Manny is going to the Evil Dodgers!

[Empress of Groovy 373]

This is a disaster!

BOSTON (AP)—Manny Ramirez is headed to Hollywood.

The Red Sox finally parted ways with their disgruntled slugger, sending him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a startling, three-team trade Thursday that brought Jason Bay to Boston.

Pittsburgh gave up Bay and wound up with four young players. The deal was completed just before the 4 p.m. EDT deadline for making trades without waivers.

As of early Thursday, it appeared Ramirez might be on his way to the Florida Marlins. But when those talks fizzled, the Red Sox and Pirates found a willing third partner in the Dodgers.

“When a player like Manny becomes available, I don’t think there’s a manager in baseball who wouldn’t say they’re interested,” said Dodgers skipper Joe Torre, whose Yankees teams went toe-to-toe with Ramirez for years. “It was something that happened very quickly, obviously.”

Ramirez, the MVP of the 2004 World Series, remains one of baseball’s best hitters and has enjoyed plenty of big moments in October. But his relationship with the Red Sox soured—again—in recent months, prompting the All-Star outfielder to agree to the deal.

And now, Manny can be Manny on the West Coast.

Even before landing the enigmatic Ramirez, Los Angeles had a crowded outfield. Torre has been juggling Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Andruw Jones and Juan Pierre.

“You wish you had the DH,” Torre said. “We didn’t plan in advance how to move things around.”

The Dodgers began the day one game behind first-place Arizona in the NL West, and were seeking a big bat. Boston, in the middle of the AL East race and chasing a second straight World Series title, wanted a productive hitter in return and got that in Bay.

At 29, Bay is a two-time All-Star and was hitting .282 with 22 home runs and 64 RBIs. Tampa Bay pursued Bay before he wound up with the Red Sox, who trail the first-place Rays by three games in the AL East.

The last-place Pirates, looking for young talent, gave up their star outfielder and got reliever Craig Hansen and outfielder Brandon Moss from Boston and third baseman Andy LaRoche and pitcher Bryan Morris from the Dodgers.

LaRoche, Moss and Hansen will join Pittsburgh, while Morris will go to Class A Hickory.

Ramirez hit his 500th home run this season. He became the big star to be traded Thursday—Ken Griffey Jr., who hit No. 600 this year, went from Cincinnati to the Chicago White Sox.

The 36-year-old Ramirez was hitting .299 with a team-leading 20 homers and 68 RBIs for Boston. He is one of just eight players to hit at least 20 homers in 14 consecutive seasons.

Ramirez is in the final guaranteed season of an eight-year, $160 million contract. It also contains club options at $20 million each for 2009 and 2110.

On Wednesday, Ramirez criticized his team, telling ESPNdeportes: “The Red Sox don’t deserve a player like me.”

“During my years here I’ve seen how they have mistreated other great players when they didn’t want them to try to turn the fans against them,” he said.

The often contentious relationship between Ramirez and the Red Sox included him requesting trades after the 2005 and 2006 season.

Earlier this season, Ramirez knocked down team traveling secretary Jack McCormick in the visitors’ clubhouse before a game in Houston when he asked for tickets, the Providence Journal reported.

And Ramirez told the Boston Herald during the All-Star break he wanted to know what his situation was and he didn’t want the club to “tell you one thing and behind your back they do another thing.” Red Sox owner John Henry said he found that “personally offensive.”

AP Sports Writers Alan Robinson in Pittsburgh and John Nadel in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-r...p&type=lgns

[Chica Yeyé 41]

1. Walk to bar.

2. Prepare gin and tonic.

3. Sit in comfy chair.

4. Kick shoes.

the rest, is up to God

[amiquechu 0]

Hey, at least it's not the Boston Royals.

[pedroh 21]

what is baseball?

[Empress of Groovy 373]

It would be interesting to know what the last straw was...the Sox and Manny have been bitching at each other for the last few years. He always produced, tho.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

what is baseball?

you just had to show that you are a Mexican naco, didn't you????

[Empress of Groovy 373]

what is baseball?

maddening!

[pedroh 21]

what is baseball?

you just had to show that you are a Mexican naco, didn't you????

ahem

Edited July 31, 2008 by pedroh

[Chica Yeyé 41]

what is baseball?

you just had to show that you are a Mexican naco, didn't you????

ahem

[Empress of Groovy 373]

Two handsome Mexicano D'Backs players used to live nearby, Elmer Dessens & Oscar Villarreal. I'd see them from time to time in their tricked-out Escalades. They were nice guys, tho.

