Manny, We Hardly Knew the Real You

[CrazyCarl40]

Articles like this one will come streaming out now. When the veterans on this team go to Theo on Wednesday Night after the Anaheim debacle and ask Manny to get out of town, you know it's reached the point of no return.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view/2008_08_01_No_Dodging_it:_Manny_Ramirez_just_a_bad__bad_man/srvc=sox&position=1

No Dodging it: Manny Ramirez just a bad, bad man

By Gerry Callahan

Friday, August 1, 2008 - Updated 2h ago

A number of Red Sox [team stats] players were asked if they could make the short walk to a tent that was set up just outside the ballpark and say a quick hello to the kids.

There were 32 teenagers on the trip to Fort Myers this year, all big Red Sox fans, all battling cancer. Two of them had just lost a leg to the disease. Many were making their first trip to Red Sox camp, and some would never be back.

Most of the players didn

[JonEJet]

Nice job by the F/O trying to save face after this debacle

[Garb]

Typical Sox FO manuevering. And don't for one minute think they won't lie to slam a player one their way out and make themselves look like heros. It's what they do. Seriously - the "veterans" on this team ask Theo to dump Manny? Please.....do you really think David Ortiz would throw his buddy under the bus like that? And what kind of an organization would leak such bile? Classless. Typically classless Sox.

The media is having a field day today. They have been waiting to "win" this war for a long time and they truly enjoy dancing on peoples graves. How long before they find their new target?

btw - Callahan is a columnist, sports radio personality - and a right-wing nut. I'm all for conservative leanings - but this guy ought to join a militia group. Listen to WEEI Boston Monday thru Fri from 6-10am and you'll see (hear) exactly what I'm talking about.

[Jetlag]

Typical Sox FO manuevering. And don't for one minute think they won't lie to slam a player one their way out and make themselves look like heros. It's what they do. Seriously - the "veterans" on this team ask Theo to dump Manny? Please.....do you really think David Ortiz would throw his buddy under the bus like that? And what kind of an organization would leak such bile? Classless. Typically classless Sox.

The media is having a field day today. They have been waiting to "win" this war for a long time and they truly enjoy dancing on peoples graves. How long before they find their new target?

btw - Callahan is a columnist, sports radio personality - and a right-wing nut. I'm all for conservative leanings - but this guy ought to join a militia group. Listen to WEEI Boston Monday thru Fri from 6-10am and you'll see (hear) exactly what I'm talking about.

I immediately thought of you while reading this. You couldn't be any more right.

The Sox/Boston papers act like a jaded lover and must find closure by trying to hit as far below the belt as possible. Disgusting.

[CrazyCarl40]

Seriously - the "veterans" on this team ask Theo to dump Manny? Please.....do you really think David Ortiz would throw his buddy under the bus like that?

I don't if Ortiz was in that meeting. Yet, I think when it comes down to it, the team comes before the player. You can still be friends and not teammates.

As far as this whole media and FO ballwashing stuff goes, it goes both ways. These type of stories are held on to or excused by Francona and the FO and not talked about. I just don't get how Manny has changed in the last 4 months so drastically. He was friendly with the media, he was dedicated in the off-season, then Boras gets in his ear about options and everything goes to Hell.

The guy was turning into a clubhouse cancer, and needed to be dealt with and was.

[Garb]

I don't if Ortiz was in that meeting. Yet, I think when it comes down to it, the team comes before the player. You can still be friends and not teammates.

As far as this whole media and FO ballwashing stuff goes, it goes both ways. These type of stories are held on to or excused by Francona and the FO and not talked about. I just don't get how Manny has changed in the last 4 months so drastically. He was friendly with the media, he was dedicated in the off-season, then Boras gets in his ear about options and everything goes to Hell.

The guy was turning into a clubhouse cancer, and needed to be dealt with and was.

They want you to BELEIVE he was a clubhouse cancer.

Was listening to WEEI this morning - they are having a full blown party over there....anyway, someone, a reporter for the Metro News, said that Manny was actually telling Boras to eff off and that his antics were all his doing. Yes, Manny had the forsight to plan all this. It was part of Manny's own master plan. We should not be a shocked by this 'cause we all know that Manny is highly intelligent.

[afosomf]

sox will not make playoffs IMO

they also do not need to win another WS for 100 years

they are making $$ hands over fists...we should all have their problems

[Lil Bit Special]

I immediately thought of you while reading this. You couldn't be any more right.

The Sox/Boston papers act like a jaded lover and must find closure by trying to hit as far below the belt as possible. Disgusting.

All sports reporters do this. Its just Boston's turn now.

Its sad that fans cant see through this tripe.

[CrazyCarl40]

All sports reporters do this. Its just Boston's turn now.

Its sad that fans cant see through this tripe.

