MANNY!

[Tektonik]

I'm just now back from the Dodger game at Petco, and holy hell Manny is the fucking best. Half the stadium had Dodger fans who were cheering at Manny like he was batting during a playoff game.

I sort of lost my voice because of my ongoing man crush for Manny.

[Oeditpus Rex]

1. He's played 38 games as a Dodger

and he has 14 homers and 40 RBI. Not only that, but whoever's hitting in front of him is getting good pitches. Ethier's hitting .526 with 14 RBI in his last 10 games. :wow:



Hey, his first homer tonight — how far did it go? Steiner said he hit it to dead center.

[Tektonik]

2. 430 something iirc

We were shocked it went so far since not only Petco is deep, but it is drafty in there.

Manny was great to the crowd though.

I hate Billingsley and Saito, who were talking to each other the entire frickin time, now since every batting practice ball that reached them in the outfield, they didn't throw one back into the stands :(

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. I heard Manny caught one for the third out in some inning

and flipped it into the stands. That's a seriously cool thing to do on the road. :thumbsup:

[Tektonik]

4. Yeah he did, I was too far away since I was much closer to 3rd base than the corner of the outfield

If you have the game recorded, after Loney hit his homer and rounds 3rd, you should see two guys cheering in the stands, one with a dodger colored fro and me wearing a long sleeved plaid shirt. My friend's dad called us to say he saw us on tv that they gave us a close-up. :D

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. Teevee, I wish

I'm out-of-market, so unless I wanna spend like a b'skillion dollars per month, the only times I get to see the Dodgers on teevee are when they're the Faux Saturday game or once in awhile when they play the Giants. :(

[Tektonik]

6. Same here, I live in SD

:(

[Oeditpus Rex]

8. Can't you still get whatever Fox Sports West 2 is called now?

Comcast somethin', I think. :shrug:

I think I can get it up here from some cable or satellite provider, but I'd have to get one of those Total Sports Packages, which includes like the Speed Bump Network and costs like $150 per month.

[Tektonik]

7. The game from the warm ups to the end was solid

We got to see Furcal do running drills, Penny pitched (horribly though), and Manny being Manny.

Manny would not have gone 0-7 if was playing in Boston tonight. :P

[MissMillie]

9. I miss Manny

I don't understand the dynamics that made him want to leave, but I will mourn forever.

[Forkboy]

10. Not me.

He's a great hitter but he's also wildly unprofessional, as his actions leading up the trade proved very clearly. It's also quite clear that he was totally dogging it here in Boston (look at his numbers here before the trade, and his suddenly awesome numbers since the trade).

How many times did Francona have to bend over backwards making excuses for Manny? He would miss big games just because he felt like it (how many Yankees games did he suddenly develop a sore knee before over the years?), leaving Tito to cover his ass. And we masked it by saying, "Well, it's just Manny being Manny." It's just Manny being a child, is more like it.

Now I don't care what a player feels about a city, the fans, or the ownership, but you sure as shit owe it to your teammates to bust your ass any chance you're given, and Manny doesn't do that. It's not about team, it's about Manny.

In my opinion players like that are poison, and the Dodgers can have him and his antics. Maybe when he shits on the Dodgers like he did the Sox the fans out there will begin to see what they got. One of the best hitters in baseball, and one of the biggest babies in baseball, too. Let's see how other fans like seeing their team walk on eggshells all year for fear of upsetting the mighty Manny.

Good riddance.

Though I did like his hair a lot. :)

[Tektonik]

13. You should miss Manny

You're not winning your division w/o him :P

[flvegan]

15. We wouldn't be winning with him, either.

Obviously, the relationship between the Bosox and Manny was over. He's happier and so are the Sox. I like our chances with Bay, but I did like Manny when he showed up to play.

[Forkboy]

18. We weren't winning with him either.

And had he stayed I'd be willing to bet we'd be further back than we are now. The Sox have played really well since the trade, and just as importantly, the team chemistry seems to be back, something that was totally missing all year before the deal.

