PeaceBang
The manic mind of the minister -- Auntie Mame Meets Cotton Mather. Blogging about Unitarian Universalism, UU Christian spiritual practice, occasional cultural and political ravings, and the inner life of ministry. PeaceBang is the alter ego of a small town pastor serving an historic New England Unitarian Universalist congregation.
Buh-Bye, Manny
July 26, 2008 on 11:08 am | In Random Rant | It’s absolutely ridiculous that a baseball player should have me so angry that I’m practically back on Prilosec. But for those of us who love the Red Sox and who have shrugged or laughed off “Manny Being Manny” for eight years, his absence at last night’s game was the last straw. At this point it’s not about diva behavior that we tolerated because he’s such a great hitter or eccentricities that we indulged like grinning grandparents of an endearingly naughty toddler, it’s about work ethic. It’s about basic respect for teammates, for fans, and for the game. It’s about honesty and the sad, infuriating fact that we just can’t trust Manny Ramirez any more. His knee is sore, he says. Well, that’s possible. He missed 28 or so games in 2006 due to a sore knee — we remember. So Sox management sent him out for an MRI on both knees last night and both came back clean. Who can believe him now, after he’s pulled this same passive-aggressive nonsense so many times before? Red Sox Nation embraced this character and have been betrayed by him too many times.
It’s about the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry: did he have to pull his shenanigans for THIS particular series?
After his recent slamming around Jack McCormick in the dug-out, his antics in the outfield, and his unforgivable upstaging of Big Papi on what should have been Ortiz’s triumphant return to the game last night, this fan is OVER Manny. The team won’t be the same without him, but every time I see Johnny Damon at bat for the Yankees and think of the glorious season we won the World Series with him as one of our guys, I think, “Well, I got over Damon, I can get over Manny.”
For those of us who have a special life commitment to the concept of “team,” this really hurts. In my case, that hurt takes the form of acid burn in the stomach. I can only imagine what the other Sox, and the Sox brass, are feeling.
Manny was recently quoted as saying, “My biggest dream is not to hit 500 home runs or 600, or 700, my dream is for God to give me enough health to watch my kids grow up, have a beer with them, watch them graduate. That’s my Hall of Fame.” You know what, Manny? That’s really cool. It shows that you have your priorities straight. But you’re making many millions of dollars to play baseball. That’s your job. Whether or not you dream of entering the Hall of Fame shouldn’t prevent you from doing your job as best you can. That’s called integrity. And right now, I doubt that you have much of that.
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Is this something about baseball? [I thwap you with a sock monkey. - PB]
Comment by Scott Wells — July 26, 2008 #
Never having experienced or demonstrated anything that could remotely be called loyalty to a sports franchise, it is difficult for me to sympathize; however, I do think that photo of Manny is very fitting for the post! And am I nuts for seeing a slight resemblance to the former SweetieBang?
Comment by h sofia — July 26, 2008 #
I’m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt:
1) The absence of Big Papi’s bat has been hard on everyone except the Yankees.
2) Manny just moved to the far side of The Big 35. He’s now in the space where ballplayers battle age and frailty with ever-shrinking success, and more and more frustration and fear.
3) The meaning of his complaint was that he wants to know how long the Red Sox brass want to keep him on contract. I’ve watched a lot of ballplayers go through this race against mortality. It’s never pretty.
4) The real boss who won’t show him the future sits way above even the seats atop the Green Monster. That One has also been known to leave us all sputtering and saying things we regret.
Comment by Elz — July 27, 2008 #
I was so over Manny when he left the Cleveland Indians. He had his humble beginnings with us. Now we all think he is a jackass.
I know the Cleveland Indians seem pretty insignificant and laughable to a Red Sox fan… but they are my team and I love them. Unfortunately, we pull in all the good players, and then when they get really good, they leave us because we have no money to hold them. I’m wondering if we will ever win a World Series. The imbalance of power in major league baseball is really unfair.
Comment by Mars Girl — July 28, 2008 #
Barring a turn around from Manny’s apparent attitude, I think the marriage is over. Sure, Manny is a unique talent, a pure hitter and merely adequate in left field. In that sense, he is irreplaceable. However, Manny IS replaceable. The Sox started off the season with too many outfielders to begin with; losing Manny will not be a catastrophe. We’ll all get over it (Remember Johnny Damon? Oh yeah, him). I wonder if Trot Nixon will be available next year!
