Manny being... oh, Manny

Okay, second entry in row where I am making the statement, "If I were a _______ fan, I'd be…blah blah blah." That said, if I were a Red Sox fan- and thank the good lord I am not- I would be pretty much done with Manny Ramirez. The ol' "Just Manny being Manny" has reared it its ugly, nappy-dreaded head again this week in multiple. It wasn't enough that we had to watch Manny, hands extended over his head, standing for way too long at home plate admiring his home run on Tuesday night in Cleveland- a solo home run that brought the score to 7-3: in favor of the Indians. What was he so damn excited about that he needs to hot-dog like that, show up the opposing team in their own stadium, and frankly embarrass himself and his teammates? To quote the guys on ESPN's show PTI, "It looked like he thought he just hit a 6-run walk-off homer!" Just Manny being Manny.

Now today we learn that Manny, in his words, gave a hearty "Who cares?" in regards to whether or not the Red Sox win their series against the Indians. From ESPN.com:

"Why should we panic?" he said in a rare clubhouse interview. "We've got a great team."And then, this: "It doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not the end of the world."

Who cares, Manny? Red Sox Nation, knucklehead. With the recent history of Red Sox comebacks, the last thing a hyped-up Sox fan wants to hear is that one of the star players on their favorite team really doesn't care too much, and is willing to give it the old college try next year. Especially a Boston fan. I think there have been far too many next years for them.
Will there be any backlash from this? Time will tell I think. Let's see how Manny performs tonight and see if the Sox can pull this one out. Then we'll see the reaction from Red Sox Nation.
To me, there has to be point where the all the crap- the sound bites, the loafing around the bases and outfield, the yearly trade requests- outweighs even the most spectacular hitting performance. And Manny Ramirez is an enormously talented and feared hitter- maybe even one of the best right-handed batters in the history of the game. But I wouldn't want him anywhere near my team- as a fan and I would think as a front office staff. The fact that the need for damage control is so frequent that it has garnered its own catch phrase, "Just Manny being Manny," should say it all. If at all goes bad this week for the Red Sox we may see that yearly trade request actually come to fruition- and Manny can be Manny somewhere else.

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OH AND…

Happiest of birthdays today to my beautiful wife Heather! Also not a Red Sox fan (otherwise probably not my wife…ha). Also, such a phenomenal wife that had the Yankees made it to the ALCS, and to a Game 5- that's where we'd be tonight. On her birthday! Yes gents, she is a keeper!