Manny traded to Dodgers
Jul. 31st, 2008 03:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
It looks like the Manny era has officially ended. He heads to L. A., home of other Boston cast-offs such as Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Lowe, and Bill Mueller (who, if I remember, has a job in the front office) and former home to Grady Little who was replaced by Manny's new skipper, Joe Torre. It'll be interesting how Torre handles Manny's frequent walks down the first base line where he turns sure doubles into singles and sometimes outs, or when he sometimes decides it's really not even worth the effort to do that and instead turns to the dugout before the out is even recorded.
I've really enjoyed Manny's time in Boston (and I don't think the team wins either of their last two titles without him) and, in the past, I've tried to overlook his shortcomings and his distractions. However, these past few weeks, he's been so distracting between his refusal to play (with a bad knee or watching three called strikes in a row when called on to pinch hit) and his declarations that the Red Sox "don't deserve him" that there really was no other solution than to ship him out of Boston. It's unfortunate. The Boston fans gave him free passes for his sometimes odd-behavior during the entire eight year tenure and collectively rolled their eyes at his semi-yearly demands to be traded. Regardless of his behavior on or off the field, the fans rolled with it and gave him standing ovations like the time he came out of the dugout to pinch hit three years ago after the trading deadline passed and his latest "trade-me" demand was not met.
I'll miss some of the crazy stuff he did like the phone call from the wall (and the rumored bathroom break), the high five with a fan from earlier this year in between catching a ball and throwing it in, and even the absolutely head scratching stuff like cutting off Johnny Damon's throw into the infield in 2004 (I still laugh when I see that one). Unfortunately, though, it was time for him to go.
I've really enjoyed Manny's time in Boston (and I don't think the team wins either of their last two titles without him) and, in the past, I've tried to overlook his shortcomings and his distractions. However, these past few weeks, he's been so distracting between his refusal to play (with a bad knee or watching three called strikes in a row when called on to pinch hit) and his declarations that the Red Sox "don't deserve him" that there really was no other solution than to ship him out of Boston. It's unfortunate. The Boston fans gave him free passes for his sometimes odd-behavior during the entire eight year tenure and collectively rolled their eyes at his semi-yearly demands to be traded. Regardless of his behavior on or off the field, the fans rolled with it and gave him standing ovations like the time he came out of the dugout to pinch hit three years ago after the trading deadline passed and his latest "trade-me" demand was not met.
I'll miss some of the crazy stuff he did like the phone call from the wall (and the rumored bathroom break), the high five with a fan from earlier this year in between catching a ball and throwing it in, and even the absolutely head scratching stuff like cutting off Johnny Damon's throw into the infield in 2004 (I still laugh when I see that one). Unfortunately, though, it was time for him to go.