More Manny

My sister, a casual baseball fan, looked down at yesterday’s Boston Herald which bore some huge, negative headline on the sports page about Manny.

"Don’t they have anything better to write about?  Who cares if Manny shows up late, as long as he shows up?"

From the mouths of babes.  Or, in this case, older sisters.

Let me get this out, right now, so there is no mistake.  I don’t care if Manny paints himself blue and runs naked through the streets of Miami yelling, "I’m a tree frog!  I’m a tree frog!", I want him on the Red Sox.  As long as the guy isn’t killing anyone or NOT playing, I want him on the Red Sox. 

This isn’t rocket science people.  The man is a hitting machine.  The man is an RBI machine.  The man is a homerun machine.  And he’s pretty funny too, and by all accounts, a good guy to have around the clubhouse.  He also works his butt off in the off-season and during the season. 

I’m sorry that the Boston sports media is so upset by the fact that the fans, the team and the front office care more about how Manny plays than whether or not he knows what day it is.

Actually, I’m not sorry.  I enjoy seeing Steve Buckley and Dan Shaughnessy and Tony Massarotti and all the other writers of their ilk (shout out to Gordon Edes and Sean McAdam, probably the only two sports writers in New England that the athletes don’t mind speaking to and the fans enjoy reading) freaking out.  I hope the rumors about most of the pitching staff not speaking to CHB thus far at Spring Training are true.  (CHB= Curly Haired Boyfriend=Dan Shaughnessy.  The one thing Carl Everett left the fans of Boston.  Thank you, Carl!)

I have no idea why Manny isn’t in Ft Myers.  And I don’t care.  No amount of negative articles about how Manny is playing us for fools will change my mind.  Yankees fans taunting me with "where’s Manny" comments will be met with "Polishing his 2004 World Series MVP trophy".  As long as Manny shows up on March 1st…or whenever the Red Sox deem it appropriate for him to show up, I’ll be happy.  As long as he’s in the lineup come opening day…I couldn’t care less where he is before that.

Is that special treatment?  Sure.  Is it fair?  Maybe  not.  I’m a big fan of equal treatment for all, usually.  But you know what?  Sometimes there ARE special people who earn special treatment.  Not all of them take advantage and force that treatment to be given, but some do.  Manny happens to be one who does.  I don’t always like it, but I certainly don’t want him gone just because he likes to march to the beat of a drummer not even on this planet.

If Manny continues to be Manny on the field, he can be "Manny" off the field all he wants.

(The pictures accompanying this rant were taken by me at Fenway Park last year.  The dancing one on his birthday in May, the close up in June.  That last one, well, I just WISH I had taken it!)