I'm With The Spaceman

Bill "Spaceman" Lee holds court at the Red Sox Hall of Fame Induction Gala. (Brita Meng Outzen/MLB.com)

Boston.RedSox.mlb.com: 'Spaceman' lands in Sox Hall of Fame
Lee offers plenty of opinions during induction Friday night

The July 31 trade that sent Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers? That is a highly sore subject for Lee.

Perhaps it takes a free spirit like Lee to completely understand a free spirit like Ramirez.

"Manny was well loved, and then he'd have his little fits, and then we'd patch things up and we'd win a world championship," said Lee. "This year, I think Boston just kind of got fed up with winning. That's too bad."

The way Lee sees it, the Red Sox would have repeated as World Series champions if they had ignored all of Ramirez's off-field antics and just kept him around.

"We could have been world champions again," roared Lee. "And then he wouldn't have hit those 6-irons into the wind against the Cubs; he would have hit them against Tampa Bay. And we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. A prophet in his own time is not well received in this town. I was, for nine years and 142 days. And I told everybody on [sports radio station WEEI] and everything that they would not win it without Manny Ramirez. They told me to shut up. I told them, 'You guys don't like to win, do you?'

"He's the greatest hitter I ever saw. I loved the guy. He's a prima donna, and he pushed down the traveling secretary. Well, you pick the traveling secretary up, and you dust him off, and you apologize and you go back to work. He's the greatest I ever saw. I like Jason Bay. I'm not saying anything disparaging against Canadians, because I've married two of them."

Even Ramirez taking games off with injuries that didn't seem to be more than routine nags was no offense to Lee.

"He always took August off," said Lee. "In France, they give you a month vacation and give you two hours for lunch."

Even more entertaining -- or outlandish -- was Lee's take on what the Red Sox should do this offseason.

"Sign Manny Ramirez," Lee said. "We just had that conversation. He's already saved L.A. Sure, they should patch it up with Manny. You're going to have to see his number on the wall sooner or later here, aren't you? He's going to be standing right where I'm standing. Mark my words. Because if he doesn't go in the Red Sox Hall of Fame, [it's not right]."

A Final Paean to Manny

A final ode to Manny from Charlie Pierce.

Charles Pierce, Boston Globe: Manny Ramirez's Long Goodbye
Exit stage left, dude. It's been fun.

Charlie Pierce on Manny

Charles Pierce is hilarious. He's the guy who coined "C+ Augustus" for Bush, and for that he has a special place in my heart.

slate.com: Burning Manny
Who's crazier, Manny Ramirez or the Bostonians who grew to despise him?

Greatest Ever Manny Tribute

Read this whole post when you've got a few hours. I still haven't finished it.

Cursed to First: Manny Scrapbook

I'm With Papi

David Ortiz paid tribute to Manny Ramírez by wearing No. 24 on his wristbands last night. The Red Sox DH went 0 for 5. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

Boston Globe: Ortiz tries to make best of it

Asked if he's heard how happy the Yankees were that Ramírez was no longer in the American League East, Ortiz smiled wearily in acknowledgement of the fear and loathing Ramírez's presence had caused the Bronx Bombers in his 7 1/2 seasons with Boston. "Well, we would be, too," he said. "I guess."

While general manager Theo Epstein said the trade seemed to improve the atmosphere in the clubhouse, it didn't seem to have the desired effect on Ortiz, who clearly was feeling Ramírez's absence. Ortiz, sitting in front of his locker, took a long draw from his energy drink.

"I need to calm myself down now," he said. With that, he waved off any more queries.

Images of Manny

From the website Sons of Sam Horn.

No More Manny

This blog is officially in mourning today. After a two-week express train of quotes bandied about, media frenzy and the media meme "He's gone too far; he's hurting the team; Manny has to go", Manny Ramirez has been traded to the Dodgers.

