More Manny Being Manny

Manny Being MannySo I went to the Sox game again last night and they unfortunately lost to the Spankees despite another poor start by Randy Johnson. A highlight for the Sox was Manny continuing his hot streak by swatting two homers to make 4 in 3 games against the Yankees.

Hopefully this has quieted his critics who, prior to the series, were complaining that he has been unproductive despite being second in the league in walks and having a higher average at this time than last year when he also had a slow start. However, everyone wants to point at his higher strikeout rate and lack of home runs and RBI. Of course, as I write this, he’s 0-3 with a BB against Tampa…

Truth be told, he’s off to a great start this year as far as I am concerned. He’s been playing a great left-field and running out of the box. Okay, so there was one night I remember he had a bad baserunning blunder and yes, last night he ran thru a stop sign by Hale, but still scored safely. Then, everyone was up in arms about him styling after hitting a bomb Tuesday night off Proctor.

Well, I guess someone said something to him about it because last night he dropped the bat both times and ran them out. One off RJ and the other off Proctor (again). I guess he’s not so fragile because whoever talked to him didn’t get him down or upset because it obviously didn’t impact his performance. The other thing is Manny styles far less than Ortiz, but no one ever complains about Big Papi.

People need to get over the fact that this is now part of the game and in most cases, these guys are celebrating for themselves and/or for their teammates and not showing up the pitcher. I can accept this as long as they aren’t trying to show up a pitcher. I mean, look at Josh Beckett. He had a huge beef with Ryan Howard in Spring Training because he admired a ball he absolutely crushed, which was then knocked down by the wind and caught. Beckett barked at him and they almost clashed. Well, I sort of agree with Beckett in only that Howard is only in his second year and maybe he doesn’t have the status yet to style after a bomb. Maybe that is something that should be earned and to that point, haven’t both Manny and Ortiz earned that right by now?

Also, has Beckett ever thought that the frequent arm pumps and screams he lets out after a strikeout or some other meaningful out could be perceived as showing up the hitter? Are the two things all that dissimilar? I guess you can make a case either way so while I respect the game and its traditions, all things change over time and maybe this is okay most of the time.

Some other things of note from last night’s game:

  • Manny disappeared into the Green Monstah during the Clement/Tavarez pitching change. I think he had to go potty again. At least he made it out in time for the next batter this time around.
  • Had great Grandstand seats just before the Sox dugout and on an aisle with little to no beer drinkers!
  • There were two catches though:
    1. There was a support right in the middle of our view of home plate
    2. There’s less legroom than the bleachers. My knees were pressed into the back of the seat in front of me and it was difficult to be comfortable.

    Despite all the great improvements made to the park over the last few years, these are two problems that will continue because they can’t get rid of the poles and they won’t be putting in all new seats because that would decrease capacity. They need a new park. I hope there is one ready just after they celebrate Fenway’s 100th.

  • No racial razzing was heard. Just the usual cuss words from the drunkards and not so drunk. Things like “Clement, you’re an asshole” and “Ump, you suck.” You know, the normal stuff, which to be honest, was refreshing because “Assclowns Along the First Base Line” doesn’t have a great ring to it…
  • Speaking of Clement… slowest pitcher ever! He takes so long between pitches, the game goes on forever. At one point, he had two or three on (I don’t remember) with Stinnett at the plate. This guy is hitting a buck eighty-nine and he is nibbling the plate. Yo Matt, this guy is a backup catcher for a reason. Throw the damn ball in the strike zone and make him hit it. Nope, instead he’s being cute and ends up hitting him… the number nine hitter. In fact, the bases were loaded because that brought a run in and they then proceeded to add on more, all with two outs.
  • Bases juiced with Mr. Clutch (David Ortiz) watching strike three hurt a lot…

One note I forgot to mention from Monday’s game was another Manny Being Manny moment. The fans in the Monstah returned A-Fraud’s garbage time home run ball to the field and Manny ran in to pick it up. Instead of flipping it back into the stands, he pocketed it and ran back to his position. Of course, you can’t do that since that would be a second baseball in the field of play, so it was comical to watch the third base umpire trying to motion/urge Manny on into getting rid of the ball. After about five increasingly emphatic motions by the ump, Manny relented and threw the ball in to the attendant.

Despite the fact that we let a banged up Yankees team take two out of three, it was still a fun game to see. I guess it was mostly for Manny being Manny again…