Leaving On a Jet Plane: Manny Out, Bay In

(Above) One of about a million examples showing how Manny dogs it to first; this one just happened to get caught on camera. Trust me, its not like the guy shooting spotted a UFO or something. In this instance, a bad throw was still enough to get Manny because he took more than five seconds to reach the bag.

"I have never had any interest in owning a Manny Ramirez t-shirt jersey."

These are the words I uttered to Chrissty one humid night on our front porch when she asked which Red Sox players' t-shirt jersey I wanted to purchase next. My answer left her perplexed.

"How could you not want his jersey. He's one of your best players. Look at what he has done."

In my mind, the answer was simple. "He's not a dirt dog. He's never been a hustle, leave it all on the field kind of player."

This conversation was the first thing that popped up in my mind when I heard that Manny had been dealt to the Dodgers in a three team switch-a-roo that brought Jason Bay from Pittsburgh to Boston. Am I disappointed to see the dreadlocked wonder go? Sure. The guy is a lock for the Hall of Fame. He and Big Papi, David Ortiz, were the most feared 3 and 4 hitters since DiMaggio and Ruth. Just in a Red Sox uniform alone he hit around 250 homers, drove in countless runs, and provided many key hits on the way to two World Series championships for the former chronic losers. But, on the other hand, I'm not crying my eyes out. In fact, after years of Manny trade speculation, I'm smashing a bottle of Sutter Home on the private jet flying him to L.A. and saying bon voyage because I'll no longer have to dry heave at his shrugged shoulders approach to the game.

For non-Sox fans, trading Manny must seem insane. "So what if the guy is outrageous sometimes. He just likes to have fun, lighten up. Who are you, the Yankees?"

Sure, I get it...As long as he hits and plays decent in left who cares if he doesn't hustle. It's just Manny being Manny.

There isn't a saying in sports that I despise more. Sure, I'll admit it. I laughed my ass off when he took a piss in the Green Monster a few years back, and, earlier this year, when he caught a fly ball on the run, ran up the wall, high-fived a fan, and threw a guy out at second. But, these aren't the Manny moments I have a problem with. I have issues with the Manny being Manny moments that don't make it to SportsCenter: him constantly dogging it to first, him turning a ball off the wall from a triple into a single because he has to admire what he thinks is a homerun while he skips out of the box instead of RUNNING and him threatening every year to leave even though John Henry and company pay him a fortune and the fans love him.

On a team of guys who care a great deal, dirt dogs like El Capitan Jason Varitek, Curt Schilling, Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell, Big Papi, and Kevin Youkilis, the '08 Manny was a Steel Reserve in a bucket of Sam Adams Boston Ale. He made his individual goal, money, more important than the team goal, winning, so the Red Sox did the right thing showing that no player, no matter how Hall of Fame bound he may be, is greater than hoisting the World Championship trophy in October.

So long Manny. I'm sure you'll have much better luck in L.A. because it is a city that caters to people with egos and attitudes just like yours.

I'm looking forward to the Jason Bay chapter in Boston. This season the former All-Star and Manny are sharing similar stats, although Bay plays much better defense. Also, I see him becoming a much more consistent 30 homer 100 RBI type of player batting in front of the titanium plated protection of Big Papi, and he's from Canada so maybe he can help the Bruins out during the off-season.

However, while I'm optimistic, the one variable no one can predict is the pressure playing in Boston provides; We've seen Boston eat up All-Star caliber players before (Edgar Renteria to name the most recent). Plus, Bay has additional pressure in that he's never been in a playoff chase, and he's replacing one of the best hitters in the history of the game.

For now, as long as he hustles to first and runs out his round trippers, I'm happy.

Photos taken from bostondirtdogs.com (originally shot by Jim Davis of the Boston Globe), rotorob.com and cbc.ca