Manny more returns

The Hunt for Red Soxtober is over.

They were sunk by the Rays. Not the Yankees. Not the Angels. The no-longer-Devil Rays.

Now, I mentioned in my previous post that I’d start off with more about Manny. I am going to do that, but I am not going to suggest that the Sox would have won if they still had Manny. They wouldn’t have won. The Rays had their number this year and that little bit of extra magic in games 5 and 6 just prolonged the inevitable, right? That’s what the media want you to believe, but I am getting ahead of myself. Back to Manny.

I have been sitting on this second Manny follow-up post for more than a week. As I also mentioned previously, work was in the way again and I just postponed. Is this still relevant today? I don’t know, but maybe you could still read it.

Anyway, it started with Tim McCarver’s ignorance, which I had decided to ignore commenting on until I read the Facts About Manny Ramirez piece on the Baseball Prospectus, which I’d never normally read (and I forget how I got there). Continue reading »

Manny being manipulated

That’s the title of a Bill Simmons e-ticket on espn.com. It is a long read and well worth it if you are Manny fan, but especially if you are no longer because of his exit behavior. I found I was shaking my head in agreement a lot as I read this today. A lot.

You might remember that I posted about missing Manny not too long ago, but this reinforced my thinking about it after it was shaken a bit by Schilling’s comments. I should have known better than to let that (now) useless blowhard shake by belief with the idea he might have brought new information to the table. I resisted posting when he inserted himself into the news for a few days a few weeks ago, less we forget he exists. After reading this new piece, I can’t help but comment about that too. Fact is, 38pitches and others in the clubhouse are part of that “Respects-The-Game” clique in the clubhouse.

As an aside, you know who those guys are. Captain divorce-my-wife-before-I-get-my-next-contract probably being the guy throwing Manny under the bus to Lou Merloni with the Jurassic Carl comment. Let’s be clear, there aren’t many perfect players in that clubhouse and if the rumors ... Continue reading »

Missing Manny

Yeah, I said it. I miss Manny.

I don’t undertand why Manny had to be traded. I really don’t. I know that most of the Nation is glad he is gone, but I must ask… why?

Why would you want to give up one of the greatest righthanded hitters of all time? A first ballot Hall of Famer? The ultimate protection for Big Papi? Pay seven million dollars to the Dodgers just to take him and two prospects to Pittsburgh to get Jason Bay in return?

Okay, Craig Hansen you can have — for now, unless he works out his command — but by all accounts, Brandon Moss was a good, young outfield prospect. Was he going to be next year’s starting left fielder? No, but he’s a quality fourth outfielder. The seven million? Well, ain’t my money, but it is a bit ridiculous to be padding the wallet of Frank McCourt, who by all accounts is going to go bankrupt because he bought the Dodgers after losing out on the Sox to John Henry — a Manny fan to the end — and Tom Werner.

Now, who did they want to make happy in that clubhouse? Is Manny being gone going to make Captain Mendoza-line start hitting again? Make loud-mouth Schillin... Continue reading »

Serendipity

Check out the new photoset [slideshow] I posted on Flickr from the July 4th Red Sox game. I coincidentally ended up selecting 76 photos to post. I swear. It was serendipity yet again. First 33 for Varitek and now this.

Anyway, these were taken from the really good lower box seats that are owned by Noelle’s company. Ed couldn’t make the game so I was called in from the bullpen. He’d been begging to see a game from there for years and when it is finally his turn, he can’t take it. He’s likely to never see them now!

Did you watch the HR Derby the other night? I didn’t and I guess I didn’t miss anything… Rios vs. Vlad for the final? Puh-leaze. They need to work something out there and I have read a lot of agreement on that this week. I guess the game itself wasn’t very good either, and also had some low ratings, which if I’m not mistaken has been a trend. I did happen to be tuned in to see Ichiro hit the inside-the-parker, the first in All-star game history, so that was pretty cool, and obviously the highlight.

Checked out Peter Gammons’ blog today and he had this funny blurb about Manny:

More Manny Being Manny

So 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 ra... Continue reading »

Manny Being Manny

As most of you know, I am a Manny fan. Someone decided our aloof left fielder would be a great subject for a children’s book.

When you have to go potty, just go inside the…