Be pretty neat if the Sox and Dodgers met in the World Serious. :)

[Forkboy]

11. Enjoy him while you can.

Odds are he'll be a Yankee next year.

[Tektonik]

16. I doubt he goes back east unless the Yankees want to give him a 4 year deal

I'd expect to see Manny get a deal with a team like Seattle, LA, AZ or maybe even SF.

[Forkboy]

19. I think the Yankees would that, if for no other reason than to spite the Sox.

There's not a lot of love in the A.L. East. :)

[SoxFan]

12. Give him time

The first time he misses a fly ball because he's taking a leak, you'll feel differently.

[Tektonik]

14. Hopefully if we keep Manny,

our ownership doesn't try to trade him for 4 years and act like we don't want him.

[Forkboy]

21. Hopefully if you keep him he wont push 64 year old men down for not getting him enough tickets.

Or smack his teammate during a game. Or walk off the field to take a piss. Or tell your fans how much he wishes he was playing for your biggest rival instead of the Dodgers right before a series with that team. Or play hard when he feels like it.

Seriously, what would you have done in if you were in the place of the Sox management? Here you have arguably the best hitter in baseball, a Hall of Famer just for his bat alone, and the deadliest two-strike hitter since Rod Carew. He just happens to be the biggest flake to come down the Pike since Bill "Spaceman" Lee, without the intelligence. A guy who forces your whole organization to walk on eggshells so he's happy enough to actually decide to let himself be in the lineup each night.

What do you do? You can't just give him away but, like A-Rod, his talent eventually isn't worth his attitude. He seems all friendly and happy, but that's because he's pretty spoiled and pampered, and when he isn't he finds excuses not to play.

So you do exactly what the Sox tried to do. Try to trade him and actually get players worth the value of Manny's bat. That's the name of the game in any sport. ANY team should do what the Sox did. They should always be looking for ways to make the team better, and sometimes that means more than just what numbers are being put up. Manny was single-handedly tearing the team apart, especially this year. The lack of chemistry was noticeable from training camp (another yearly drama for Manny, who each year decided he or may not show up on time), and from the night of the trade the chemistry was there again.

So if you want to take the jab at the Sox management you can, but you're crazy if you think Manny is some kind of victim of a ruthless Sox ownership, like Manny wants you to think. The fact is the Sox bent over backwards for years to keep the spoiled child happy, and he still decided to shit in his playpen.

[Tektonik]

putting him on waivers and shopping him around endlessly doesn't sound fun

I'm sure he can be a jerk, but most situations go both ways, and the BoSox ownership didn't help.

[Oeditpus Rex]

22. I wouldn't count on keeping him

We got him — for free — to be the stunt double for Andruw Jones, who has a year left on his contract. I don't think they're gonna pay Jones $18 million to play part-time, especially if they sign Ramirez for at least that much, and they aren't gonna deal Jones away unless they can get someone to pick up a big chunk of his salary.

There's a similar problem with Juan Pierre, a helluva leadoff man before his injuries. He has three years left on his contract and isn't happy being platooned. Then you've got Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, two of the best young outfielders in baseball. You've also got Jason Repko, who may not be the player he was before a string of injuries, and Delwyn Young.

With seven outfielders, somebody's gotta go, because that's way too much cash sitting on the bench. I'm betting the main departée will be Ramirez, because by then he'll have fulfilled his purpose, and because he'll be 37 two months into next season. I don't think they'll keep Young, either, and maybe not Repko, depending on the status of their contracts.

[A-Long-Little-Doggie]

17. You just wait

Manny is on his best behavior because of his impending free agency. Whoever picks him up will be living with the real Manny for the following 4 years.

I loved his bat, but the Sox are doing just fine without him, thank you very much.

[FedUpWithIt All]

20. I have been hearing he wants to head back to Cleveland.

Don't think we'll pay for him though.