Boston is better off without Manny
Posted July 31st, 2008 by Pat McManamon
The Boston Red Sox improved on Thursday. They improved by trading one of the better hitters of our generation, but a guy who was starting to blow up the team’s clubhouse with his antics. Apparently, there is even a limit to “Manny Being Manny.” If it does not seem like the Boston Red Sox had had it with Ramirez’s whining and mysterious injuries, read this interview with Curt Schilling, one of the more honest guys in baseball. Ramirez’s act had worn thin. So the Red Sox got rid of him and brought in Jason Bay, a very nice player the Indians tried to acquire last offseason. On paper, the numbers indicate Ramirez is far superior to Bay. But when you add in what Manny was costing the team, Bay will be better for Boston. The proof? According to Peter Gammons, the Red Sox will pay Ramirez’s salary the rest of this year. Talk about being eager to send a guy packing. Ramirez quit on the team, period, and a guy who does that is not welcome on a team. As Gammons said: “When you’re making $20 milion a year and say you don’t want to play, and you sit out games and say I might play or might not, what does that do for the integrity (of the game).” He added: “The happiest man in America right now is Terry Francona.” Let’s be honest. Manny is out for Manny, which he showed when he showboated after hitting a home run in the playoffs in Cleveland last year when his team was getting waxed. The guy can hit, but all the peripheral stuff means that Boston is better without him.
August 1st, 2008 at 9:20 am
It is clear, and has been from the start of his career, that Manny is one of the best hitters ever. No question about that. But how frustrating is it (once again) for Cleveland fans that this guy wins two titles after leaving Cleveland??
August 1st, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Wayne, come into the real world. As Pat accurately said, the moronic head-case Manny is out for one person: Manny. His whole "stupid, naive" bit is all an act. He knows exactly what he's doing, and for FAR too long, fans and execs have excused his absolute nonsense just because he can hit a ball. Manny is a cancer on any ballclub. He does not care about winning, only his stats. Remember is reaction to being down 3-1 in last year's playoffs? "It's just baseball. If we lose, there's always next year." He is just an ingrate, a selfish, worthless piece of work, a horrible excuse for a human being, and one of the worst teammates in the history of the game.
Stop defending this schmuck, or worse yet, dreaming of his return to Cleveland (as fans & talk show hosts have mentioned). Sheesh, he's the last player we need!! Sure, nice bat. But his lifelong attitude? Uh, no friggin way. He is the Poster Child for everything young people should aspire to NOT be.
August 1st, 2008 at 3:59 pm
James, do you read? I was not defending Ramirez other than to point out he is a hitting machine - which he is. And, by the way, after he made the comments you referred to while down 3-1 he simply helped lead his team back (to the shame of Eric Wedge and the Indians) and then was a offensive force as usual in the World Series. That is just reality. Would I want him back now? Of course not. Do I wish he hadn't left? Absolutely. When he was in his prime. By the way, a pretty astute judge of talent and how to win - Joe Torre - didn't seem to sad to get him.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:00 pm
James, you sir, are a moron. Manny is the best hitter the game has seen in the last 25 years. When it became known that Boston was looking to trade him, every single GM in baseball put a call in to see what it would take to get him. When you are as good as Manny you can write your own ticket and do as you please. The Red Sox are foolish for not catering to Manny and trying to make him happy. By trading him away, they have officially anounced that they are giving up on this season. James, you are just bitter that Manny is not playing for your team.
August 1st, 2008 at 8:00 pm
See, Alex, you and your ilk are the reason that prima donnas like WoMannly are permitted to exist. Oh, the Red Sox should have bowed down and catered to a **tarded idiot? Yeah, that's the way team sport operate. Get a clue, guy. Boston wanted him gone so bad they paid the rest of this year's ungodly, unreal, and unwarranted ransom. Manny and A-Rod and their idiot agents have ruined baseball with their destruction of the salary structure, making it nearly impossible for small-market teams to compete. Yeah, we should all BOW DOWN to the great and mighty moronic Manny.
