That’s just Manny and his hammies (And it’s just Manny being omnisciently sourced)

August 23rd, 2006 → 11:50 am @ // No Comments

Imagine you’re married to a smoking hot chick. (I say chick only because, judging from the comments and names of people who’ve registered on the site, it seems as if most of the blog’s readers are men. But for the ladies in the house, imagine you’re married to a smoking hot hunk, and substitute in as you wish.) She’s a hellcat in the sack. I mean mind-bendingly, jaw-droppingly good, the kind of sex that leaves you weak-kneed for a day or two afterwards. She also likes football, baseball, and the Three Stooges. She’s funny. She’s smart. She’s interesting. She’s exciting. In the history of wifedom, it’s hard to imagine more than a handful of women who’d ever be able to compete. That’s not to say she doesn’t have her drawbacks: she refuses — flat out refuses — to visit your parents. She hates your friends. And she stubbornly chews with her mouth open. But you can deal with all of this. You happily deal with all of this.

The one thing that’s harder to deal with is those times, once or twice a year, when she up and disappears. Literally just checks out. Oftentimes, these moments come when you need her most: your boss just tore you a new one, or your dog just died, or you’re going in to get that weird lump checked out…and suddenly, she’s gone. Usually she’s back in a couple of days, but sometimes it’s a week. Or longer. The weird thing is, these moments often come immediately after she’s once again blown you away with how amazing she is. She’ll insist on staying at the game in the middle of a thunderstorm, or will surprise you with a pre-paid trip to Vegas…and then, bam, she’s gone. No matter how amazing things were a couple of days (or hours) earlier, that hurts. It hurts bad. And it’s almost impossible to understand.

Ladies and gentlemen, you’re the Boston Red Sox. And that smoking hot wife is Manny Ramirez.

***

Buried amidst all the carnage of the Boston Massacre, 2006 edition, is how freakishly good Manny has been as of late. During the five games against the Yankees, Manny had 20 plate appearances. He reached base 19 times. Think about that: in five games over four days, Manny made exactly one out. (It’s likely true that, as ESPN’s David Schoenfield argued last week, Manny is among the most unsung superstars in the game, although that’s due more to his silence than anything else.) He had two four-baggers. He had seven RBIs. The pitching might have come up short. The bullpen might have leaked runs like a flimsy piñata. David Ortiz might have had a frustratingly human series. But Manny? Manny really was (as the Fenway PA system reminded us on July 31, 2005) like Superman.

Except all was not right in Manny-world. Friday night, a couple of hours after the first gut punch of a loss and a couple of hours before the second one, Manny hit a sharp ball into the hole. It glanced off Derek Jeter’s glove, and he was given an error. Manny certainly didn’t need the single to improve his average (.329, 4th in the AL), his OBP (.445, 1st in the AL), his SLG (.625, 2nd in the AL), or his OPS (1.080, second (by .008) in the AL). Lord knows he wasn’t looking for that elusive base hit that’d help him snap out of a slump.

But to repeat what’s already become a hackneyed phrase, Manny, being Manny, threw a hissy fit. According to teammates (or according to people in the clubhouse who attributed this to teammates) and club officials, Manny had to be talked into suiting up on Saturday. On Sunday, according to several people privy to the situation, Manny tried to convince an MLB official to give him a hit on the play. And on Monday, according to everyone who was watching the game, Manny, because of his suddenly tightening hamstrings, didn’t play after the fourth inning. He also didn’t start last night’s game (although he did pinch-hit for Dustin Pedroia to lead off the top of ninth with the Sox down a run).

For years, Manny has had tight hamstrings. Manny’s also incredibly limber; the next time you go to a game, watch him warm up. And for years, Manny’s hammies have been the excuse cited by the team whenever Manny’s needed to take a couple of personal days. This is infuriating, regardless of what Manny did in the previous four innings or the previous four days or the previous four days or the previous 12 years. Yesterday, Terry Francona told the media, “He’s just sore. So rather than turn this into a week, try to let him get worked on and get him back as quick as possible.” Was he talking about Manny’s hamstrings? Or his head? Or a bit of both?

