This is the third post I have titled “Manny Being Manny” in less than three months but it seems quite appropriate given the fact that Manny Ramirez is batting 10-16 (.625) with 2 HRs and 5 Runs and RBIs. All that is probably to be expected given Manny’s talent but what probably pisses off the Boston Red Sox the most was the fact that he wasn’t even trying anymore.
In the four games he has played for the Dodgers, Manny has gotten two infield hits (a weak grounder to SS and even an up the line grounder to the first baseman). Think about that! Manny got infield hits! Manny Ramirez who was paid an average of $20 Million over the past five years certainly proved his worth by making it to the All-Star game every year since 1998, bring home two World Series Championships and even a World Series MVP.
The one manager everyone said all along who could control egos and talent and find a way to get the team to succeed would be Joe Torre. Torre did it for 12 years under The Boss and now he’ll find a way to do it in LA where he knows Manny is playing for his contract, a supposed 4 year – $100 Million contract that some team will pay because his agent is Scott Boras. Manny does not want to cause any more trouble and wants to show that he has put that character behind him but that will certainly be a hard sell given the way he treated the Red Sox organization. The Red Sox front office is highly respected across the board in the MLB and they are all aware of the way Manny treated them and would show up on game day saying he had an unspecified injury on a knee and when pressed on the issue, couldn’t even remember which knee was bothering him.
Mike Golic from “Mike & Mike in the Morning,” the other day said that he would take a steroid-taker over a quitter any day on his team. Now that is quite a line to cross and you are certainly deciding which is the lesser evil. But if you are pressed on the issue and you had to take one of the two players… would you want someone like Manny Ramirez who you know will quit on the team in an instant if he is not happy or finds something that is bothering him or will you take a Barry Bonds (who has yet to be proven guilty for any steroid use) but I am only using him for arguments sake.
So is it Manny Ramirez and his on the field antics or will you take Barry Bonds with the entire circus that follows him off the field but one that you know will show up to play every day? I still don’t know which player I would take and I will probably think about this one the entire day but let me know who you guys would take. Manny or Barry?
