Comments on: Manny under the microscope

By: Nasty Boy

Nasty Boy — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:40:12 +0000

Sir, as yankeh8r so eloquently put it, you are a moron. Manny is a malcontent , and couldn’t hold any of the payers you mentioned jocks. As another writer said , and I agree ,I can’t wait until this jerk- off is out of baseball.

By: yankeh8r

yankeh8r — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:31:49 +0000

You’re the biggest idiot ever! You’re a moron wrapped up in a retard!

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:41:49 +0000

But that’s exactly it, people are, and will continue, to be willing to pay Manny 20+ million for a 1 year contract, but that’s exactly what Manny didn’t want, and what he burned his bridges to avoid. He wanted another nice long contract, but the fact is he’s older and has clearly done steroids in the past. Long story short, he’s not a safe long term prospect and he knows it, or at least Scott Boras knows it.

By: madhatters

madhatters — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:20:37 +0000

It is interesting. Going from a city like Cleveland with its midwest sensibilities to a place like Boston which as you put it has the big city drama definitely seemed to contribute.
I also think coaching played a big part. Charlie Manuel was able to coach the guy where as Francona in Boston tried to manage him.
And then I also think it’s the diva status he got after getting that big city money.
But I agree entirely that had Manny stayed in Cleveland he wouldve been different.

By: madhatters

madhatters — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:13:09 +0000

Craig I disagree entirely. In your opinion the way he completely sandbagged his team was more damning than his use of PED’s.
But if that were the case, why did the Dodgers trade for and then resign Manny? Why was Manny still getting offers for $20-30mill for one season? The fact that he came out last season and played like a dud will be a greater deterrent to other teams than his sportsmanship. I think we all know that today if you can play that is far more important than if you’re a good teammate (i.e. Billy Wagner).
If Boston hadn’t forseen the Reign of Manny ending I’m sure they would have kept him and dealt with his derelict personality as long as he was still putting up insane offensive numbers.
For a GM whats worse? A $20million player who might create rifts in your organization or a $20million player caught doing PED’s and then playing sub-par ball

By: Charlie

Charlie — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:04:45 +0000

As a Cleveland fan, I’ve always found it strange that Manny’s truly bad behavious started AFTER he left the Tribe. He was definitely goofball while he was here but was also one of the key driving forces of the Indians offense.
He didn’t start doing these obnoxious things until he made the mistake of leaving the fairly easy going town of Cleveland for the more soap opera like town of Boston. I think he caught up in the craziness there and became the Franken-Manny we see today.
Too bad he didn’t end up staying here instead. Cleveland will probably always get stamped with the whole “mistake on the lake” thing but I’d much rather live here in the blue bloods of Boston. Much nicer town (rust belt or no).

By: lanny

lanny — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:31:22 +0000

That my friend would be a complement to Manny ,and an insult to the Village Idiot.prate two

By: jackie boy

jackie boy — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:17:48 +0000

I can’t wait until this guy just goes away. I believe he’s “The Original Village Idiot”

By: JT

JT — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:44:03 +0000

I don’t doubt that is true, and I think he probably did fake his injuries, but even that he couldn’t remember which knee was (alegadly) bothering him, that doesn’t mean it was definitly faked. Just like even though it’s obvious that a lot of the guys that got bigger in the 90s were on roids, it doesn’t automatically make them all guilty.
Again, I do think he was a bad teammate, and I don’t doubt that he was faking it, but the suspension notice is no smoking gun. There have been plenty of times that organizations have railroaded players they wanted to get rid of (see the Cubs). Not every ache and pain shows up on an MRI.
Also, it is pretty obvious that when he was playing he was trying.

By: IdahoMariner

IdahoMariner — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:10:30 +0000

arggh! I totally forgot about his battering the travel secretary. that was a classless bit of trash.