***

Sportswriting is a unique beast. It’s the only type of journalism in which someone’s called on to be a critic, an investigative reporter, and a gossip columnist…all at the same time. (Can you imagine if movie critics were also asked to report on the business side of Hollywood? How do you a pan a movie when the next day you need the exec who greenlighted the project to tell you about an upcoming merger?) It’s also the last place reporters and columnists regular elide from one role to the other (you’re not about to see Maureen Dowd writing news stories from Crawford), and just about the last place omniscient sourcing is permitted. If you can’t think of the last time you read a sentence that began, “According to teammates who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of clubhouse interactions,” that’s because you’ve never read a sentence that began that way.

I’ve never covered football, basketball, or hockey, but I have covered politics, business, and crime, and baseball is the only arena I know of in which everyone — from the players to the agents to the coaches to the managers to the front offices — is fully expected to lie. After he signed with the Yankees, Alan Embree never copped to telling the Red Sox he was going to sign with a team on the West Coast before ending up playing for the Yankees, the Red Sox never called him out, and Embree’s agent kept saying how disappointed Embree was about the whole thing. A lot of the time, reporters aren’t privy to these types of prevarications. Sometimes, however, they are, and sometimes people — the front office, players, etc — tells reporters something but tells them they can’t attribute it to anyone, even anonymously. And since there’s the absence of those “requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature” clauses, viola: omniscient sourcing.

This, I assume, was the case with Sean McAdam’s column in yesterday’s Providence Journal. “Think about that,” McAdam wrote. In the middle of the Sox’ three most dispiriting losses of the season, suffered at the hands of the team’s archrival, Ramirez sulked about losing credit for a meaningless single that didn’t even involve an RBI. …
[W]ith his team’s season in the balance, Ramirez intended to sit out to protest a scorer’s call? Would Jeter do that? Would David Ortiz? Would, in fact, any other player in the game?”

For anyone who saw Ortiz making a mad dash for second, sausage-link legs akimbo and arms furiously pumping, in the botttom of the ninth on Sunday knows the answer to that question. (Ortiz’s hit, a sharp shot down the first base line, was flubbed by Jason Giambi. Unlike Jeter’s play with Manny, Giambi wasn’t charged with an error, and Ortiz was given credit for a double.) McAdam, one of the most respected (and one of the best) Red Sox writers, doesn’t cite his sources. That’s not, I’m sure, because he doesn’t have them; I was able to independently confirm the basic facts with a couple of phone calls from my apartment in Manhattan. But sportswriters aren’t supposed to use the pedantic sourcing found on the front page. And because of that, sources expect they won’t be linked to a story…even as a generic “teammate” or “club official.” Still, in many quarters, fans were outraged at McAdam for writing his column instead of at Manny for up and disappearing at another crucial moment.

***

Thirty-eight years ago, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren told Sports Illustrated the order in which he read the newspaper: “I always turn to the sports section first. The sports section records people’s accomplishments; the front page nothing but man’s failures.” New Englanders, with their near-religious devotion to the Sox, expect the sports section to record people’s accomplishments more than most places. New Yorker’s don’t explode in outrage when players are caught acting like morons (or horny teenagers). Bostonians do…but this outrage is directed at the messengers, not the message. I understand that, and I’m sure McAdam does, too. But it doesn’t change the reality of the situation.


Post Categories: Manny Ramirez & Media reporting & Sean McAdam & Sports Reporters

29 Comments → “That’s just Manny and his hammies (And it’s just Manny being omnisciently sourced)”


  1. tinisoli

    17 years ago

    Seth,
    To your knowledge, do many baseball writers speak Spanish? After each annual brouhaha over Manny, his hammies, his petulance, and his “enigmatic” nature, I always wonder if things might be different if there were reporters in the locker room (other than those from Spanish language media) who could actually converse with Manny in the language that he’s most comfortable with. Maybe if someone could actually talk with him in the language that he knows best, we’d hear more about his approach to hitting and less of the usual “idiot savant” nonsense that Shaughnessy et al fall back on whenever they can’t get a peep out of Manny. Maybe not. But I am curious to know if reporters, especially young guys coming up, are learning Spanish in order to be better baseball reporters.

