Manny being magnificent at making the game fun
What: Boston Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez turned a routine play into a spectacularly hilarious YouTube event, catching a flyball and high-fiving a fan before doubling off a Baltimore Orioles runner at first base.
When: The comedic sketch took place Wednesday at Baltimore’s Camden Yards. Kevin Millar hammered a ball into the center-field gap. Ramirez took off, dreadlocks flapping, and made a terrific running catch. He could have stopped. But what would have been the fun in that? Instead, he kept chugging along, vaulted onto the left-field fence and slapped skin with a Red Sox fan. Upon returning to reality, he fired the ball in to double off Aubrey Huff.
Background: Ramirez has a history of weird behavior. He is baseball’s Britney Spears, minus the divorce, custody case and Dr. Phil visits. Remember the time Ramirez cut off Johnny Damon’s outfield throw a couple of years ago? He dived to make the catch — a priceless Little League moment. It was topped only by his visit to the Green Monster restroom to relieve himself during a pitching change. He burst out of the wall like the Kool-Aid man — “Oh, yeah!”
Renck’s take: After watching Ramirez’s latest foolery, acting manager Brad Mills said: “Somebody in the dugout said, ‘I have seen it all now.’ ” I want to be mad about Ramirez. I don’t want to condone his actions, which are stupid and unprofessional. Problem is, there’s nothing malicious about Ramirez. He’s a 12-year-old boy in a man’s body. Think Tom Hanks in “Big.” That’s how Ramirez plays baseball. It’s aggravating and annoying at times. But his consistency as a home run hitter is matched only by his consistency as a goofball. Manny being Manny works because it rings true. You wouldn’t want 25 guys like this on your roster — or even two, for that matter — but a little levity never hurt anyone in a sport in which way too many people take themselves too seriously.
