Manthology: Top 8 Manny Ramirez Moments
After we witnessed a historic blast off of the bat of Manny Ramirez on Saturday night, let’s take a little jaunt down memory lane. There have been plenty of “Manny Moments” during the superstar’s time in a Red Sox uniform. Some of them have made us cheer, some have made us laugh, and some have made us pound our fist on the coffee table in frustration.
I’ll be focusing on the positive here, and I’m sure I’ll be missing something as there has been no shortage of heroics during the future Hall of Famer’s tenure in Boston. For now, these are my 8 favorite moments involving Boston’s baseball savant:
# 8: The Drink – 8/30/03
Manny misses a series with New York with a throat infection. In the midst of the series, he is spotted having a drink with Yankee reserve infielder Enrique Wilson at the Ritz Carlton hotel. Boston writers and talk show callers go absolutely ape-shit. While this might be categorized as a “bad” Manny moment in the eyes of some, I loved it. Why? It exposed the faux outrage, the hilarious sanctimony that the media is capable of spewing. Keep this in mind: the Ritz is where Manny was living at the time. He was essentially talking to a friend in his living room, and he was barbecued for it.
#7: The Pit Stop – 7/18/05
This has happened several times, much to the amusement of the fans in the left field grandstands: Manny Ramirez opening the door of the Green Monster and crawling in to…well, honestly, I have no idea what he does back there between innings. In this case, however, Manny had yet to emerge from the wall then the first pitch of the inning was thrown. Fortunately, the ball was not hit to left field, and thus it goes down in history as a moment of levity.
#6: Number 500 – 5/31/08
Still fresh in our minds. Manny reaches the milestone in Camden Yards. Camden was housing mostly Boston fans (not unusual these days), and Manny received a very loud ovation. Like most of the homers Manny hits, there was no doubt about it as soon as contact was made, and Manny did his patented stroll towards first base. Somewhere, Joe Buck was gritting his artificially whitened teeth.
#5: The Double Play – 5/14/08
This is yet another moment which occurred recently at “Fenway South” in Baltimore. Manny makes a tremendous running catch in deep left field, jumps off the wall and high-fives a Red Sox fan in the front row, and then fires the ball into second base to double off the runner before he can return to the bag. The entire episode happened in one fluid movement.
#4: The Best Trade is Sometimes the One Not Made – 7/31/05
It was a tense time for fans of the Red Sox. Manny had allegedly requested a trade earlier in the year, and it seemed as if management was willing to acquiesce. On the day of the trade deadline, Manny was not in Boston’s lineup, which caused those of us in attendance to fear the worst. This tension lasted until the eighth inning, when Manny emerged from the dugout to pinch hit, amidst 35,000 sighs of relief. Ramirez promptly swats an RBI single, and his explanation in the post game interview said it all. “Just Manny Being Manny.”
#3: The Bronx Heist – 9/17/04
In the midst of a heated pennant race between the two greatest rivals in American sports, Manny Ramirez does the unexpected: he leaps and snags an apparent Miguel Cairo HR from over the wall – much to the chagrin of the Yankee fans in attendance. Boston wins the game by 1, and the rest of the season plays out rather nicely.
#2: Manny Being the Cut-Off Man – 7/21/04
Perhaps the biggest “WTF” moment on Manny’s illustrious resume. Speedy Oriole David Newhan launches a deep fly ball into the gap. With Newhan flying around the bases , Johnny Damon recovers the ball and throws it to Mark Bellhorn, who is ready to relay the ball towards the plate. Except, the ball never gets to Bellhorn. It is inexplicably cut off by a diving Manny Ramirez. While Manny lies on the ground with the ball like a sunbathing walrus, Newhan gallops home for an inside-the-park home run. Sure, this play wasn’t a “good” moment by textbook definitions, but it was downright hilarious. Hey, it happened in 2004. Any egregious acts that occurred in 2004 are now excused, as far as this guy is concerned.
#1: The Bomb – 10/5/07
The most exciting home run I have had the privilege of watching. Bottom of the 9th, Game 2 of the ALDS, facing superb Anaheim closer Francisco Rodriguez: Manny Ramirez swings the bat, crushes the ball, and immediately raises his arms in triumph as it promptly sails over the Green Monster. Every fan in Fenway Park does the same.
I cannot help but feel a sharp pang of sadness knowing that this guy’s contract is up at the end of this season. The Theo Epstein-run Red Sox have proven to be quick to sever ties to costly aging stars (rightfully). While it might make business and baseball sense to say goodbye, I’m irrationally hoping that something will be worked out to keep #24 in town for another couple of years.
The Cutoff remains my favorite Manny Moment of all time. I will never forget watching that play live and I laugh out loud every time I think about it.