Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe has an interesting article about Manny Ramirez up. The article likens Manny’s exit to that of former Boston fan-favorite Nomar Garciaparra. Nomar said that he cautioned his teammates not to believe everything they heard about Manny before his arrival:
"I told the guys here, ’Don’t believe everything you read about Manny, because it was wrong,’ " Garciaparra said. "I said from day one that he was going to come in smiling, he was going to be great in the clubhouse, and he was going to be fun to watch, and I was right about every single thing."
Garciaparra went one step further even, stating that this is not the first time Boston has tried to make a departing star look badly:
The former Sox All-Star asserted in an interview that the Boston brass unfairly tried to demonize Ramírez, just as team executives tried to do to Garciaparra, Pedro Martínez, and Mo Vaughn, among others, when they left town.
Hohler also talks to Bill Mueller, who states that when he won his batting title in 2003, it was because Manny voluntarily sat the last game of the season out, telling Mueller that he wanted Mueller to win the title. Mueller entered the game hitting .327, while Manny was at .325.
Hohler also delves into the usual topics of conversation and controversy that surround Manny, breaking down his last few months in Boston, and alluding to similar difficulties towards the end of his time in Cleveland. Hohler quotes Scott Boras numerous times, as he tries to make his client out to be simply misunderstood, likening him to Randy Johnson at the end of his tenure with Seattle.
Nice article that does a good job of showing both sides of one of baseball’s biggest Jekyll and Hyde characters. Sounds like Manny can be a good teammate when he wants to, but does anyone really think he can actually stay happy and focused for six years? I still have a hard time seeing him getting a contract of that length… what about everyone else? Thoughts on Manny?