    Reply

  2. magnetichf

    17 years ago

    i play in a basketball league in the city where i live. it’s a large, very well-run league, full of good players. it is, however, ultimately just a recreational league.

    week in and week out, i’m always surprised at how competitive the players are. this almost always spills over into aggressive trash-talking, to opposing players, to the refs, sometimes even to teammates. most guys (and some women too) can probably think of times when they’ve been playing a game and witnessed someone taking it way too seriously. in light of that, it’s really not that hard for me to believe that a major league ballplayer would actually care about a hit being ruled an error. these guys get paid based on numbers, after all.

    for years, i counted myself in the camp of people who had little patience for manny’s antics. i believed in the concept of team, and of players putting team first, always. i’ve since come around to believe that that’s a somewhat outdated notion, when you consider how the business of baseball works. yes, i still honestly believe that ballplayers *want* to be loyal, want to play for an organization that they like and believe in. but i also believe that loyalty goes both ways, and in the end, business is business.

    i also have learned to be a bit more skeptical of sports writing. even information coming directly from a source with first-hand knowledge is coming with that source’s own spin or agenda attached.

    Reply

  3. gloreedays

    17 years ago

    aren’t you done taking cheap shots at Manny yet? there are plenty of other people on that team that need to be spanked for the recent of collapse the Red Sox. But they are probably the same people whose asses you kissed in your “book”.

    Reply

  4. jscribner

    17 years ago

    Seth, you suffer from the same twisted arrogance as McAdam. The outrage you speak of is the result of you sports writers talking trash about Manny. That’s the whole story. Nobody is outraged when Manny takes a day off. He deserves it. He has been the best guy on the Sox for years and nobody cares when he takes a day off, whether it’s because of his hammy or because he wants to cry or whatever. WE DON’T CARE! We do care when dorks like you and McAdam try and force your morality down our throats. You people are constantly forgetting that these athletes are human beings and they can only be held to so high a standard. When you guys whine about Manny taking a day off you alienate every one of your readers who has ever called in sick because they felt like they needed a day off.

    Reply

  5. Leroux Coup

    17 years ago

    Here’s the problem with this becoming a big story. Manny played in all those games and reached base 19 out of 20 times. Almost every single member of the Sox played like garbage and embarassed themselves and the team. Manny did play on Saturday and Sunday. Everything else is just window dressing. It’s information that would be better off left in the clubhouse.

    Every time Manny leaves a game or doesn’t play, the press makes it into a huge story. If it was Trot Nixon, no one would have batted an eye and it certainly wouldn’t have been a big story in the press. But, because it is Manny, it is a whole different story. It makes me sick

    Bob Ryan wrote a great column yesterday in which he analyzed the numerous on the field problems. McAdam and Shaughnessy took the lazy way out and just stirred up another Manny story. They showed again why a significant portion of Sox fans loathe the Boston media and have turned away from it. These columnists and reporters would rather create a controversy than analyze what goes on in between the lines. By doing that, they can milk it for television and radio appearances and makes themselves seem much more important than they really are. This is just the latest example of their agenda driven nonsense.

    Reply

  6. Ogie Oglethorpe

    17 years ago

    Have you ever thought that sportswriters treat athletes differently based upon their relationship with the athlete in question? If you are a guy who makes the writer’s job easier by giving quotes and comments whenever they ask (Damon) you’ll have you shortcomings written about less frequently. On the flip side if you don’t give interviews (Manny, Nomar) and make it harder to get their material you draw all sorts of criticism.

    McAdam was beside himself when Damon was booed upon his return to Boston. Calling the fans classless and the moment a black mark on the City of Boston. He forgot to add that Damon put in writing (book) that he would never play for the Yankees. After signing with the Yanks, Damon went on to say that he thought that Manny and Papi should follow suit and head to the Bronx too. He also pulled an Al Gore and claimed he created atmosphere that was the Sox ’04 clubhouse and that “nobody hung around until I showed up”. So, basically this shameless self-promoter went back on his word and publicly lobbied for the Sox’ 3 & 4 hitter to defect to Boston’s most hated rivals. But McAdam thinks he should be cheered. Strange correlation don’t you think?