Hey, I am glad Dan Duquette signed Manny Ramirez. He did wonderfully on the field, for the most part, of the 7 and a half years he was here. He wore out his welcome with lack of effort and media fodder quotes. I will always respect Manny the player and have a big place in my Red Sox heart for him. I wished he would just have kept his mouth shut, played hard and the Sox would have been forced to pick up the option. He wanted it all on a silver platter and guaranteed. The FO knows when Manny shuts it down, as he has before (hello 2006), there isn't much you can do.

And Garb- You cannot say the things Manny said and not be a distraction/cancer. He put himself before the team and that is a big no-no.

[Lil Bit Special]

Hey, I am glad Dan Duquette signed Manny Ramirez. He did wonderfully on the field, for the most part, of the 7 and a half years he was here. He wore out his welcome with lack of effort and media fodder quotes. I will always respect Manny the player and have a big place in my Red Sox heart for him. I wished he would just have kept his mouth shut, played hard and the Sox would have been forced to pick up the option. He wanted it all on a silver platter and guaranteed. The FO knows when Manny shuts it down, as he has before (hello 2006), there isn't much you can do.

And Garb- You cannot say the things Manny said and not be a distraction/cancer. He put himself before the team and that is a big no-no.

Manny has always been about Manny. He shut it down in 06 because the team fell apart after the trading deadline. It just really seems weird that now Manny being Manny is too much of a distraction. Really weird. They couldnt put up with his antics for another 2 months? I dont believe it.

Manny deserves to play for the Pirates with the way he acts. He is everything I hate about athletes.

[DaBrick Wall]

From my good friend Peter Gammons:

He used sycophants to insult ownership and everyone in authority, and one player who really cares for Ramirez said that he knew Ramirez could sit the last two months, collect his final $7 million and ride off into the $100 million sunset. The Red Sox knew that, as well. They had already threatened him with an unpaid suspension, but in a world where the union fights for those who don't work, the last two months were going to be a living hell of sit-down strikes, followed by suspensions. It would have been a half-season of what the past two weeks have been, namely a chokehold on the team's baseball culture.

Ramirez tried to sit, citing his knee. Problem is, after skipping Felix Hernandez and Joba Chamberlain, the Red Sox ownership and medical staff ordered him to take an MRI. If Ramirez hadn't forgotten which knee was bothering him, he would have been more convincing, but he got mixed up. Massachusetts General Hospital performed MRIs on both knees, found nothing and the next day ownership served Ramirez with a written notice that if he did not play, he would be suspended without pay.

Someday, when we really understand the whole 1980-2005 Steroid Era of which one admitted user says "the only guys who didn't do them after 1994 were either stupid or scared," we may ask the question: Was it worse to take performance-enhancing drugs to perform better and win, or decline to play and steal money?

Anyone who was watching John Lackey's run at a no-hitter continue in the seventh inning on Wednesday when Ramirez jogged to first in 5.7 seconds, realizes that he is one of those rare, gifted athletes who cares nothing about winning, about the integrity of the game or his teammates.

The smear campaign begins. Did he really just say Manny Ramirez was worse than a guy who took steroids?

[CrazyCarl40]

From my good friend Peter Gammons:

The smear campaign begins. Did he really just say Manny Ramirez was worse than a guy who took steroids?

I don't agree with Gammons. Manny cared about winning. He just cared about himself and money more.

[Bob]

There's plenty of blame on both sides of this. Manny is not the victim Garb makes him out to be. On the other hand, there does seem to be a lot of piling on, now that he's gone.

[Bugg]

Remarkably Ramirez agreed to the trade only on the condtion that the Dodgers forego his $20 million per club options for 2009 and 2010. Who the eff (except the Mets, of course)is going to pay him anywhere clsoe to that given all this stuff the Sawx are about to spill out like shark guts on a fishing dock? Giving up that $40 million could be the single dumbest piece of financial advice in MLB history, even if the Sawx weren't going to pick it up. Boras must be like a cat in a bag, promising Ramirez the sun, the moon and the stars now that A-rod and Sheff have told him to take a hike. How can a club (spare again Minaya) give him that much cash and not have him be part of the club's face and marketing, things Ramirez refused to do in Boston?

[shawn306]

Remarkably Ramirez agreed to the trade only on the condtion that the Dodgers forego his $20 million per club options for 2009 and 2010. Who the eff (except the Mets, of course)is going to pay him anywhere clsoe to that given all this stuff the Sawx are about to spill out like shark guts on a fishing dock? Giving up that $40 million could be the single dumbest piece of financial advice in MLB history, even if the Sawx weren't going to pick it up. Boras must be like a cat in a bag, promising Ramirez the sun, the moon and the stars now that A-rod and Sheff have told him to take a hike. How can a club (spare again Minaya) give him that much cash and not have him be part of the club's face and marketing, things Ramirez refused to do in Boston?

Manny has it in his mind that his next contract is going to be four years for 100 million dollars.

