing at home.

Clearly the management of the Rawhide was hoping Ramirez would extend his Cal League stay when the 66ers visit Visalia on July 1. It doesn't matter how realistic the expectation was: all that matters is that the situation gave the team a chance to issue Ramirez an invite to play at Recreation Park. 

Here's the invite:

On behalf of the Rawhide and the City of Visalia, we would like to extend a formal invitation to play at Recreation Ballpark on July 1st.

As a baseball-loving community, Visalia has thousands of fans who would love to see your dreadlocked, fun-loving presence grace our historic and newly renovated ballpark, even for one evening.

But as a busy celebrity, we realize that making a trip to Visalia may present some logistical hardships. As such, to ease said burdens, we are prepared to offer the following perks to facilitate your trip:

  • A first-class round-trip flight to and from Visalia in the official Rawhide Chopper, provided by Barber Helicopters
  • One night’s deluxe accommodation at the Marriott Suites in Downtown Visalia
  • A complimentary meal at the Vintage Press, the finest restaurant in the Central Valley-Free hair styling from Staci and Company Salon and Day Spa

You can rest assured that you will find Visalia exceedingly hospitable, and that you’ll be back in Los Angeles in plenty of time to resume your Major League season. We stand prepared to honor our offers, and hope you will consider our proposal with your usual thoughtfulness and gravitas.

Brilliant.

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