Here's a guarantee: Boston wins the AL East, and the Dodgers don't even make the playoffs. Boy, will I gloat, too, right along with Theo Epstein, who I gained the utmost respect for yesterday in dumping the biggest cancer this side of Albert Belle. Two peas in a dysfunctional pod. And I don't care how high their average or HR totals are: they are destructive influences.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Yes, a cancer. A cancer that went a long way towards winning his team two World Series. Sound like a benign skin cancer to me. Silly and naive to call him a "destructive influence." A destructice influence on what? The 70s Oakland teams beat the crap out of teams, and then went into the locker room and beat the crap out of each other. Lots of "cancer." Lots of "destructive influences." Who cares?
Bottom line is if Ramirez was 26 instead of 36, they'd still be tolerating his antics today and for years to come. Yeah, he's a fool, but he's been a damn talented fool, an RBI machine. Let's cut the stupid naive "cancer" and "destructive influence" crap. These are grown men, not choir boys. The underlying reason he's gone is there's diminishing mileage left in the tank, and given this fact, his BS ain't worth the babysitting anymore.
August 2nd, 2008 at 8:03 am
Delucci's got a great attitude.
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
To all of you staunch Manny defenders, I guess the question has to be asked: "Exactly why does this goof think he has the right to act like a dick?" Even common sense and decorum dictates that you show respect to your teammates, manager and a team that has (insanely) paid you $160-million. What does the jerk have to cry about? Huh?? Isn't life good enough for the spoiled moron? Just couldn't handle being on an annual pennant contender?
It's a friggin wonder that this mental midget is even able to function on a daily basis. People bowing down to the alter of Manny's Bat for years have fed into this entitlement-mentality, and now he's so intolerable, teams avoid him like the plague.
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
How do "teams avoid him like the plague?" He's now on a team in Los Angeles, isn't he? So how "intolerable" can he really be? Evidently other teams with pockets made a concerted play for him, too.
If my math is correct, Dennis Rodman has five championship rings, and I'm guessing he was even more of a pain in the ass than Ramirez is. If you have skills, talent and produce, there will always be front office guys lining up to take a chance on somebody who is "intolerable." Who cares if a guy is a jerk. Yeah, Ramirez went overboard this season. But if I'm a front office guy, I'll put together a roster full of jerks with major talent long before I round up a bunch of Marys who can't play worth a lick.
August 3rd, 2008 at 10:07 am
Just my two cents, but I agree with Alan. Manny was not a divisive influence in Cleveland, nor was he, really, in Boston until maybe this year or last. I think if the BoSox had it to do over again, they may not have paid him so much, but then he probably wouldn't have been a BoSox.
Over the years in Boston, he was a minor headache, regarding his idiosyncracies, and a major producer at the plate. In his time in Boston, Manny hit over .300, got on base around 40% of the time, and slugged around .600. He was arguably the best offensive producer in that span, as witnessed by his 7 All-Star Game appearance, his 6 Silver Slugger Awards, his 2004 World Series MVP, and his 5 times in that span as a top 10 vote-getter for MVP (3 times top 3). His value to the Sox was worth much more than the headache until this year.
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:37 pm
A not so hypothetical scenario…
Person A: This is my opinion
Comaguy (aka alant): YOU'RE WRONG!!! AND I WILL ALWAYS TELL YOU WHY!! I LOVE DISAGREEING AND BEING AN A-HOLE IN BLOGS!!
Person B: You know, my opinion is this actually
Comaguy: YOU TOO ARE WRONG!!! I JUST LIKE TO DISAGREE TO SPITE PEOPLE!!!
In the off-chance an scenario actually plays out where Comaguy is very obviously proven wrong he will disappear until enough time has passed…
Comaguy: Family member, huge coma emergency. Sorry couldnt be here. But I'm back and will be here every day again TO PROVE YOU ALL ARE WRONG AND ARE STUPID!! Except of course, when I'm wrong again. Then I'll disappear for a bit more. Oopsie.
August 3rd, 2008 at 8:55 pm
My very own creepy Internet stalker friend. I guess I should choose better friends. Or better creeps.