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:29:42 +0000

The Red Sox drafted a formal letter of suspension of Manny in July 2008 just before he was traded. The grounds: he refused to play in two games against the Yankees, claiming he had a sore knee. The Red Sox ordered him to have an MRI done on his knee, except when he got to the facility with the MRI, he claimed he couldn’t remember which knee it was. They did MRIs on both knees and no damage was found in either. He was miraculously healthy enough to play within an hour of the suspension letter being delivered to him.
He had no more issues with his knee after that and, of course, put up otherworldy performance after he was traded to the Dodgers. Between this and other incidents Manny had with teammates and team personnel that year, it was quite obvious that he was creating a serious disruption on the team.
I’ve long defended Manny Ramirez and believe that you take the good with the bad when it comes to his performance and behavior. But you simply can’t pretend that he wasn’t a poor teammate in 2008 simply because he hit the ball hard when he chose to play.

By: DENNIS PALONE

DENNIS PALONE — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:28:19 +0000

Boy, did you ever hit the nail on the head. Manny is a moron,and his buddy Ortiz isn’t much better. As far as I’m concerned they both eat out of the same trough.

By: JoeT

JoeT — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:19:55 +0000

Manny is one of those guys that took PEDs that the sportswriters like to beat up on, even if they say that it’s not about the PED use. A-Rod and most of the other users get treated with kid gloves. If Manny could speak better English he would be treated much better.

By: JT

JT — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:10:52 +0000

“quite obviously faked his injures, quit on his teammates and when he did play didn’t even try.”
I expected better then this from you Craig. You’re always getting on people for saying certain guys used steroids even when there isn’t any proof, and you;re doing the same thing here.
How do you know he wasn’t hurt? I would guess that almost every baseball player hurts every day during the season even if there is nothing wrong. How do you know Manny just didn’t have a particularly bad day?
And saying that when he did play he didn’t try is just patently false. He had one bad month in 08, and that was before the accusations started.

By: Smit

Smit — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:26:37 +0000

I have to disagree with you on this one. Manny’s lil exit out of Boston is between him, his teamates, the Sox and their fans. No one really cares but Boston and 20 years from now Boston won’t care that much (see 2 world series’). His PED use cheated everyone. Opposing pitchers, competing players and teams and their fans. That is why PED users should never be in the hall unless they come clean and it can be determined (which it never fully can) that the player was putting up HOF #’s before his PED use.

By: Yank Fan Dave

Yank Fan Dave — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:03:10 +0000

1. How about throwing the press secretary down to the ground? Remember that little bit of teammating? I think the fact that Lowell and Ortiz were on board with shipping Manny out of Boston tells us more about the situation than any info readily available to the public.
2. At least PED use can be attributed to trying. Quitting or otherwise causing problems on your team because they are ONLY paying you $20MM is despicable.

By: Rays fan

Rays fan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:48:53 +0000

1) This was not posted by me, the person who’s used this handle for months now.
2) “That Klapisch can say that such behavior pales compared to his PED use suggests to me that we have either greatly overreacted to PEDs as an evil in the game or are far too dismissive of mid-2008 Manny Ramirez-style jackassery.”
Why is this an either/or question? The terms are not mutually exclusive, and I think both are true.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:31:54 +0000

Too many short memories here.
Back in 08 Manny had a list of issues with management, and it all stemmed from Manny and his agent from Hell wanting the Red Sox to throw out his current contract (IE not exercise their option to keep him another year for $20 million) and renegotiate a new, longer contract. Since the Red Sox were under no obligation to make that decision before November they stalled. Manny didn’t like that so he went out of his way to cause problems. He absolutely did quit on the team. The at bat against Rivera was just one example, he refused to play a game, said it was his knee. They took MRI’s of both, no problems. The next night he says it’s now his other knee. Those are just a couple examples, but the point remains: he wanted more money and was willing to screw over his team to try to force their hands, instead he got traded and the Red Sox dodged a bullet in more ways than one.