Comment by Jim B. — July 28, 2008 #
Re: Mars Girl
I can appreciate your feelings about the Indians. I grew up in the greater Boston area, and I’ve been a Red Sox fan all my life; and I probably will be a Sox fan for the rest of my life. It hurt a lot when former Sox players like Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens found their way to the Yankees (less so with Johnny Damon for me). It hasn’t escaped my conscience that the Red Sox have basically become what I despised in the Yankees. It is for this reason that I will always hope that major league baseball someday (soon I hope) adopts a salary cap. The current system is inherently unfair to smaller market teams, and the revenue sharing plan isn’t working. (The Yankess will get some relief from that with the construction of their new stadium, believe it or not). Even a Red Sox fan (myself) is beginning to get bored with the Sox and Yankees being in the AL playoffs every year.
Comment by Jim B. — July 28, 2008 #
One wonders what MR’s acting out is supposed to accomplish. MR can hardly expect the Red Sox to trade him if he makes himself untradeable by his conduct.
(His behavior might not make him untradeable if he were playing for the Yankees organization, which is known for imposing strictures on players that some players just don’t tolerate. And it might not make him untradeable if he were at a doomed franchise whose management refused to shell out to put together a contending team. But neither of those things are true of the Red Sox.)
Comment by alkali — July 28, 2008 #
Ji, B, you must be thrilled with the Rays! Likewise the NL Central.
And on a Manny note, looks like my earlier views are outvoted.
Comment by Elz — July 28, 2008 #
Jim B — Thanks for the sympathy. I guess I’d just like to see the Indians win a pennant ONCE in my lifetime. I’m tired of being the laughing stock of the AL league (including the cute but slightly mocking movie made about them, Major League. It’s a cute movie until you realize that that is how other people actually kind of view your favorite team–as a ragtag group of losers, a Badnews Bears so to speak.)
This year has been so painful on me as far as the Indians have gone that I have not been able to stomach but attending and watching a handful of games. I’ve totally given up on them for the season and have taken instead to a AA farm team in the Akron area. My heart has been broken by my team. I cant believe that I let baseball get me this emotionally wacked!
Hey, Trot Nixon was also once an Indian. *stomp, stomp*
Comment by Mars Girl — July 28, 2008 #
I’d take a team FULL of Trot Nixons (in his prime, of course) any day of the week over what most MLB teams are stocked with these days.
Mars Girl - You had to be a fan of the mid-late 1990’s Indians (Manny, Nagy, Thome, Sandy Alomar, Justice,etc.) They were so good they were scary.
And yes, after some serious thought, I’ll be rooting for the Rays this season to make it to the playoffs.
Comment by Jim B. — July 29, 2008 #
Welcome to Red Sox Nation, Jason Bay (from the Pirates). Goodbye Manny Ramirez, Craig Hansen, Brandon Moss (to Pirates).
Nice job Theo. [Are we dumping Coco? - PB]
Comment by Jim B. — July 31, 2008 #
Yes, Jim B. The mid-90s was my beloved team’s heyday. I really thought they were going to win it all then… Now we’re cursed because they changed our field name from Jacobs Field to Progressive (Insurance) field. We in Cleveland are speculating that that is what led to the tanking you’ve seen this year… It’s the only logical explanation. Not that I’m superstituous or anything. =) Well, you know, it brought down the fans’ moral and all to lose that more traditional family name to another sales ad…
Comment by Mars Girl — August 1, 2008 #
PS Manny’s the Dodger’s problem now!
Though, the Dodgers just took my beloved Casey Blake, too.
Comment by Mars Girl — August 1, 2008 #
PB - I think Coco’s future with the Sox is uncertain right now. I love what he can do on defense in the outfield, but his bat is just average. I’d predict he’ll be with the Sox a couple more years (how long is his contract for?) and then a prospect will replace him. Ellsbury is pretty good in center too, and he has a better bat than Coco. We’ll have to see how Jason Bay works out in left field. I understand that Bay can play in the infield also.
I’ve been listening to Boston sports radio this morning and the response to the trade, and I’m more convinced than ever that Manny had to go. Sure the Sox caved to Manny’s desire to leave, and there is no doubt that the Sox are a weaker team today, but Manny was going to be a cancer to the team with his attitude. Curt Shilling’s comments on the radio yesterday morning were very telling. -Click here for Shil’s radio interview on Thursday morning (http://audio.weei.com/baseball/boston_red_sox/curt_schilling.htm) -
I have confidence that the Sox management has and will continue to deal with this situation and do the best they can for the good of the team.
Comment by Jim B. — August 1, 2008 #