[Sassy1natl 0]

OMG!! How did I miss this thread?! Boston will be sorry....

[Teacher Mark 53]

It would be interesting to know what the last straw was...the Sox and Manny have been bitching at each other for the last few years. He always produced, tho.

He's a punk.

Manny Not Being Manly

July 31, 2008

Aaron Goldstein

It’s just past 4:30 p.m. on July 31, 2008 and it appears the Manny Ramirez Era in Boston is over.

After it appeared that Manny would be dealt to the Florida Marlins, the Boston Red Sox have instead traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three team deal that involves the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Red Sox receive All Star outfielder Jason Bay from the Pirates while the Pirates receive infielder Andy La Roche and pitcher Bryan Morris from the Dodgers as well as outfielder Brandon Moss and pitcher Craig Hansen from the Red Sox.

Of course, that’s assuming Manny doesn’t veto the deal due to his status as a 10-5 man (a player who has been in the big leagues for ten years and with the same team for at least five has the authority to veto any trade.).

But that would just be Manny Being Manny.

If you happen to live in New England, including the furthest reaches of the St. Croix River along the Maine-New Brunswick border, the significance of Manny Being Manny is well understood. Manny himself coined the phrase which is Reaganesque in both its eloquence and simplicity. Let Reagan Be Reagan. Manny Being Manny.

For non-observers of baseball, Manny Ramirez can be described as a Hispanic Harpo Marx, a near mute who is far more knowledgeable than he lets on. His child like smile belies a powerful swing at bat which has enabled him to belt over 500 career homeruns along with a .312 lifetime batting average. Since signing with the Red Sox as a free agent before the 2001 season for an 8-year contract worth $160 million, Ramirez has been part of two World Series championship teams (including World Series MVP in 2004), won an American League batting title and perennially elected to start in the All Star Game. The only swing more powerful than his batting stroke is the swing that involves his mood.

Red Sox Nation, of which I consider myself a part, has had to put up with these mood swings periodically. Manny has at various times not run out ground balls, claimed he was sick while recovering at local taverns, expressed the desire to join the New York Yankees, has generally been aloof from the media, claimed the same grandmother has died on multiple occasions and has clashed with Red Sox management and teammates.

Manny’s behavior did not escape the notice of President Bush. When Bush was honoring the 2007 World Series Champion Red Sox at the White House in February of this year, the President noted his absence. “I’m sorry (David) Ortiz’ running mate, Manny Ramirez, isn’t here. I guess his grandmother died again. Just kidding. Tell Manny I didn’t mean it,” said the Commander in Chief.

Things seemed to reach a crescendo in July 2005 after Manny apparently had words with teammate Curt Schilling and had demanded to be trade. There were strong indications that Manny would be heading to the New York Mets.

I was at Fenway Park on July 31, 2005 – the trade deadline. Would Manny still be a member of the Red Sox after 4 p.m.? It was a Sunday afternoon and the Sox were playing the Minnesota Twins. If not for this Sword of Damocles, this game would have been remembered as the major league debut for the Red Sox future closer Jonathan Papelbon.

The game was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 8th. Red Sox slugger “Big Papi” David Ortiz was in the process of being intentionally walked to load the bases and light hitting Adam Stern was due up at the plate. Now I have a soft spot for Canadian born Jewish baseball players. But at that moment in time, Stern wasn’t the guy the Sox needed at the plate. It was past four o’clock and the fans were chanting, “Manny!!! Manny!!! Manny!!!”

As Ortiz is still being walked, it was then I saw Manny step out of the dugout with a bat in his hand. As someone who has attended nearly 70 games at Fenway since 2000, I have never witnessed applause as loud and prolonged as I did from the moment Manny stepped towards the on deck circle.

Of course, everyone was thinking homerun. But Manny hit a little squibber off Twins’ relief pitcher Juan Rincon. Yet the ball somehow eluded both shortstop Nick Punto and second baseman Luis Rodriguez and this little single would prove to be enough to give the Red Sox a 4-3 victory. Red Sox Nation was ecstatic.

It was after this game that Manny uttered the words that have entered the everyday lexicon of New Englanders:

Forget about the trade man. This is the place I want to be man. It’s a great man. They love me here man. This is the place to be. ‘Manny being Manny,’ he’s great man…we’ve been through a lot; this is the place for me. I’m just happy to be here…I’m back.

