Gerry Callahan of the Boston Herald writes that the Red Sox must prove they don’t need OF Manny Ramirez to win. But what Manny wants everyone to know is that not only does he find things easier in L.A., but also that the media members in Boston need to get a life because the Red Sox winning isn’t the end all, be all.
“Baseball in Boston is like a Sunday football game, but played every day,” Ramirez said. “We lose in LA, I go to breakfast and people say, ‘Well, you’ll get them tomorrow.’ In Boston, it’s ‘Hey, what’s going on, the Yankees are coming.’
“It’s just a different atmosphere. The fans in Boston got your back no matter what, but I’m talking about the people who write all this bull because it means so much to them. If your happiness depends on (the Red Sox) winning, you have to get a life.”
Being told to get a life by Ramirez is like being told to have some shame by Barney Frank. The first time I interviewed Ramirez, he didn’t know what year he came to the United States or when he moved to New York. When asked his age, he said he was 25. He was almost 27. When he got his cellphone wet, he put it in the microwave to dry. The only surprising thing was that he didn’t try to eat it when it was done.
You always have to appreciate when an athlete takes a dump on the team that put up with his antics and paid him well for most of his career. Manny is probably right that some (most?) Boston fans live and die by how successful the Red Sox are, but then again that’s the way it is in most cities. You don’t think people in Green Bay want to call in sick on Monday when the Packers lose? Or physically do harm to somebody in the parking lot when the Eagles fall? It’s why they’re called “fanatics.”
