By now you've all heard about the latest Manny incident: he pushed a 61-year old team employee to the ground who said he may not be able to fulfill his ticket request for that night's game. Going after Kevin Youkilis in the dugout during a game seemed ridiculous enough, but the traveling secretary? Furthermore Michael Holley stated on WEEI yesterday that Jack McCormick (the Sox employee) has been with the team since '88 and the only player he ever heard of him having any issue with prior to this was Carl Everett....and Everett apologized for that. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say this was Manny's fault. So Carl Everett is the type of company Manny has put himself in these days, ouch! I understood "Manny being Manny" when that meant him boycotting the media for no apparent reason, or forgetting how many outs there were, or cutting off throws from center field, or making up dead relatives to skip All Star Games, or even when he demanded trades annually. But he has now tried to fight a teammate in the dugout during a game and shoved down a 61-year old club employee in less than a month. If this is what "Manny being Manny" is about these days it's no longer cute or acceptable to me. With guys like Adam Dunn potentially sitting out there on the free agent market the Sox may not be interested in this act too much longer either. I understand why McCormick said he forgave Manny (he pretty much had to), but I'm not sure I understand why the rest of us continue to. He's a great talent for sure, but he's not an irreplaceable one.
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I've always been a HUGE Manny supporter, but enough is enough. I posted something about him last week showing how valuable just having him in the lineup is, but at hat cost? And why has he gone from "loveable airhead" to acting like such a jerk in so short a time? Even when he started a fight with Youk I heard many people defending it. What? It was one of the least professional things I've ever seen.
I never thought I'd say this, but as of right now I think I'd rather see them replacing Manny (Jason Bay?) in left and using the left over money for the Darvish bid.
...obviously that is replacing him next year. Trading him in-season would make no sense unless things got worse or his teammates objected to his behavior, which they haven't yet done publicly.
Tito deserves some credit for that I'd imagine.
It does seem like every week Manny has his period or something...but he's still one of the best hitters in baseball - much better than Jason Bay in my opinion. That said, he is getting tiresome, but what do you do? Trade him? Do it now then, before he becomes a Milton Bradley/Ron Artest...
I'd say Manny's gotta go after this season(but i would still like his production if he's not). Thats hard to say after all he has done. But even the greatest players in the game still have to be good professionals and good people. Treating them otherwise sets a bad example. I can understand letting small things slide. But attacking other players and staff members is not acceptable, even with an appology. He's not new to the league or the team. At a certain point someone has to draw the line on stupid things he can do.
I would agree DK, Bay i think would be a good fit. He bats around .300(just under) 20+ HR a yr and he's better defensively than Manny, and he's younger.
Manny needs Ortiz, period. Ortiz deals with the press more (since his slump early especially), he eases everyone, and takes attention away from Manny. I have an idea...why doesn't Vartiek start making simple contact with the baseball. V-Tek to Lugo is killing us nightly in the 8-9 spots. I wish Casey could play short
DK
I would dump Manny like a hot potato at the end of the year.
Your telling me that you cant get a middle of the order guy at $20 million who is a decent human being.
I suspect you may see Matt Holliday in a Sox uniform after this season.
Rockies can't sign him and the Sox have the prospects to make a deal.
While his home/road splits are a little worrisome - but he is still .300 BA/.400 OBP/.475 sluggin on the road.
As Dan Shaugnessy said yesterday - Manny is not a Theo/Red Sox type of player. Tried to give him away after 2003 and have tried to trade him for years.
Manny Being Manic
I'd love to see Manny charge Tito after he disagrees with one of his Manager's decisions only to find out Francona was packing a tazer. Bzzzzst! He might thing twice about assaulting someone the next time around.
Do you think its possible he's pulling these shenanagans so the Sox don't pick up his contract extension at the end of the year and he can sign with NY?
It's no secret that Manny has wanted to join the Yankees for some time now and he seems more than willing to be villified this year.
I don't think this is the last Manny episode we'll see this year.
PB, Great call on Holliday. He would be the idea replacement...plays hard, very productive and no issues (that I know of). The anti-Manny with similar production.
Anonymous, Interesting call on Manny doing it on purpose. I actually had a similar thought and never posted it. My thinking was it could be like the Jay Payton episode where he caused a stink just to get waived/traded. Manny certainly wont be let go mid-season, but this could lead to them not picking up his option.
There is also a possibility of the Sox picking up his option and trading him, but due to his 10/5 rights Manny would have to agree to the trade.
Sox are taking major heat around the country for doing absolutely nothing (publicly at least) to reprimand Manny for this. They are just taking the "if we don't address it people will forget about it" approach...which is not a bad move since it seems to be working locally at least.
Also, I've been wondering what exactly McCormick said prior to this happening. My guess is that he said something thinking he was being funny "Why don't you try inviting only 1 or 2 girls to the game Manny" and Manny shoved him and he tripped backwards and fell.
In the Globe today...unidentified member of the Yankees is asked how the Yanks would have punished Derek Jeter if he did that. Response: Impossible to say, Jeter wouldn't do something like that.
I received an email from somebody today that said: I have the answer to your "what's wrong with manny" question. he's nuts.
Not sure why some people feel more confortable emailing me than posting, but oh well.
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