MANNY RAMIREZ: BEST PLAYER

I can only imagine the rest of the list:

- Raul Ibanez
- Fernando Tatis
- Gabe Kapler
- Jay Payton
- Kevin Romine
- maybe Barry Bonds (if only to shit on him)

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/gallery/07_28_08_manny_replacement/

apparently it was HILARIOUS KOMEDY SLIDESHOW DAY at the globe yesterday

I want a Willie Mays Hayes '88 Donruss!

brent favre = token?

Steve Shasta = tokin'?

http://www.outincenterfield.com/images2/manny-brett.jpg

Globe quotes Jerry Crasnick on "the most likely course of action":

The Red Sox keep Ramirez, hope he's gripped by a sudden fit of maturity over the next two months and realizes it's in his best interests to play hard and produce. Then the Sox decline his option and: a) funnel some of that $20 million into Pat Burrell, Jermaine Dye or another free agent; or b) dig into their deep well of prospects and make a trade. We always hear how ''creative'' Theo Epstein and his front office team are. This is a great opportunity to prove it.

I think the Sox signing Pat Burrell or Jermain Dye is about as likely as them signing Ricky Henderson.

MANNY HAVE YOU CONSIDERED PRODUCING FOR ONCE?!?! Because you should do that.

nah,i think his beats would suck.

Manny: Omar-S

Varitek: Bob Clearmountain

"You can not copy Manny-R style. You can only copy a song that has already been produced by Manny-R."

Pedroia: Brendan O'Brien?

how many of manny's teammates have come forward to stick up for him again, after this recent debacle? how many of his coaches? who in the front office? ownership? beat writers?

at some point, don't you have to say, shit, we appreciate your production & what you've done for us, but you've totally alienated yourself here, no one around you wants you here anymore, you haven't wanted to be here for several years & have in fact specifically asked our for several years, so we're going to trade you/let you go?

the (internet) fan reaction to the backlash against manny seems pretty preposterous & narrow-minded to me

Yes, I'm sure that Manny would rather be playing anywhere other than a hitter's park in front of the most devoted fan base in the country. And I'm sure that he'd rather have been playing elsewhere and relieved himself of the burden of winning two world championships. And I'm sure that everyone on the Red Sox would have much happier lives now if they'd been golfing in October 2007 and 2004, which is quite possibly what they'd have been doing if Manny hadn't been there.

Who was it who wrote in a recent BP chat that basketcase players (Milton Bradley, Manny, Bonds, etc.) are the newest undervalued quantities in baseball? Whoever it was, they were OTM.

Rapozer, the mail linked to yr ILX account doesn't work. email me about Shea outing.

dunno if any of his teammates have come forward but even if they had do you think any of the beat writers are going to print it? manny doesn't talk to them and they have delighted in taking shots at him for the past five years.

they were more appreciative of a "dirt dog" like trot nixon who would get a (juice assisted) homer every third series and hit .260 but gosh darn it, his uniform was dirty and he was always good for a quote when you're on deadline.

fwiw if i had to live in boston and spend my time around boston assholes, youd be lucky if i only shoved one person to the ground

Morbz, I ILX-mailed you w/ my "real" e-mail.

Oh sorry that was off-topic.

Boston please don't trade Manny unless you get something like Juan Rivera++ in return

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/images/durer-rhinoceros.jpg

these seem to be proliferating.

dunno if any of his teammates have come forward but even if they had do you think any of the beat writers are going to print it? manny doesn't talk to them and they have delighted in taking shots at him for the past five years.

OTM. Clearly Pedroia was too busy crushing brews with Manny at TC's Lounge to defend him to the Herald.

OK, clearly I parsed that sentence wrong, but the sentiment stands. Yes, Manny's an asshole and most of his teammates hate him. Do we need Gammons telling us that? Does it matter?

Also like not to restate the obvious but the Sox have the most laughably terrible PR people when it comes to defusing any minor controversy that would probably be better served internally - say what you will about Spygate, but look at what's been going on w/various Patriots players in the last two years and imagine the Sox dealing with it in the same way.

http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showtopic=34552

There's a fascinating thread going on SOSH right now regarding the way every single Sox superstar since Fisk gets mercilessly turfed out of town - this isn't unique to Manny, but the current ownership's really made a point of exacerbating these kinds of situations.

Manny's not an asshole, he just doesn't take baseball that seriously. He also happens to be really, really good at it. I think that gets under the skin of "baseball people".

esp. failed jocks like the chb.

what do you mean by not take it seriously?

as in, it's not an all-consuming thing in his life. it's a job.

Like late last year, when he didn't sweat it if the Red Sox didn't finish in 1st (I think that's what it was), and the BSM (& maybe the MSM too?) went into crisis mode.

o
m
g
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/tools/med/2008/07/ipt/1217477867.jpg

^^screenplay idea

"The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me," Ramirez said. "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.

"The Red Sox did the same with guys like Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, and now they do the same with me. Their goal is to paint me as the bad guy. I love Boston fans, but the Red Sox don't deserve me. I'm not talking about money. Mental peace has no price and I don't have peace here."

If this deal goes down, some of my blame goes to Tito for initially casting doubt on Manny's knee injury to reporters.

I WOULD LIKE THE RED SOX TO STOP LOSING, THX

http://i37.tinypic.com/ri9sed.jpg

http://i38.tinypic.com/w1dvk4.jpg

u can make your own

http://i36.tinypic.com/2vj68mf.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v622/dysign/ilx/manny_being.jpg

what's the original sign say

don't trade manny

Fuck fuck fuck if this entire day goes down and Manny is not traded and the Sox make no other deals I'm going to be furious.

deja vu

gammons says:

"A source close to the three-way negotiations involving Manny Ramirez says the deal is close to dead. Florida has reportedly asked Boston for a cash outlay beyond the $7M to cover Ramirez's contract, in addition to two prospects. That essentially would add up to the Red Sox trading Ramirez, $9M and two prospects for Jason Bay."

Loria, you old cheap-as-fuck so and so!

Dear rumor mongerers: please do not tease me w/ the thoughts of the Dodgers being dumb enough to cut bait on Matt Kemp for Manny being 36 years old. They can't be THAT dumb.

Loria, you old cheap-as-fuck so and so!

Them Leroy Neiman lithographs aren't going to buy themselves.

I don't understand why the Sox would even trade Manny right now. declining to pick up his 09 option, sure, but you're a team with a great shot at the World Series in a divison where a single win could be the difference between the playoffs and staying home. it'd be nice to get value for Manny before he leaves, but there's no question that the 2008 red sox are worse off without him, right?

^^^

at a certain point a guy becomes too big of a distraction to the team. look at nomar in '04. most popular red sox of the last 40 years and they wouldn't have won with him.

who's the last great player to leave the Sox on good terms? Yaz?