Manny Would?
Forgive and forget? That’s what Dodger fans are all about these days. And as their seemingly insurmountable National League West lead has shrunk to 3 ½ games, they call on their great savior to bail them out. Ramirez is hitting a lackluster .267 with 10 home runs and 33 rbi’s since the All-Star break. So the big question is can he put the team on his back and carry them like he did last year? Probably not without the juice.
Many Dodger fans called for Alex Rodriguez’s removal from baseball early this season, when it was discovered that Rodriguez admitted using steroids. Yet Manny Ramirez tested positive for a performance enhancing drug, a blind eye was turned. Upon his reinstatement, many of these same Dodger fans who vilified A-Rod chose the “second chance” route, exemplifying hypocrisy in its purest form. More recently, it has come out that Ramirez is named on the infamous Mitchell report, citing 104 players that tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003. So Ramirez has a history of cheating, going back 6 years (that we know of). The first indication should have been Ramirez, as a 36 year old man hits .520 with 6 extra base hits including 4 home runs and 10 rbi in 8 playoff games last year. His second half stint with the Dodgers produced MVP type numbers, including a .396 average, 17 home runs, and 56 rbi. Yet with all this success, not one team wanted his services. Think the owners knew he would be on the Mitchell report?
Ramirez pretty much took the Mark McGwire approach when he came back from his 50 game suspension, indicating he didn’t want to talk about the past. But when you add in this delightful tidbit of knowledge his genius bestows upon us, it makes the world in which Manny lives and relates to others doubly entertaining. “Whatever happened, that’s in the past,” he said. “I don’t want to be a distraction to this team. I didn’t kill nobody. I didn’t rape nobody. That’s it.”
Certainly, equating performance enhancing drugs with raping and murdering people is just another example of Manny’s societal disconnect (see With Friends Like Him). He continues to be on his own planet, but at least he has his priorities, and categorized list of offenses, straight. But as long as the Dodgers get to the planet called “World Series”, it doesn’t much matter what Manny does.
Loading ...
Perfect, Vance. Great article. He provides entertainment…but I would never tell my son to watch Manny and emulate him. I hear quite often that his work ethic is imperial…..oddly, I never see him hustle out of the box….or run hard once he’s out of it either. He has the bat of Jimmy Foxx (admirable)….but the hustle of Alfonso Soriano (hitting balls off the wall, yet somehow is only standing at first at plays end)….and the fielding gusto of Garrett Anderson (sorry halo fans). Is it possible to make over $20 million/year and basically be a one-tool player? Yes it is. He’s such an awful outfielder that Joe Torre elected to put Juan Pierre in left during the late innings of Game 2 in the NLCS….which was still a tie game, by the way. Had the game gone into extras, Manny would not have been available to hit. I don’t want to be a “manny-basher”, so I’ll just say this: It’s a shame that Don Mattingly wasn’t allowed to give him the “goon-hand” every time he saw Manny dog it. If you don’t know what the “goon-hand” is, I’d be happy to explain, if requested. “I’m baaaaaaaaack”……really Manny? Are ya?