“Why panic?” Ramirez said. “If we don’t do it, we’ll come back next year and try again … If it doesn’t happen, who cares? There’s always next year. It’s not the end of the world.”
TV and radio people and “let’s get everybody all worked up” sportswriters couldn’t be happier than when a ballplayer says something like this. To them, this is the coolest thing to happen since Michael Vick. How could he say this? Omigosh! Doesn’t he WANT it? Doesn’t he know what happens when baseball players and baseball teams don’t WANT IT BADLY ENOUGH WITH THEIR WHOLE HEART AND SOUL AND THEIR BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS AND THEIR GUTS AND THEIR LIVERS AND THEIR COJONES????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You know what maybe happens when a player has an attitude like this? Maybe 4 home runs and 11 runs-batted-in in 7 games. Maybe getting on base two thirds of the time. Maybe that happens. Did anybody ever think of that?
I guess not. Well, we’ll know who’s to blame if the Red Sox don’t win the pennant this year, won’t we? I mean who the hell does he think he is watching those home runs he hits and raising his arms? Yeah, there’s no room on a team for somebody like that.
So, Red Sox, if you don’t want someone on your team who is such a bad influence on the image of the sport and on the whole American can-do spirit …
There’s a 718 number I would dearly love to give you.
Dana:
I think its fair to say that baseball players are entertainers to some degree. I suppose there is an argument to be made that Manny’s flaky comments are part of what makes him endearing (that combined with increedible offensive numbers).
But if I pay $40 for a ticket to a play on B’way, I’d like the actor to play the part, not tell the news reporters he doesn’t give a crap as to whether the play is good or not. So needless to say, for fans who pay good money to attend games, Manny can at least have the courtesy to act as if he cares if he wins or loses.
That said, I’d take him in a heartbeat.
I don’t think he meant to say that he didn’t care. I think that he meant to put things in perspective, in ways that you’re not really permitted to do if you’re a ballplayer because putting things in perspective creates the impression, for some, that you don’t really care. It certainly looks to me as if Manny is giving his all, and if I were a Red Sox fan, that’s what I’d care about.
Anyone who has ever been quoted in the newsapaper knows that 9 times out of 10 they either get it wrong or out of context. Manny probably said words like that but the ever-hungry-for-a-story press certainly blew this one up to sell papers (and radio ads). This man plays his heart out. The only reason i’m still watching the psot season is to watch him. I think it’s just like Pedro who had a bad rap in this city (bad clubhouse guy, friends hanging out in the clubhouse etc.) till he got here and we realized he was pretty much the coolest guy to hit Queens in a while. I’d take him in a nanosecond, but I dont want to get my hopes up again.
I can’t understand why baseball dislikes players who showboat. There was a lot of criticism with the Mets when Milledge admired his homeruns, and they have made similar comments about Ramirez. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it, as long as they keep producing. Ramirez probably was quoted out of context, and I am sure he wants to win as badly as his teammates. I agree with Dana, we’ll take him off of Boston’s hands(although I don’t think Dana’s wife would appreciate it, being she is a Boston fan!).
As long as Manny keeps talking with his bat, he can spout any gibberish he wants. If he starts doing an impression of Mark Belanger’s offensive numbers, its time to get out the tar and feathers.
Manny is an entertainer, and I can only laugh at comments like these. Hehe. I love it. He’s already easily made up for his sub-par regular season(they had the best record anyway) with a great post season. Hell, let him say anything he wants. You could probably get a rather entertaining reality show out of Manny being Manny.