By: InnocentBystander

InnocentBystander — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:07:20 +0000

I don’t believe he quit on the Red Sox. As previous commenters noted the numbers (both hitting and games played) indicate that. Manny unfairly gets tagged as “quitter” or “lazy”…probably because of his outfield play and his race and his other antics. And maybe he’s just simply a bad outfielder. That’s OK…butchering a fly ball, or getting a bad jump, or not knowing whether it’s slicing away or not shouldn’t label the guy as a quitter. The genius of Manny is that as bad as he is in the OF, I can’t say he’s ever brought it into the batters box with him. He may be the greatest hitter of his generation.
Regarding the “revisionist history” comments, I would bet that it is the other way – meaning I would bet that the issue is on the organization and/or media and/or fans side, not the player. We have seen this from Boston too many times in the past – Williams, Boggs, Clemens, Nomar – to rule it out. Player is either never accepted, or upon departure is completely trashed.
Even at this point in his career, I would take Manny on my team without a second thought.

By: Rays Fan

Rays Fan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:57:29 +0000

I remember that AB against Rivera and I’m not even a Sox fan. I agree that quiting on his team and making a mockery of the whole situation (holding up the trade me for Favre sign in the dugout) was far worse for baseball than any PED offense.

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:52:44 +0000

On his worst day, Ramirez wasn’t half the jerk Ted Williams was on TW’s best day. But sportswriters are, by and large, white racist losers, so they continually rewrite history.

By: gumbercules

gumbercules — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:41:28 +0000

Your comment is a classic example of believing what you want to believe, facts be damned. June 2008, Manny plays 24 of 26 Red Sox games. July 2008, 22 of 24. So…he missed 4 games in 2 months and pounded the living crap out of the baseball. If only they would all quit like that. Was he a prima donna and a jerk? Yes. Did he quit? No.

By: YANKEES1996

YANKEES1996 — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:15:39 +0000

Manny Ramirez’s behaviour when trying to leave Boston in 2008 can be seen at will at my brothers house and is performed by his 8 year old daughter. That display was his answer to a problem he created and put on display for the entire baseball community to view. Welcome to the world of the spoiled, child like athlete, ain’t it grand!

By: Pat Gray, Cavendish, Vermont

Pat Gray, Cavendish, Vermont — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:14:52 +0000

Manny was the best Boston player ever and that includes Williams, Yaz,and Fisk. What we gotta do is get rid of Youkilis and Franconia. We need Manny back in Beantown baby!

By: Irish

Irish — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:14:13 +0000

#2 an example of the classic apologist. Joe Sheehan wrote one of his worst columns ever about the topic, defending Manny by pointing to what he did his final month. Just garbage. Is it revisionist history when the players who were in the clubhouse say the same thing? The guy faked injuries to miss time, and didn’t play hard. That’s not to say he threw away every at-bat, but he certainly made his point clear to the people he wanted to. Remember that pinch-hit at-bat against Rivera? Three strikes looking, never took the bat off his shoulder.

By: BC

BC — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:10:01 +0000

Says a lot about Manny that he’s laughing and joking in the dugout with Mike Lowell and David Ortiz in June when he fived the fan making a catch… and then two months later he quits on the team and Lowell and Ortiz go to management and endorse dumping him. I don’t think we’re dealing with one of the great minds in Western Civilization here.

By: BC

BC — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:05:09 +0000

He hit like .390 with 60 RBIs in 50 games with the Dodgers. THAT was trying.

By: Jonny5

Jonny5 — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:48:17 +0000

Amen!

By: (Not That) Tom

(Not That) Tom — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:47:38 +0000

If a .314/.432/.560 (his line over the final two months in a Sox uni) is not even trying, man, I’d fear to see what he put up if here were.
Of course, you could probably say that about his entire career but, then again, that doesn’t jibe with this piece of revisionist history.

By: IdahoMariner

IdahoMariner — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:38:43 +0000

I am not a fan of steroid use because it smacks of un-fair play. But I am offended by the total lack of even-handedness with which we respond to the various players who have tested positive or been outed, and more offended by the idea that the managers and the owners and Selig are clearly culpable but have taken no hits from the media and still feel free to do their self-righteous act whenever a mic is pointed at them.
So, steroids suck….but..
“mid-2008 Manny Ramirez-style jackassery” is worse. Play the f-ing game, you overpaid brat.
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