It's a shame it had to come to this.Wow. And, judging from the context, it appears that he expects these nine words to be taken seriously. And he thinks Manny lives in his own private universe?
Is there anyone out there -- anyone at all, aged 9 to 99 -- who feels the CHB truly believes this entire matter is a shame?
First of all, the frenzy over MBM would not even exist if it wasn't for clowns like Shaughnessy trying desperately to stoke the ire of the fan base year after year after year. (Though to the fans' credit, they have resisted the media bait for most of Ramirez's eight years in Boston, usually cheering him wildly.)
Secondly, this tempest gives CHB full reign to do what he loves to do more than anything else: rip the Red Sox and bask in their woes. That hobby has been a bit tougher to indulge since October 2004, when Shaughnessy's gravy train finally derailed, so it means he has to work double-time to stir the pot.
The entire process is a violently spinning circle. CHB blows the often silly, inconsequential stuff out of proportion in the public consciousness, then points to the circus he has in large part created and writes: See? The fans are very upset with Player X (coincidentally, their complaints about Player X sound very much like CHB's latest column) and the Red Sox are falling apart.
And on and on it goes.
I can honestly say I have read about 2 articles of CHB's my whole life.....
ReplyDeleteWhether or not the whole Manny thing is made up by the media or not.
I have still have one factor that has to be answered , whether or not he sat out when he wasn't injured. This year last year or any year......
The worst case scenario being , he plays fantastic till the trade deadline , doesn't get traded , then says he is hurt and doesn't play much more of the season , could it happen, I beleive it can .....
Something has to be resolved, and in my opinion it has to be done by the 31st....
So, what will CHB do when Big Papi's career winds down in Boston? Will he disgrace him just as he did to Nomar (at the time and again in this article) and Manny?
ReplyDeleteI keep daydreaming that Theo is going to sit Manny down and say "Look, we want you here, you have said you want to be here, and you know what? $20M is a lot of money but it's worth it for your production. Let's get this done right now." I know it's not fair to compare because of the obvious differences (age, position, etc, etc, etc) but they extended Beckett in the middle of the season so it's not as if they WON'T consider it. A side benefit would be that the media pot-stirring would vaporize for a while.
ReplyDeleteJeff
You've got to stop reading Shaughnessy.
ReplyDelete"...come to this"---come to WHAT? I did some checking. Both those great Sox left-fielders of yore, Yaz and Teddy Ballgame, had episodes where CHB's predecessors were trying to run them out of town for being "selfish," for dogging it in the field or on the bases, for promoting discord in the clubhouse, for undermining the manager, for not playing hurt or whatever. Both of them deserved some, though by no means all, of the criticism. Both were generally defended by team mates. Both got nailed by sneaky leaks from detractors with the club.
Both were also the subjects of stories about "inevitable" trades "for the good of the team". I remember one where a columnist said that Yaz would be traded to KC for BILL BUTLER (not to be confused withe current Royal BILLY Butler), a promising left-handed pitcher who ended up winning less than 30 games in the bigs.
Both, of course, retired after 20+ years with the Sox, beloved and sluted by all. In a pre-big money era, I'm not at all certain that the same might not be true of Manny, if he wanted to stay around.
Shaughnessy is simply full of shit, plain and simple....especially since he knows the club's history with star left-fielders. ALL of them---add Greenwell and Rice...had issues with the team FO, the press, and sometimes the fans. If Manny ends up playing with another team, he'll be the first left field star to do so since 1939. (Sorry,Troy O'Leary and Billy C.---you don't qualify.)
You've got to stop reading Shaughnessy.
ReplyDeleteI have, for the most part.
And yes, if he's around, he'll turn on Ortiz. You can bank on it.
Also, I do not think Manny is blameless. Far from it. But I am so much more sick of the Media Being Media.
Around the time of the Ortiz trade in 2003, CHB was on the radio and referred to Ortiz as a "sack of you know what".
ReplyDeleteSparky: I don't think it's relavant now, but picking up Manny's option for 20 million wouldn't make logical sense for the Sox, any more than signing Tek to another long-term contract. (I bet both of them are gone after this year.) 20 million might make sense if Manny was 30 and still getting an OPS over 900. But he figures to be less durable and and decline a little more every year. Even if all the controversy is placed aside, the franchise that wouldn't pay to keep Damon and Pedro wouldn't spend 20 mil to keep Manny at this stage in his career even if he were a combination of Cal Ripken, Kirby Puckett and Albert Schweizter.
ReplyDeleteI also have to believe, Casey, that Manny is not stark-raving mad. If he wants to make 20 million next year, he can't do that by shutting it down or going on strike. That's not going to happen.
referring to ortiz as a "sack of you know what" is proof that the CHB is the next one who needs to be run out of town.
ReplyDeleteMBM - media being media about Manny being Manny.
ReplyDeleteCHB being CHB a FO tool.
WEEI reporting that Mets, Phillies, Arizona and LA Dodgers about a trade.
1) No trade is made.
2) 11/9/2008 Scot Boras gets a fax saying "drop dead, we are picking up the option".
3) First home game of 2009 the third world series ring in 5 years gets handed out.
4) This time next year we go through this scenario again.
well said. CHB must be gleeful that there is some drama for him to amplify. routinely ignore his stuff and will continue to. he profits off creating misery for our team.
ReplyDeleteIf he wants to make 20 million next year, he can't do that by shutting it down or going on strike. That's not going to happen.
ReplyDeleteYep.