    Now Manny needs a day off and he is the devil. The Sox would be nowhere without this guy. We may never see a hitter of his caliber come through Fenway again in our lifetime. He deserves a day off.

    Reply

  7. yazdog8

    17 years ago

    How many games has Manny played in all year? I think the total to date is 121. With roughly 34 games left…that means he’s on pace for over 150 games played this year. Which is what he’s roughly averaged for the last 4 years. So how is this an issue again? Seriously. He was one of the only players on the Sox to sack up over the weekend against the Yankees.

    This is such a non story it’s a joke. The wheels have fallen off the Sox wagon this year and all the local scribes know how to do is bleat like goats about how awful things are in the clubhouse and how Sox fans are ready to jump off the nearest bridge.

    Ridiculous.

    Reply

  8. wemissoc

    17 years ago

    Seth- love the blog and am thoroughly enjoying your book. In my opinion, you made the perfect analogy about the engima that is Manny Ramirez (certainly far more original than the typical Manny being Manny rhetoric). Is Manny held to a different standard than anyone else on the Sox? Certainly. Is there a legitimate reason for this? Absolutely. The reason is that Manny is the best hitter/run producer on the team and is the straw that stirs the drink in the Sox lineup (and incidentally, he makes $20 mil/year). Without him, Papi does not see any pitches and will be walked intentionally in any key situation- like last night when they walked him in the 9th to pitch to Youk. The bottom line is that RSN will be yearning fondly for these days after 2008 when Manny is sipping maitais in Brazil and Papi is hitting .250 with 25 HRS and 100 RBIs.

    Reply

  9. gmschmidty

    17 years ago

    Seth-

    Count me in as one of your loyalists whom you’ve lost with this argument. I think everyone before me has said it quite nicely, and Leroux most poignantly. The fact is that fans of the team, and fans of Manny (I consider myself both, though many consider themselves only the former) aren’t outraged at McAdam for accusing Manny of slacking off, although that is certainly part of it. What I take issue with is the fact that McAdam just witnessed the most embarassing (if not the most significant) series loss this team has seen in almost 30 years, and the ONE everyday player who came anywhere close to acquiting himself of blame happens to be the focus of McAdam’s story?

    You had an excellent blog yesterday giving credit where it was due to Bob Ryan for his thoughtful article. One of the key points, I think you’ll agree, is that Ryan was fearful of the blood-letting that was bound to come as a result of this collapse. We all need to see heads severed, to paraphrase Ryan. If that wasn’t prescient to McAdam’s article (written at the very same hour, coincidentally) I don’t know what is. My point is McAdam is a professional and should know better. His duty to the public is to report the facts of what happened: the team (ASIDE from Manny) collapsed. Of course, this doesn’t preclude him from the privilege of analysis: why the team (ASIDE from Manny) collapsed. But instead of attempting to analyze why the series blew up n the Sox face, McAdam made the beef of the article an analysis on the one component of the team which was actually respectable over the course of the story. All McAdam is really doing is trying to swirl up controversy by pushing around blame. Unfortunately he simply pushed it into the quietest corner because he doesn’t want to push it into the corners where it belongs: the front office (they may be vindicated in 2 years, but we all agree look pretty silly right now); the Manager who managed like a chuckle-head; or the Seven Everyday players, and 7 or 8 pitchers who played like they simply DID NOT CARE. The only guy who played like he cared was Manny. Quite frankly if I was him, and I had to hear that I was the prima donna on a team that apparently has more of them coming out of the woodwork then we ever knew (Javy Lopez! Mike Timlin!) I would have been pretty sick and tired of trying to carry those bums on my back too. The story wasn’t Manny. It was everyone else. McAdam should, AND DOES, know better.

    Reply

  10. umass_amherst

    17 years ago

    “New Yorker’s don’t explode in outrage when players are caught acting like morons (or horny teenagers). Bostonians do…but this outrage is directed at the messengers, not the message.”

