My Manny Position

By Nick McCann

Before being traded to the Dodgers, Manny Ramirez might have been in the top five of my favorite human beings on the planet. Not only is he one of the greatest hitters of my lifetime, but during his time with the Red Sox, he never seemed to care about the ridiculous nature of the Boston fans.

Having gone to Boston earlier this summer, I got a chance to experience the fanaticism that comes along with Red Sox nation. People from Boston support their teams like crazy people, and in the very recent past, it has translated into winning championships. The fans pressure the teams to put forth a premium team on the field of play, and the players know they can’t half ass it at anytime or they will be crucified (see: the probable drinking problems of Bill Buckner’s kids).

However, Manny Ramirez never bought in to that sensibility and it is clear that it helped him on the field. We have all seen his antics and we have all heard the colorful quotes he dished out over the years. Manny has his own planet and that planet will probably end up with 620 to 640 homeruns.

Manny was a comedian in Boston that was fun to watch from outside of the Boston sports sphere of insanity because he drove diehard Red Sox fans crazy. He literally pissed on the green monster and all that it represents, because he didn’t care about Pudge Fisk’s homerun, Jim Rice’s Hall of Fame induction, or Ted Williams frozen skull. He left that town with two rings and in a fashion that made people hate him.

Bravo!

Now he is a Dodger and he has the entire baseball world believing that LA is guaranteed to win the NL West title. Well, slow down. Since 1988, the Dodgers have managed to screw up pretty much everything they have tried to do. Not that a Padre fan should talk, but it is easier to see the truth when looking up.

The Dodgers have taken baseball’s clown prince and put him in a city that is already full of clowns. Sure, his act is hot now and he is knocking the cover off the ball, but his genius as an entertainer only works when he has an entire city of straight men going nuts over his antics in a negative way.

Manny’s prime in the on the field is probably over and so is his prime as a showman. He will probably hit a lot of homeruns at Petco, and the Dodgers will be better off. But it won’t be the same, because people will love him more in LA, and they won’t know how to balance him out.