He is out of his effin mind if he thinks he is even going to sniff that.

I don't even think the Yankees would give him that kind of a deal with all his baggage.

I mean seriously if you were the owner say of the Yanks, Mets, Angels what would you offer him or would you even make an offer to him ?

The guy is a HOF hitter who is basically a child.

[haggis]

And what will they print tomorrow? The sun rises in the east and the sky is blue? I think it was pretty clear that Manny was difficult to deal with.

[JonEJet]

And what will they print tomorrow? The sun rises in the east and the sky is blue? I think it was pretty clear that Manny was difficult to deal with.

STFU

When he was raking, and winnig games for the Sawx...you couldn't lap up enough of his jizz

[Arsis]

Manny has it in his mind that his next contract is going to be four years for 100 million dollars.

He is out of his effin mind if he thinks he is even going to sniff that.

I don't even think the Yankees would give him that kind of a deal with all his baggage.

I mean seriously if you were the owner say of the Yanks, Mets, Angels what would you offer him or would you even make an offer to him ?

The guy is a HOF hitter who is basically a child.

I'd offer him vets minimum to DH for the yanks.

[anskyruben]

I'm going to let you guys in on a little secret, but don't tell anyone. Most athletes, and celebrities are a-holes. They don't give 2 squirts about anything but their fame and paycheck. They don't care about you or I, or about the little kid dying of cancer. Some of them will go out of their way to sign an autograph and take a picture. But you know what, they still don't give a crap. They do it to maintain an image. So stop acting all surprised now that the smear campaign has begun by Larry the mobster and his band of gangsters. They are just trying to make themselves look better, because any Sux fan with half a brain will tell you that , that Jason Bay is no where near the presence or player that Manny is/was. Most of these primadona players have bad attitudes and need to be pampered. Manny was just another one of them. He is now gone, and frankly, Grandma Gammons and the Sux PR machine should just put a cork in it.

[Gainzo]

This just looks odd.

[AVM]

There's plenty of blame on both sides of this. Manny is not the victim Garb makes him out to be. On the other hand, there does seem to be a lot of piling on, now that he's gone.

Excellent post. The people who say none of this is true, that it's just the Sox front office trying to save face are equally wrong to those who say everything is true. Manny was probably somewhat of a jerk at times, and at other times he was probably great. If nothing else he was a joy to watch

[DaBrick Wall]

Excellent post. The people who say none of this is true, that it's just the Sox front office trying to save face are equally wrong to those who say everything is true. Manny was probably somewhat of a jerk at times, and at other times he was probably great. If nothing else he was a joy to watch

There is blame on both sides. But the thing that bothers me is that the Sox front office and management has allowed this same crap to go on for EIGHT YEARS. They were enablers of Manny's attitude throughout his tenure in Boston. He's taken days off; hell, he's taken series off, and yet the Red Sox love it, the fans love it, and the media loves it. It went from "Manny being Manny" to "Manny being worse than a steroid user" because they're trying to save face.

[Gainzo]

There is blame on both sides. But the thing that bothers me is that the Sox front office and management has allowed this same crap to go on for EIGHT YEARS. They were enablers of Manny's attitude throughout his tenure in Boston. He's taken days off; hell, he's taken series off, and yet the Red Sox love it, the fans love it, and the media loves it. It went from "Manny being Manny" to "Manny being worse than a steroid user" because they're trying to save face.

After the Sox put him on waivers a few years back and no one bit, Manny was a model citizen. His behaviour the last few weeks was the straw that broke the camels back. He gave up on the team.

[Thor99]

His knee(s) didn't seem to bother him running out those groundballs today.

Also, he said he would cut his dreds if asked, he doesn't want to be treated differently.

[anskyruben]

Let him be. He is gone and no longer a "problem" for you guys. As a Yankee fan it's a wet dream to know he is gone from the AL, let alone Boston.

[Thor99]

Let him be. He is gone and no longer a "problem" for you guys. As a Yankee fan it's a wet dream to know he is gone from the AL, let alone Boston.

With the Sox bullpen in total disarray, the Sox have no chance. Even the WC is a pipe dream.

The Tampa Bay Rays. Your 2008 AL East Champions.

[anskyruben]

With the Sox bullpen in total disarray, the Sox have no chance. Even the WC is a pipe dream.

The Tampa Bay Rays. Your 2008 AL East Champions.

If that crapbag of a team wins the division, I may consider self inflicted wounds.

[haggis]

STFU

When he was raking, and winnig games for the Sawx...you couldn't lap up enough of his jizz

You are right. I was a big Manny fan, I didn't want to see him go. But I know this trade HAD to happen. He was affecting everyone. So yeah, I'll miss him ripping the yanks on the way to anoter World Series ring, but those days had gone with him in Boston. Manny made a HIGE mistake here and unfortunately the Sox had to pay the price.