Manny's My Man

Folksinger Joni Mitchell (forgive the aging Gammons music reference) once sang "Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got til it's gone." When it comes to Manny Ramirez, I have finally come around to the fact that I don't want him to leave, and thankfully he didn't have to go for me to realize what we have.

Yes, Junior in NY referenced in his last post that I will at some point want to get rid of Manny. However, the boy and I haven't actually discussed this issue recently and I haven't had the chance to tell him that I have seen the light when it comes to the human hitting machine. Yea I was ticked off when Manny basically gave up on his team last season because he lost interest, but isn't that what most of us did after the Yankees came in and cleaned our clock in August? But as the trade winds swirled in December and it really looked like Theo was going to give Manny up for 75 cents on the dollar, I came to realize what a mistake it would be for him to go. The Sox lineup without Manny was truly frightful, and just the thought of it shook me to my senses.

Sure he is a pain in the rosin bag. Yes he can be counted on to go off the deep end and cause a scene at some point in the season. And I still think he will be late reporting, but hey, it's Tito's stomach lining that he will be destroying, not mine. Besides, you know he will put up the best numbers of any righthanded hitter in the game again this year, and enable Big Papi to continue ripping it up. Manny isn't the first pampered superstar to require special handling and he won't be the last. At least his production warrants his favorite son treatment. Plus you know with all the drama, he'll still play more games than JD Drew.

So I'm on board. I've drunk the Kool Aid. No Manny rants from me any more. Manny can do no wrong. Play when you want as long as when you do play, you continue to put the fear of God in opposing pitchers.

I know what we've got and you didn't have to go for me to realize it. Manny, just be Manny.