Monday (Manny in Minny) Edition: Wha’ Happened?
Posted on July 28th, 2008 – 8:43 AMBy Michael Rand
It’s a baseball season, which means there’s a Manny Ramirez saga going on. (By the way, replace baseball with football and “Manny Ramirez” with “Brett Favre” and that sentence still works. That’s why we love sentences. They’re just interchangeable building blocks. The protein of communication). So this time, Manny is *alleged* to be faking an injury, which combined with less than stellar team chemistry has led him to say, “I’m tired of them. They’re tired of me,” in regards to the Red Sox. This got us thinking, of all things, about how Manny’s act would play in Minnesota — not because it could ever happen, despite the fact that such a bold move like acquiring Manny would likely make the local squad an even bigger playoff contender (again, substitute Favre and it works. You know it does). No, we really just were wondering how “Manny Being Manny” would have been received by fans here — a polarizing, quirky, talented and infuriating player in a market that generally reaches its limit when it comes to putting up with [redacted]. (See: Moss, Randy). Ramirez played eight years with Cleveland and is in his eighth with Boston. Just two teams in 16 years, which suggests that even though his eccentricities are well-known, the worst of his offenses were not serious enough for teams to give up on him. But the perceived lack of hustle — earned in some cases, not earned in others — combined with multiple charges of faking injuries? That would not fly here in a region that values work ethic. (See: “I play when I want to play”). That said, he’s never had any legal issues that we can find. So we ask:
1) How long would Manny Ramirez have lasted in Minnesota before public opinion forced him out? (Our take: five years, tops).
2) When you look at the litany of “Manny Being Manny” moments, do they seem more or less harmless than you remember them?
3) How impressive are these numbers for a right-handed batter never linked to steroids? Is Manny, in fact, the greatest hitter of our generation?
4) If by some small miracle the Red Sox really did trade Manny, and the Twins had a package to offer (think at least one talented outfielder, one starting pitcher and a prospect), would you want them to pursue it? [For those trapped in a well, the Twins are 2.5 games back heading into a key four-game showdown with the White Sox starting tonight at the Metrodome].
Fasola-link! Crick-et?
18 Responses to "Monday (Manny in Minny) Edition: Wha’ Happened?"
If some kind of cosmic accident caused us to trade for Ramirez, all I know is that Minnesota’s plumbers would go to sleep at night on a solid gold bed beneath a blanket made of diamonds and money.
I think we can say definitively that Manny is the best right-handed hitter that ever played the game while not knowing the name of the pitcher he was facing at least 75% the time.
I think we also can say that Manny is a dick.
“I think we also can say that Manny is a dick.”
Maybe that’s what Minnesota-nice sports needs every once in a while. An enigmatic, exciting, ultra-talented dick.
Substitute Manny for Moss.
Don’t know much about Manny, but I think your repeated implications that Moss was drummed out of town here by public opinion is way off. This is an inexact, debate thing, but I think most fans here still loved Moss and wish ol’ Red never traded him.
I, for one, am a guy who thinks that maybe it worked out best for everyone that he was traded, but I wasn’t happy to see him go at the time. Anyway, that’s a nice pic you got there of Manny and a big a** grill.
Dave: Public sentiment against Moss was pretty strong when he was traded; it was more in hindsight, when the offense stunk, that people started to regret it.
Manny is the antithesis of Twins baseball. Unfortunate, but true. The world would collapse upon itself if he were traded here.
More importantly, that is just an awesome grill.
Who would you rather have on the Twins, Manny or Torii?
I think most MN fans would welcome Torii back before cheering for Manny. This type of thinking is why a guy like McHale has never been forced out and why the Wild operate the way they do. Twin Cities fans would rather cheer for a good guy that plays hard and loses than a questionable character that is more talented and wins.
The problem isn’t would I like to see Manny play here, I would. I just don’t think Manny would play here. If he’s complaining about a team that has won two World Series and possibly a third, in the great city of Boston with it’s tea and it’s KG’s and whatnot. I’m not sure he’d enjoy it here what with our Nick Punto’s and such.
The Mannyisms would get worse.
Perfect example of Twins Fans
They love Carlos Gomez and his .295 OBP but constantly complain about Delmon Young and his .295 BA.* Gomez should be playing in AAA while Young has probably been the 3rd best hitter over the whole season yet Young is treated like the Ugly Step sister.
* I am assuming they are complaining about his lack of power. If you want to complain about Young direct it towards his acting. He is horrible in his Twins commericial and in game advertising.
Young sucks in the field. He has the worst jump of any left fielder we have.
3rd best hitter?
Check jama’s papers.
jama makes a good point. We already have a Manny-type player in Young. The Twins made a great move to get a young guy with great potential, but a lazy attitude. Which is more than they have done in the past. Now THEY need to learn how to deal with a player that is different than their homegrown kids.
If Cuddyer ever comes back, they should send Gomez down to spark in him what happened with Spahn. Just because they traded Santana for him, doesn’t make him irreplaceable.
As someone who doesn’t have a vested interest in the Red Sox, I find Manny to be irresistably charming. Like Heath Ledger’s Joker, only slightly less homicidal.
Comparing Manny to DY is a bit of a joke. DY may have an average approaching .300 but he’s clearly not a power hitter and he plays worse defense than Manny, which is a pretty impressive feat. And there’s no way he has a grill as nice as Man-Ram’s.
I said Manny-type, not Manny-esque.
Fair enough. Not even the honorable mayor of Homersota would compare DY’s ability to Manny’s.
Manny being Manny… favorite and least favorite, just this year.
Favorite: Boston vs. Baltimore, in Baltimore, Manny makes an over-the-shoulder catch, casually takes four more steps to scale the wall and slap hands with the only Boston fan in left field, then turns around to toss to first, completing a double play.
Least favorite, and a great example of why people hate him: Boston at Houston, hours before the game which has been sold out, Manny asks for something like 16 tickets from the traveling secretary. the old man says he doesn’t think that’s possible, so Manny shoves him to the ground. “Do your job!” Manny, maybe you should do yours and quit faking injuries. that’s why Boston doesn’t want you, and probably why (aside from Pohlad’s lifelong addiction to being cheap) Minnesota’s “significant upgrade” will include Latroy Hawkins instead of you!
“Dave: Public sentiment against Moss was pretty strong when he was traded; it was more in hindsight, when the offense stunk, that people started to regret it.”
“Don’t know much about Manny, but I think your repeated implications that Moss was drummed out of town here by public opinion is way off.”
Manny and Moss’ legal transgressions are relatively minor to most pro athletes today. You can debate pot as criminal or Moss’ traffic incident as overtly criminal - but do so in light what we’re hearing these days - domestic abuse, violence, guns, steroid use… in my mind Moss and Manny are characters more than bad characters. (Although that thing with Manny and the tickets was a little overboard.)
That’s just me. Moss was fun. Manny is fun. Moss was drummed out by ownership, not the fans.
