Perhaps not since they acquired the land to build the ballpark that slugging outfielder Manny Ramirez will now call home have the Los Angeles Dodgers made a bigger mid-summer acquisition.

Fifty years nearly to the month after the trade that gave them title to the 352 acres where Dodger Stadium sits, the Dodgers just might have somebody capable of helping them once again hoist a championship banner over Chavez Ravine.

To be sure yesterday's trade deadline-beater was a blockbuster, its ramifications on two coasts dwarfing the move of certain Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. from Cincinnati to the Chicago White Sox.

In the Red Sox bitter desperation the Dodgers might have found their deliverance this season. Locked in a divisional battle with the Arizona Diamondbacks and coming up on a 20-year absence from the World Series, the Dodgers needed a bold move and the big bat in the middle of the lineup that came with it.

After their freeway rivals, the Angels, landed first baseman Mark Teixeira, the Dodgers' need grew. And, so did the pressure on Dodgers' general manager Ned Colletti to deliver.

Ramirez, a perennial 35 homer, 110 RBI producer, answered their immediate wishes and has the ability to make the overdue postseason prayers come true. No minor task for a once proud franchise that has lost 12 of its last 13 division series games since 1995.

For the disgruntled Ramirez all the Dodgers parted with in a three-team swap were two minor leaguers, although the money to keep manager Joe Torre in aspirin for the remainder of the season might not turn out to be insignificant. But if there is anybody used to handling petulant stars and explosive situations, it would seem to be Torre.

So, it was a gamble worth taking — a million times so if the Red Sox assume the $7 million on Ramirez' remaining salary for this season and the Dodgers are not obligated to pick up his $20 million option next season. Ramirez wants to be a free agent next season and will have to finish this one strong and in, for him, what passes for good behavior to really cash in.

That's something that wasn't going to happen in Boston where, if there was anything left of his frayed relationship with the Red Sox front office and ownership, it was torched Wednesday when Ramirez told ESPNdeportes, "The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me."

For one of the few times in recent weeks, the Red Sox were finally forced to agree with him.

And the Dodgers today are in a position to be hugely grateful they did.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.