    What outrages Sox fans is being told what they should be outraged at. Are Shaughnessy and McAdam really concerned that Manny’s latest “incident” undermines the team and the city’s devotion to the team? Or are they taking advantage of the fans collective vulnerability to inflame a situation that nobody (outside some in the media) really thinks is a situation?
    That Manny takes days off under questionable circumstances is not news. We all know it and frankly most of us accept it. Furthermore, that Shaughnessy finds these incidents so appalling underscores how disconnected he has become with his audience. He’s become virtually unreadable by focusing on a Chicken Little persona. It comes across as petty, vengeful and with more than a hint tattle-taling. Is it really any wonder that Manny would refuse to talk to him (an “abject diss” Shaughnessy’s own words)?
    It’s basic schoolyard mud-slinging and I’m perfectly capable of being outraged when outrage is warranted. I don’t need a someone in my ear whispering, “he called your momma fat too.”

    Reply

  11. Retire_Number_14

    17 years ago

    How is it an “abject diss” when the guy hasn’t spoken to ANY media members all season, and rarely has in his history with the team? And if I were Manny, I wouldn’t talk to Shaughnessy either. The man is clearly out to stir the pot and pen the column that everyone’s talking about, whether it’s for the right reasons or not.

    Give Manny a break, man. Dan, don’t report on stuff that isn’t fact. McAdam, have the balls to cite your sources (it’s not like this is Watergate). Seth, so Manny’s an enigma, let’s all just deal with it, we’ve had plenty of practice by now. The results are worth it, every team in MLB would agree. Manny and Ortiz have been carrying this team, and the only thing about last weekend that was not a disgrace was Manny’s performance. So what if he’s pissed about the scorer’s call? Listen, Sox fans are mad enough, we don’t need some trumped up reason to be even madder.

    Reply

  12. Bill Pratt

    17 years ago

    I’m all in with posts 3, 4, 5, sort of 6, 7, 9, and 10. All of you guys hit it just like Manny did last weekend. Good job.

    Sorry to say Seth, if you really have a problem with any of Manny’s behavior this weekend, then you are so far off base you can consider yourself picked off by your own loyalists. Its okay, it happens to the best of guys that normally have a well grounded sense of perspective most of the time.

    Since we’re just bashing away like Manny, your smokin’ hot intro was a little too much like Simmons. I come here for the cerebral stuff. You know, like references to retired Supreme Court Justices not Long Island Lolitas. Seriously. And if you think about it, Warren’s comment no longer applies, sadly. As Bobby Ryan wrote, “…..We’ve lost our way.”

    Reply

  13. Bill Pratt

    17 years ago

    Just noticed that I left out post 11 in my post 12. Right on. Also just noticed your log on tribute. Nice touch, they should retire 14 but don’t they have to wait until he’s in the HOF? I remember getting Jim Rice’s autograph in Marshfield, Massachusetts when I was 10 years old. So long ago I can’t remember if it was at a car dealership or an A&P. I stood in line for ever and he never said more than “Hi” or “Thanks” to anyone. He was another guy that did not like all the attention.

    Reply

  14. Ogie Oglethorpe

    17 years ago

    I remember an episode of Sports Extra in which Lobel asked Shaughnessy which of the following two options would he rather have occur:

    1. The Red Sox win their first World Series since 1918.
    2. The Red Sox make it to the World Series and lose in dramatic fashion.

    Without hesitation he answered 2 because it would make for better reporting. The sad thing is that I believe a lot of the local writers root for something like this past weekend to happen because it makes for a good story. They also pick a certain player each season and just relentlessly ride them. How long was it before Renteria was in the dog house? All the better if the player is like Renteria and can’t take the criticism.

    At one point in time I considered McAdam a must read. Now I can barely get through an article without some sort of grenade throw at the Sox. Mazzarotti has gone the way of Shaughnessy as well. Seems that the doom and gloom writing/reporting is not only a lay-up for them but it is also more satisfying.

    Reply

  15. Carson

    17 years ago

    This situation invites discussion of a larger issue, namely why fans and teams rush to defend bad conduct from sublime performers, whether it be from Manny, Terrell Owens, etc.

