Manny article creating Mass hysteria

Manny's talents at the plate have never been questioned

I referenced this article by the Globe's excellent Sox beat writer Gordon Edes in a post I did on Sept. 25 titled "Sox limping to the finish line." In it I stated that reports had surfaced that Manny's agent had requested a trade for his client yet again and that people in Boston were calling out Man-knee for not playing most of the past month due to patella tendinitis in his right knee. Edes had written the scathing article presumably as an angry response to the trade request while Manny was being portrayed as quitting on his team.

Well evidently ManRam's legion of fans in the Nation have responded to Edes' piece, some not too kindly, like the one who called his home while he was with the team in Toronto- talk about crossing the line. Edes may have been out of bounds, or grinding his axe, in his dismantling of Manny by accusing him of not caring about his team and lying about being injured. All the players on the team have always staunchly defended ManRam, especially his good buddy Papi. Are some of the "grinders" (a.k.a. Tek, Trot, Lowell, Loretta) unhappy with Manny's occasional lackadaisical attitude and diva persona? I'm pretty sure the answer is yes. However Edes did not back up any of his statements with facts or quotes, just here say and vindictive words which seemed to stem from Manny's indifference to the Boston media. Why bring up Manny counting his deferred money in 2020? And saying he shut it down at a critical time?- the season was over after BM II, correct? Whenever this guy is at the plate he is always doing what he does best- hitting the ball consistently, hitting it hard, and hitting it very high & far; isn't that what he gets paid (handsomely) to do? Not be nice to sports reporters who can appear to be one step up the food chain from car salesmen at times.

Which begs the bigger question that is swirling around the sports world today, thanks in large part to a certain flaky Cowboys wide receiver- when is a player's talent overshadowed by his attitude? See if Edes had just taken that angle and not accused him of faking injury, quitting on his team, and not caring, then he would have had a valid argument. Because there is no question in my mind that the MannyBeingManny show has 'jumped the shark' in Boston, and it is in the best interest of both sides if the mercurial Hall of Fame-bound slugger has a new place to showcase his talents & eccentricities next year.

But not because he doesn't care, quit on his team, or isn't a "winner" (this is the same guy that was a World Series MVP 2 years ago for crying out loud- how is he not a winner?) No the simple reason is that the distraction has outweighed the attraction, and when that happens, well the circus always moves on to the next town.