All of us in red sox fandom today shall bid a sad adieu to Manny as he makes his way on to Mr. Torre and the Dodgers. I would love to have been a fly on the wall to find out what issue soured this relationship so badly that he would be unceremoniously shipped out while still producing some of the highest home run numbers around. Is it truly just that Manny was being Manny? As AJD pointed out to me, the sox have put up with much more than that in previous players. No, this is a travesty. I just hope someone is there to hug Ortiz and learn how to give complex celebratory handshakes.
1 comment:
I'm bummed too. He's a worthy competitor and scary as hell at the plate, and it is a shame that someone who has battled the Yanks so well (career v. NY: 200 games, 55 dingers, 163 RBI).
I posted this to my fantasy baseball rumor mill this morning, and have tried since to edit out all the bad words:
I just don't get how Sox fans have decided the relationship was too poisonous to go on. Hasn't Manny done shit like this before? I thought his Ritual of Discontent was an annual affair. It really seems to me like most of the Boston Sportswriting Crew -- Edes, the Curly Haired Boyfriend, Gammons, etc. -- have decided that enough is enough and that the surly man has to go. Oh, let's not forget that the Great [swear], Curt Schilling, has decided that Manny is a [swear] teammate (Curt apparently forgets his own past with the O's and Phillies). What's so different about Manny now?
Jason Bay is 29, which means he's right now at he peak of his baseball excellence. Perhaps he will get a little better, but generally not much. Right now at his best he is as good as Manny is in one of Manny's off years. Actually wait, that's not true. With the bat at least he's not as good as Manny is this year. I am sure he's better in the outfield, but then again, so is really anyone.
But they only have Bay locked up for one more year. In addition, has anyone looked at Bay's career stats recently? What happened last year? His OBP -- not his BA -- was .327. That sucks. The last time Manny did anything like that was in 1994, when in 91 games his OBP was .357.
Maybe Manny did take 3 strikes on purpose. That sure doesn't sound like the guy who is legendary for watching video of pitchers and just loves to hit. The fact that he shoved an elderly employee down (I was away when this happened and don't know the details) is unconscionable. But why not suspect him? Give him 5 games and let him know that is unacceptable. This is the first time I can think of since Theo took over that they've made a personnel move based almost entirely not on stats but on personality issues.
So, to sum up, they get rid of:
*One of the 3 best right-handed hitters in all of baseball (the otehr 2: Pooholes and A-Rod)
*7 million
*Two minor leaguers, one of whom (the pitcher) I think I've heard good things about
They get:
*A white guy
I'm kidding about the overt racism stuff, but I just don't see how this is an equitable move, and also don't understand how so many Sox fans are buying into it. He's [swear] Manny Ramirez. He's scary! Jason Bay is a healthier JD Drew.
Post a Comment