On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:04:09 -0700 (PDT), tmbowman25@yahoo.com wrote:
> I dont know whats more headscratching, that the Red Sox would dump
>Manny while battling for first place (manny at 140 ops+ right now), or
>that the Marlins would pick him up. Did manny have an incident that
>caused the RS to sour on him?
>
> I dont pay attention to anything that happens in Boston so i'm in the
>dark here.
>
Aah, let me count the ways.
First, during the Coco Crisp "scuffle", cameras caught him lolling
around jogging with Sabathia, very late to the affair and apparanlty
laughing at the whole thing. His teammates, especially Youkilis,
didn't appreciate it and they got into a scuffle in the dugout later
in the game..
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/06/06/no_dirt_on_ramrez_youkilis_dust_up/
Not a big deal in itself, and the papers left it alone..
Then, only days after Chacon made headlines by knocking down the aging
GM of the astros and basically ending his career, Manny knocks down
the aging travelling secretary in a parking lot because he couldn't
get him as many tickets to a game in Houston as he wanted, and had to
be pulled off by onlookers. Bad enough to publically beat up on a
guy in his mid 60's, but to do it in Houston on heels of Chacon
incident magnified it. And to make it worse, the Sox didn't punish
him at all. This time writers were all over it, and openly questioned
why the sox were being so lax on it, and espn got to do the "superstar
vs grunt" angle, since chacon and ramirez did exactly the same thing,
yet the punishments were miles apart. One guy got kicked off the
team and out of the league while the other got nothing.
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2008/06/manny_ramirez_w.html
But the topper was last weekend. In this espn slanted world, red
sox vs yankees are the end all be all of everything, and I think even
the teams try to support the hype and many buy into it.
Friday night, without telling anyone beforehand, he pulled himself out
of the lineup jsut before the start with a "knee problem". It
pissed off Francona, Epstein, and the owner to the point that they
called his bluff and forced him to have an MRI, which revealed nothing
was wrong. After the game, Francona was clearly irritated, and
basically refused to defend him.
Sportwriters all over that one, including Gammons, who's pointed out
that Manny has been getting into the habit of ducking good pitchers
with phantom injuries, usually when they really need him.
Check out this quote:
<paste>
Everyone in the clubhouse knows the names. Joba Chamberlain (twice),
Felix Hernandez (twice), Edinson Volquez, Justin Verlander -- pitchers
that Manny Ramirez didn't feel quite right to face, be it a knee, a
hamstring, his contract or the pitcher's velocity, and those he left
for someone else in the Red Sox "family" to face.
Everyone knows what this latest soap opera is about. It's about Manny
being only about Manny -- not the team that will have paid him $168
million when this season's over, not "teammates" he leaves to answer
for him, not winning or any competitive motivation.
No. Manny being Manny means Manny wanting money. He doesn't want to
wait for the Red Sox to exercise the right he gave them for the first
$168M, the right to decide at the end of the season whether or not to
pick up his option for 2009 at $20M. The Red Sox fulfilled their end
of the contract; now he doesn't want to fulfill his obligation, the
same way he watched his teammates fade in 2006.
Oh, we all hear the analysis of how much the Red Sox need him. That
is, if he doesn't bag it, which he was willing to do until John Henry
and Tom Werner joined with Theo Epstein and Terry Francona on Friday,
enraged at him for skipping Chamberlain, and forced him to take an MRI
for the knee affliction known as Felix-Joba-itis.
<paste>
The true story is that Manny was pouting because he wanted them to
pick up his option early, and started his yearly bullshit about
wanting out of Boston. In past years, Bosox just grit their teeth
and ride it out, because there's nothing really they could do about
it. Multiple years left on monster contract making him virtually
untradeable, and still putting up very good numbers.
This year though is the last in his deal, coupled with the fact his
numbers have been declining the past few years makes him tradable,
and with their offense, they could actually swallow the hit, and
unless they replace him with a lamppost in LF, the defense was
guaranteed to be better.
Replacing him with Bay is a really good fit and getting rid of the
drama is a huge bonus.
In a way it's sad that it took ducking a yankee game as the last straw
instead of beating up an old man, but that's one of the reasons the
red sox are becoming so universally despised as one of the bad guys,
kind of "yankee lite".