    Manny is a superb hitter, as all posters have noted. Which apparently excuses mind-meltingly bush league behavior. Crying to MLB officials to have an error rerecorded as a hit is abominable. Picture the glee of Red Sox fans if Alex Rodriguez did that. Demanding to be traded at crucial points of the season, as he has done several times in the last few years, is inexcusable and has nothing to do with his batting average, OBP, or sportswriters who can’t speak Spanish. Personally, I thought his nadir was reached with the “sore throat” that prevented participation in the Yankee series, but permitted going to the bar at the Four Seasons. With friends from the Yankees.

    So, he wants a day off. Me too. When your team needs you and they pay you $20 million a year, you play as hard as you can, whether you want to or not. I don’t understand the logic of those who say, “So what if he pouts and sits out? He’s a great player”.

    The Yankee series was a huge setback, but the season is far from over, regardless of the writing of pinheads like Shaughnessey. Going straight into an away series with the Angels is precisely when the team needs all hands on deck, not moping on the bench. Yes, he’s a great hitter. But that’s all.

    Reply

  16. cursemyreverse

    17 years ago

    I like Manny Ramirez. I like what a goofball he is. I like that he doesn’t talk to the media and when he does he sounds like he’s taken a few too many anti-depressants. I like the nonsensical stuff he does at Fenway, like coming out to play left field with a water bottle in his back pocket and when the Monster fans yell down about it he turns around and motions “SHhhhhh” — or that he goes into the scoreboard and shoots the breeze. I think it’s hilarious that he picked a theme song with swears in it and even more hilarious that no one screened it first before playing it. That he met Enrique Wilson downstairs at the Ritz is the most ridiculous story ever, as it is the equivalent of any one of us living in a high rise and coming down the elevator and meeting someone in the lobby – as Manny LIVES in the Ritz and the bar is in the lobby. (Also no one ever said he even had something alcoholic to drink even) July 31st last year was my favorite game of the season, hands down. And his first at bat at Fenway was the first opening day I had ever been to.

    I don’t like Manny’s annual trade demand, but anyone who doesn’t think Manny doesn’t know he made a mistake when he signed with us instead of Cleveland wasn’t paying attention. He wanted to sign with them, we just threw whatever money at him we needed to so he would sign with us. Duke just needed to save face after losing Mussina to a far classier Yankee campaign. Manny should have stayed in Cleveland. He loved it there, fans and media left him alone there. I think about watching Manny all these years in Boston and I just feel lucky, like we’ve been hoarding stolen property. We bought him the same way we complain the Yankees buy someone like Damon. Manny probably hates it here more than he doesn’t, even for all that money. And I don’t blame him, this is an insane place to play baseball and it takes a special breed. But all of this is mute. For all the talk of Manny mailing it in with a jog to first or a day off, his aloof nature is exactly why he’s so good. He outperformed the entire team during the “massacre” because he just goes and hits pitches regardless of everything else. While everyone else on the team was mentally ruining themselves during the “massacre”, Manny just went up and hit, well. All this stuff Manny does is a part of the package. Every time it seems we might trade him (Arod or Manny? everyone?) I wince because for all his faults the man is a machine. A man child superstar who needs to be coddled and coaxed? So be it. Because when he goes into the HOF with that B on his cap everyone here will casually forget about the usual CHB hatchet job and annual trade demand. The same way we all of the sudden love Clemens again (he’ll get that B as well) And beyond all that, I would even say we should pick up his option years at 20 million a pop (we won’t) because even an aging Manny will still be an amazing hitter and they will be hard pressed to find effective protection for Papi ever again. I just wish people would leave him alone and let him play in his quiet goofy way. And be warned, we don’t pick up those options and I assure you the Yankees will, and I’m calling it right now that the attacks which were too mean to be published now will miraculously appear then.