From them on when someone would behave in an unusual manner someone else would inevitably say, “Oh, that’s just Andrew being Andrew.” And it was perfectly understood.

At the beginning of the 2008 season, Manny Ramirez was entering the last year of his contract. The Red Sox did have options to pick up his contract for $20 million for both the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Despite the Red Sox occasional efforts to unload his contract over the years there was every reason to believe Manny would be standing in left field in front of the Green Monster at Fenway next season.

After all, Manny had begun talking to the media in a way he never had previously. He was not only extroverted with the media but even with fans. On May 14, 2008, during a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, Kevin Millar hit a long fly ball which appeared to be a home run. However, Manny leapt over the fence and caught the ball. That would have been an amazing play by itself. But Manny then gave a high five to a Red Sox fan sitting in the bleachers and then threw the ball back into the infield and doubled off Aubrey Huff at first base.

Seventeen days later, Manny made history when he hit his 500th career homerun off Orioles relief pitcher Chad Bradford (also at Camden Yards). A few days later, Manny would be honored at Fenway Park for that achievement by Hall of Famer Eddie Murray. If anything, the Red Sox were celebrating the achievements of Manny Ramirez and looking forward to him concluding his career wearing a Boston uniform.

However, things began to turn sour only days after he reached 500 homeruns. On June 5th, between innings during a game between the Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays, cameras caught Ramirez slapping teammate Kevin Youkilis across the face and the two had to be pulled apart. It is not known what caused the melee. However, tempers had already flared. Earlier in the game, the Sox and Rays were involved in a bench clearing brawl after Rays pitcher James Shields had hit Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp with a pitch. It has also been alleged that Manny didn’t like Youkilis’ habit of throwing equipment around the dugout after he would strike out.

Manny would become involved in a much more serious incident with Red Sox Traveling Secretary Jack McCormick in Houston on June 28th. At the last minute, Manny approached McCormick demanding 16 tickets for friends. When McCormick told Manny he could not accommodate his request, Manny grabbed the 65-year-old and threw him to the ground telling him to do his job. The Red Sox slugger was quickly restrained by teammates and apologized to McCormick shortly thereafter.

For many people (myself included) this was taking Manny Being Manny too far. It did not help matters when Major League Baseball did not discipline Manny for his actions although he was fined an undisclosed amount of cash by the Red Sox, allegedly in the six figures. But that was clearly inadequate.

Only days earlier, the Houston Astros released pitcher Shawn Chacon after he had assaulted Astros General Manager Ed Wade in manager Cecil Cooper’s office. Chacon will probably never pitch in the major leagues again. Yet one could not help but notice while there was one standard of discipline for a journeyman pitcher there was no standard of discipline for one of baseball’s superstars. It did not sit well with a lot of people. Perhaps it was from the fallout of physically attacking a much older man that Manny began to wonder if the Red Sox would pick up his option for 2009. It was from this point on that Manny’s behavior took a turn for the worse. Manny might be being Manny but Manny certainly wasn’t being Manly.

On July 6th, during a game against the Yankees in New York, Manny was called upon to pinch hit against closer Mariano Rivera. He did not swing the bat and was called out on strikes on three pitches. While it was denied that Manny deliberately struck out, former WBZ TV sports director Bob Lobel (a legend in the Boston sports scene) said Manny was sending a message to the Red Sox. Not long after this that Manny began talking about his contract. On July 15th, the day of the All Star Game in New York, Manny accused Red Sox management of not being upfront with him about his future status with the club. He would draw a stinging rebuke from Red Sox principal owner John Henry for those remarks.

On July 23rd, Manny took himself out of the lineup during a game against the Seattle Mariners complaining of a sore knee. That by itself didn’t raise scrutiny but when Manny again took himself out of the lineup two days later prior to the beginning of a three game series against the Yankees, manager Terry Francona ordered Manny to undergo an MRI. The MRI turned up negative on both knees. On July 27th, Manny told a Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes (ESPN’s Spanish language service), that he was tired of the Red Sox and that the Red Sox were tired of him and that he would accept a trade. On July 29th, Manny did not run a ground ball in the in the 7th inning of a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The added significance of this action was that Angels pitcher John Lackey was working toward a no-hitter against the Red Sox. While Dustin Pedroia did break up the no-hitter with one out in the 9th inning, Francona was less than amused with Manny’s lack of hustle as was Red Sox Nation.