This season's hurting the team numbers: .299 average, .398 OBP, .529 SLG, .926 OPS, 66 runs, 109 hits, 22 doubles, 20 homeruns, 68 RBIs. Oh, yeah, the guy was fucking killing us.

I don't see where trading our best hitter for the past 8 years (.312 lifetime average with the Sawx), one of the only three hitters hitting well after the All-Star break (Youk & Pedroia are hitting, too, and the rest of the team are swatting at flies) helps the Red Sox very much. The pitching staff except for Lester has been shaky; the middle relievers worse; this doesn't help any of that, except that Jason Bay may be a slight improvement in left field. Once he figures out how to play the Monster which will probably take until next season.

Well, all the media haters are wicked happy. They got their man. Gerry KKKallahan at the Herald (he of the METCO gorilla yukfest, the guy wears his racism on his sleeve) and the CHB, aka the Shank, Dan Shaughnessy at the Globe, and Peter Gammons of ESPN who has been particularly vitriolic towards MBM. They're all gleeful today.

These gasbags have all mentioned at some point during this road to disaster that they want someone who will play the game "right". They'd be happier with a .220 hitter who hustled down the line into all his 6-4-3 double play groundouts. Well, they got rid of their man, and they may just have gotten their way.

Me, I loved Manny's Joy of Sox, how he enjoyed himself, how he never got down after a bad at bat or a flub in the field. My favorite play of this year was that crazy one in Baltimore where he caught a ball on the warning track, leaped into the stands to high-five a fan, then turned around and threw the ball in to double the runner off first. (Here's the sequence in photos.) Priceless MBM moment.

And the other thing about Manny was that because he never took anything too seriously, these kinds of scuffles with management never lasted. He could ask to be traded and hit a home run in his next at bat. The whole "he has to go" thing is made up out of whole cloth, because these kinds of situations have happened repeatedly during Manny's time with the Sawx, and he just kept hitting and producing in the clutch.

I have to take the way I feel this morning with a grain of salt, because this is the way I felt after we traded away Nomar in '04, and we all know how that worked out.

I read lots of Sawx blogs last night, and this is the line that stood out for me, from Jere at A Red Sox Fan From Pinstripe Territory:

The Red Sox' historic efforts to be the first team to successfully trade their best player for no reason continues. Next thing you know, the media will convince us that we're rooting for gas prices to reach 10 dollars per gallon. "I just can't take low gas prices' antics anymore!"

Farewell to the MVP of the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. I for one will miss you.

Boston Globe Photo Gallery: Manny Through the Years

Boston Globe Photo Gallery: Manny's Moments

Red Sox - Yankees Series Begins Tonight

Tonight I get to watch it on NESN, with the divine Remy & Orsillo as announcers. Unfortunately the rest of the series has been spirited away by Fox and ESPN who will give us their terrible announcing crews, bitching about Manny's hair and waxing eloquent about Derek so-so Jeter. And we'll miss moments like this from the Giggle Brothers:

NESN Final
by bsap11

Red Sox Notes

flickr: citadelgrad's photostream
July 2008 Red Sox at Angels
hat tip to Red Sox Monster

Wouldn't I like to be wearing this "My Other Shirt Is Buried Under Yankee Stadium" shirt to Yankee Stadium on August 28th when Coach Mom & I go to see the last Yankees-Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium? Tee hee. I'm planning to wear my Ellsbury t.

Did you see Peter Gammons piece on Dustin Pedroia before the Sunday night game of the week on ESPN? He started it out by saying "Dustin Pedroia looks like a little stuffed toy at FAO Schwartz". It's linked here on Centerfield; also check out Centerfield's collection of baby/youth pictures of the Red Sox.

Jonathan Papelbon was all out of shape over being heckled in the All-Star parade in New York City, but maybe, maybe, showing off his World Series ring to the crowd wasn't the best decision.

MBM in Seattle: Manny gets lectured by a traffic cop for crossing the street the cop was blocking. The cop apparently had no idea who he was.