    Also, I agree with the other poster that this is the kind of crap I simply don’t want to know. This is clubhouse gossip. We don’t hear about how almost every player on the team cheats on his wife, an accepted and disgusting fact in all of baseball. We don’t hear about the kinds of explicit quotes available in Seth’s book from Papi and the like. The sports page should not resemble Peephole Magazine, yet it wouldn’t surprise me if Shaughnessy or Buckley started hanging out on the perimeters of player’s estates with a high power lense. Or maybe unnamed sources can soon be bartenders at restaurants who overheard Youk tell Kyle Snyder he really liked “What Women Want”. (The person who tipped off the media about Manny and Enrique was fired by the way) There is a fine line… of course there is and I’m not about to say I know it, but Simmons rightfully maintains, as a fan you can’t know that your favorite player is a tool, or else you can’t be a fan anymore. Say what you want about ignorance and bliss, but if Mirabelli is a dick, or Curt is anti-abortion, or Papi has another family in Romania, not only do I not want to know, I don’t really care. I love rooting for them on the diamond and I’m happy to leave it at that.

    And I might not marry that “smoking hot chick” but I would definitely date her for her peak years, until settling down with the girl next door. I mean nobody’s perfect and who hasn’t ever had a slightly insane ex?

    Reply

  17. jward23

    17 years ago

    Really, it’s the ultimate hypocrisy. McAdam and Shag take a day off by mailing in columns dumping on Manny for taking a day off.

    Reply

  18. sonnysiebert

    17 years ago

    It’s fairly clear from your “story” what your hot chick wife does for you, i.e., great sex, shoulder to cry on, sports watching pal and so on. What you fail to mention is just exactly what you do for her. And therein may well lie the answer to her mysterious disappearances.

    Maybe she goes away to have some time to herself, a chance to relax and just be herself without having to perform like some kind of Stepford Wife. Maybe she goes away to be with friends who like her for who she is, where she doesn’t have to pretend to want sex when she’d rather watch some Leno and go to sleep, where she doesn’t have to greet you at the door and pretend to care about your problems at work when what she really wants is to tell you about her friend Cynthia who’s expecting twins and where she doesn’t have to watch some meaningless exhibition football game with you instead of “The Princess Bride.”

    Maybe she just gets tired of always trying to live up to your expectations (and I dare you to answer with “but that’s what she’s getting paid to do”).

    Reply

  19. orrinj

    17 years ago

    My one question would be: in your book you suggest that Shaughnessy was the source that Lucchino would use to get even with folks, mightn’t this be a case of that?

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  20. HFXBOB

    17 years ago

    One of the things that seems absent from most of the attacks on Ramirez/team’s handling of him is some useful suggestion of exactly what should be done about him. Is it mere discipline you guys want, or would you proceed directly to cutting him loose, to preserve the integrity of the club? Hey, didn’t that Babe Ruth guy whose loss has been so tragedized have some bad habits himself? Maybe even a little worse than Manny’s? Hmmm…

    Reply

  21. Leroux Coup

    17 years ago

    “This situation invites discussion of a larger issue, namely why fans and teams rush to defend bad conduct from sublime performers, whether it be from Manny, Terrell Owens, etc.”

    Where is the bad conduct? He played the games! He produced on an absurd level during those games. Edes said in his chat today that Manny is actually hurting. Here it is: “Hammy, I ran into a veteran player at the team hotel last night, and he insisted that Manny was hurting, the injury was legit, and that Manny was worn down from chasing all those balls launched all over left field by the Bombers last weekend. Manny’s 34 now, remember. The whole team is exhausted right now, including Papi.” There is no story here except one that should have been left in the clubhouse. Again, leave it to the Boston media to make a mountain out of a molehill. The fact that anyone buys into it shows me that you aren’t paying attention. How did Manny perform on Saturday and Sunday? Look it up and the story is over. He wouldn’t talk to Shaugnessy. Big deal. Who wants to talk to a two bit gossip columnist?

    Reply

  22. Nordberg

    17 years ago

    It’s a beautiful world we live in.
    Seth raises a few valid points and seeks thoughtful comment.
    But because it appears to question Manny, he’s now Hitler.
    Damn the facts and kill the messenger.

    Reply

  23. Pumpsie

    17 years ago

    Et tu, Seth?

    Do they pass out prejudice pills to Boston sports writers? Is that how it works? Or does the ghost of Dave Egan come round to whisper sweet poisons in your ear?

