ALBUQUERQUE — Clifford Salgado was willing to forgive and forget Tuesday.

So were 15,321 others at Isotopes Park.

Stirred by the arrival of a legitimate baseball star, albeit quite a tainted one, it didn't seem to matter to a bridesmaid city.

Nearly back from his 50-game suspension for violating baseball drug rules, Los Angeles outfielder Manny Ramirez stopped by Triple-A affiliate Albuquerque for a three-game rehab visit to go with a heavy helping of star worship.

It came easy and often from the largest crowd in Albuquerque baseball history.

Salgado was the first to get Ramirez's autograph, as Ramirez ended a brief stretching session before the game and ran to the third-base seats to the cheers of fans wanting his signature.

"That was beautiful," Salgado said. "I love him. This jersey's gonna be framed now. He just gave me a quick (signature), I told him 'keep it up' and he said 'thank you.' "

Even 30 minutes after getting the signature on his chest, Salgado still looked down at it in disbelief.

But it was still there.

Ramirez won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2004, but departed Boston after being acquired by the Dodgers before the trade deadline last season.

"He's great, man, you've got to give the guy his due," said Salgado, an Albuquerque resident who donned a Red Sox home jersey. "Whatever they say about the steroids, may not be right, but the man is one of the best players in the game.

"Let the man prove himself right now."

The skeptics, however, were sparse.

Who's to blame them, considering the last established big name to play here was Michael Jordan, a six-time NBA Champion and five-time MVP with the Chicago Bulls.

But that was more than 10 years ago.

Jordan arrived in 1996, as part of an NBA Exhibition game against Seattle in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,018 in The Pit.

Since, there's been slim pickings in the city of more than 500,000 that has yet to have a professional sports franchise call it home.

No teams. No titles. No stars.

The Florida Marlins, former parent club to the Isotopes, played an exhibition at Isotopes Park in 2004. But the biggest name on that team was infielder Miguel Cabrera, who is no longer with the Marlins.

Mark Prior had a rehab pitching appearance for the Chicago Cubs in 2005.

So the presence of Manny Ramirez obviously drew a big-time reception.

"People love me everywhere I go," Ramirez said. "I'm excited to bring a lot of joy to a lot of people here. I feel good. I'm happy that I'm here."

The Dodgers' slugger is expected to play for the Isotopes today and tomorrow before returning to California. Only berm seating is available for the remaining two games. Ramirez is eligible to return to the Dodgers on July 3.

He played just four innings in his debut, going 0-for-2, including a strike out. Both his plate appearances were broadcast live on ESPNEWS. The Isotopes beat Nashville 1-0 in the Pacific Coast League game.

Ramirez, hitting .348 with six home runs through games of May 7, received a standing ovation as he walked toward the plate after his name was announced over the public address system in the bottom of the first inning.

He struck out on the sixth pitch he saw, as he fouled the ball into the catcher's mitt. His second at-bat lasted two pitches, as he grounded out to short.

Ramirez had better swings in batting practice.

After demonstrating warning-track power to start his session, Ramirez later hit a few shots off the scoreboard in left-center field, demonstrating the pure swing that has resulted in 527 career homers over a 16-year career.

"This field is a joke," Ramirez, the MVP of the 2004 World Series, said as he grabbed his glove in the dug-out. "I want to play here."

That would be fine for 15,321 Ramirez fans. Including Salgado.