On July 30th, prior to the final game between the Red Sox and Angels, Manny contacted Rojas and said the Red Sox were treating him the way they treated former Red Sox greats like Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez and making him out to be the bad guy. While Manny sat in the Red Sox dugout, he held up a sign, “I’m going to Green Bay for Brett Favre straight up,” in reference to the recently retired Packers quarterback who is currently embroiled in a squabble with Packers for not letting him resume his NFL career. Red Sox Nation failed to see the humor of it all.

So now Manny will wear Dodger Blue and become Joe Torre’s problem. The Dodgers do need a power hitter as they battle the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West Division. Matt Kemp currently leads the team with 12 homeruns. Manny will make his Dodger debut with 20 homeruns this season with the Red Sox. In fact, I suggested the Dodgers would be an ideal location for Manny earlier this week although I opined that the Red Sox and Dodgers should involve the Seattle Mariners so the Red Sox could obtain left fielder Raul Ibanez, a solid offensive player who doesn’t get out of joint. (LINK)

Instead, the Red Sox welcome Jason Bay to the Bay State. Despite Manny’s erratic behavior, Bay has huge shoes to fill in left field. The Canadian born outfielder won NL Rookie of the Year with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2004. Believe it or not, Bay was the first Pirate to earn that distinction. When you consider the Pirates have had the likes of Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Barry Bonds over the years it is surprising that Bay was the first Buc to be so honored. Bay was also named to the NL All Star Team in 2005 and 2006.

But it is one thing to play with success in Pittsburgh which has become the Siberia of Major League Baseball and succeed. It is another thing to play with success at Fenway Park against the New York Yankees with Red Sox Nation, Yankees fans and the whole world watching every miniscule move. I wish Jason Bay good luck because he will need every bit of it. Heaven help Jason Bay if he doesn’t hit the baseball like Manny Ramirez and the Red Sox don’t make the playoffs.

That cautionary consideration notwithstanding, Manny Ramirez and the Boston Red Sox needed to part ways. His behavior had not only become unmanly but was a distraction to the entire organization, player and non-player personnel alike. It hasn’t helped matters that the Red Sox have lost five of their last six games to the Yankees and Angels at Fenway Park. This trade provides the Red Sox as much relief as Jonathan Papelbon does in the 9th inning. The departure of Manny Ramirez could prove to be the cathartic cleansing Red Sox Nation needs. Or could it be the beginning of another curse?

http://www.rightsidenews.com/200807311599/...eing-manly.html

There should have been charges filed over the McCormick incident.

Edited August 1, 2008 by WideAwakeInTheUSA

[almaty 19]

what is baseball?

\

[Empress of Groovy 373]

It would be interesting to know what the last straw was...the Sox and Manny have been bitching at each other for the last few years. He always produced, tho.

Manny would become involved in a much more serious incident with Red Sox Traveling Secretary Jack McCormick in Houston on June 28th. At the last minute, Manny approached McCormick demanding 16 tickets for friends. When McCormick told Manny he could not accommodate his request, Manny grabbed the 65-year-old and threw him to the ground telling him to do his job. The Red Sox slugger was quickly restrained by teammates and apologized to McCormick shortly thereafter.

That account of the McCormick incident is a wee bit exaggerated! Apparently Manny shoved him after a spirited verbal exchange, and McCormick fell backwards. Certainly not the thing to do, but some articles made it sound like Manny body-slammed him. Also, Shawn Chacon apparently grasped the A's general manager around the neck (!!) and threw him down. Had Manny done that to the Sox GM, I think things would have shaken out quite differently. This isn't a defense of Manny. To be honest, whenever I heard the phrase, "Manny being Manny," it made me cringe, but there were few players I'd rather see at bat in a clutch situation. I'm not happy to see him on the Dodgers! I also follow the D'Backs, living in AZ, and this is one disastrous development!

I'm guessing that things started to deteriorate irreparably in the clubhouse, and Manny started publicly shooting his mouth off to an unprecedented extent (the two are probably related) and was becoming a distraction and a liability. I wasn't aware of how bad things were getting until I read some stuff this morning. I figured the Sox would hold onto him until the end of the season, then good riddance. But yeah, he is a vain idiot who thinks he's still 27 (in terms of contract dealings, that is).

Anyway, welcome, Jason Bay!

[Marilyn. 340]

hubby got all excited about this last night...