    Why don’t you get on the backs of all the players who have performed like crap since the AS break and who disappeared entirely over the last weekend? Like Gabe (1 for 29) Kapler and Coco (1 for 19) Crisp? Like the entire pitching staff outside of Schilling, Wells, Foulke and Papelbon?

    Manny hasn’t had a day off in a long time. He spent the weekend chasing Yankee line drives all over the outfield for three days and nights and had to run the bases 19 times out of 20 because the Yankee pitchers just simply could not get him out. He’s had a history of hamstring and knee issues for his entire career, sometimes costing him weeks at a time. And McAdam jumps the gun, makes assumptions all over the place, and tries to pin the weekend Red Sox collapse on Manny! And you back up his crap!

    Then, you have the temerity to try and interpret Manny’s routine at the plate. You pissante! The guy’s one of the greatest hitters of all time. He works his ass off to be that way. He’s achieved a level of excellence that you and I and everyone on this blog can only dream about. The guy’s never unfocused during an atbat. He doesn’t stare off into space. He always looks in the same direction every time which probably means he’s picking a spot (possibly the left field foul pole) to adjust his vision before each pitch. The guy’s a finely tuned hitting machine. Manny is amazingly focused as a hitter. It’s a thrill to watch his atbats.

    You’re way out of line here, Seth. What is it about Boston mediots who feel compelled to attack the best Sox ballplayers? They did it to Teddy Ballgame. They did it to Jim Rice. They did it to Nomar. And now it’s Manny. You don’t want your name to be mentioned along with Dave Egan’s and Dan Shaughnessy’s. That’s lousy company to keep. Get out while you still can.

    Reply

  24. Nordberg

    17 years ago

    One more thing:

    The following was an exchnage between the Globe’s Gordon Edes and a reader during an online chat Wednesday:

    Manny_s_Hamstring
    Hi G. I love when you take questions but I am curious. Do you think that I am a convenient injury for a struggling team or am I legit? Many say Manny doesn’t care about the game but did you see his reaction in the 9th inning last night on a close call at 1st base?

    Gordon_Edes
    Hammy, I ran into a veteran player at the team hotel last night, and he insisted that Manny was hurting, the injury was legit, and that Manny was worn down from chasing all those balls launched all over left field by the Bombers last weekend. Manny’s 34 now, remember. The whole team is exhausted right now, including Papi. What’s troubling, I think, to many folks is that while Mark Loretta stayed for hours after the game Sunday night, into the wee hours of the morning, receiving treatment so that he could play the next day, Manny did not. I found it interesting that Terry Francona said last night that Manny would probably play today, rather than hedging and saying it depended on what the medical people said. Obviously, the Sox could have used him last night

    Reply

  25. shonday

    17 years ago

    Why do I keep seeing this 19 out of 20 stat? It’s just plain wrong…he was 4/6 in Game 1 of the DH and 1/2 in Game 2…not that that’s bad, but he made more than one out in the series.

    Reply

  26. kml1258

    17 years ago

    Shonday,

    He reached by error for those two non hits in Friday’s day game. Maybe you read the box score.

    Reply

  27. Bjnicholson24

    17 years ago

    Seth:

    Let’s say a carpenter comes over to your house and builds you a fantastic set of bookshelves. It’s everything you ever wanted and while he’s quiet about it, and doesn’t really talk, and it was really expensive you’re happy. Later you find out that he was so pissed off at the guy at the lumberyard that he almost refused to come over to your place and build the bookshelves. He had to be talked into it.

    Let me ask you; are you outraged? Is he an embarrasment to carpenters everywhere? Does it destroy your enjoyment of your bookshelf? Does it matter?

    I say Manny’s doing his job and he’s not out giving the fans the finger. He works hard and stays out of trouble (with the law). Why is this so bad?

    Reply
  28. […] is often the case, (and as I’ve written about before), any reporting of unrest in Manny world inevitably results in a round of proverbial rotten eggs […]

    Reply
  29. […] are some of the reactions I got to said post: * I was taking cheap shots at Manny * Nobody cares when Manny takes a day off * […]

    Reply

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