Your Daily Manny

Boston Red Sox Manny Ramirez gestures to fans before throwing a ball into the crowd during practices for Major League Baseball's All-Star game at Yankee Stadium in New York, July 14, 2008. The All-Star game will be played July 15.
REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES)

Boston Globe: His story: History
Ramirez deeply concerned that hits keep coming

MBM, Gatorade Edition

Extra Bases blog, Boston Globe

Manny Ramirez had another Monster moment Sunday afternoon, climbing into the wall to sip on a sports drink during a pitching change in the seventh inning. When he was done, Ramirez tipped his cap to the Fenway faithful.

LOST

Who was Manny talking to during the pitching change on Wednesday?

Caption suggestions here.

I just like the fact that the photo frames him within the word "LOST", and looking happy as a clam. MBM.

Manny Being Manny

Boston Herald: Photo by Matthew West
Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez chatted with Aidan Flaherty, 8, on Thursday.


Boston Herald: Manny Ramirez scores with young Red Sox fan
Nut allergies keep boy out of Fenway

Flaherty [the boy's mother] said she, Aidan and 3-year-old son Liam spotted the Dominican-born Ramirez, 36, about 7 p.m. Thursday after they’d been strolling the city since 8 a.m.

“We were not the most attractive people,” she said, laughing.

Flaherty said Ramirez waved off her repeated apologies for the intrusion and spent about 20 minutes with her family, even taking two baseball cards out of his wallet and signing them for her boys.

Boston Herald Inside Track

Manny Ramirez will turn over his 500th home run ball to the Franciscan Hospital for Children later this week.....The hospital likely will auction the historic ball as part of a fund-raiser.

Manny Being Manny, Part Deux

A compilation of great Manny moments, from ESPN's Baseball Tonight:

Manny Being Manny

Our crazed genius of left field, v. the Baltimore Orioles yesterday, with a put-out, a high-five with a fan in the stands, and an assist. All in the same play! The Manny triple play. Watch the video all the way through for the scene of his teammates watching the replay in the dugout and cracking up:

More Red Sox Videos

Manny Ramirez on Jay Leno:



David Ortiz (The Bedazzler) on Conan O'Brien:



Manny's walk-off home run that ended Game 2 of the ALCS:

I Wish I Wrote This

Esquire: TheSide: Blog
Why You Should Root for the Boston Red Sox
Because they represent everything that is good about America. (Of course, not everyone agrees with this.)

Read the whole thing; it's hilarious. For this:

I've left out some people, I'm sure, but that's basically your 2007 Boston Red Sox: two Japanese exchange students, a feisty runt, a tough-looking Jew, a Navajo Indian, an idiot-savant, a right-wing asshole, the human embodiment of charisma, and a man named after a breakfast cereal. That's America, right there. And, ain't that something worth cheering for?

And this:

Eric Gillin: The Colorado Rockies? Seriously? How can anyone cheer for the Colorado Rockies? They're like a bag of Wonder Bread with a jar of Miracle Whip -- a bland collection of forgettable ballplayers with candy-ass names like "Taylor" and "Jamey." If you could buy the Colorado Rockies in the grocery store, they'd come in a white box with giant black letters across the front saying BASEBALL TEAM. Their lineup looks like it came off a Mattel production line, a ball-free collection of multicultural Kens with the occasional goatee and the underwear already stamped in.

I know this is unfair, but I still consider the Rockies a bush league marketing ploy that allowed baseball to sell more black merchandise when all the pro sports leagues overexpanded in the 1990s. I know I'm going to regret this later, but right now I have trouble taking the franchise seriously. They play 5,000 feet above sea level. They've never won their own division. Their Website crashed when World Series tickets went on sale. Their uniforms don't have sleeves.

And this immortal video of Manny Ramirez petting Julian Tavares' head:

Manny pets Tavarez
Uploaded by bjs1234

Hat tip to Cursed to First.