This from a CUBS message board where I mod at...........
Manny Ramires may indeed be the most valuable player in MLB over the past decade.
This guy is amazing. He seems to fly under the radar even while playing for a hugely successful team with a rabid fan base. He's one of the best hitters of my lifetime (started watching in 1965). His team tries to trade him almost every offseason. He has a few drinks in a bar while recuperating from an injury and he's made out to be a pariah.
You'd think Manny was playing in Tampa, for the Rockies evangelical ownership and ruining the "chemistry" on team after team.
Again, I live around Chicago. It always struck me as completely odd the way Manny was perceived...WHEN he was perceived. We had Sosa doing his act which everyone around here and folks all over the country just ate up. But, Sammy was eventually exposed and when that happened it was ugly. Meanwhile, Manny has been almost consistently been perceived as a flake, a problem, a toxic presence...whatever. But, he's STILL with the Red Sox, STILL winning games in the postseason and basically, STILL the same person. Isn't that more than a little odd? Could it be that we're much happier with a masky faker like Sosa than a guy who acts much truer to himself like Manny?
He's just who he is and someday we'll be able to appreciate just how good he really is. Maybe, this postseason will start that process.
Manny Ramires may indeed be the most valuable player in MLB over the past decade.
This guy is amazing. He seems to fly under the radar even while playing for a hugely successful team with a rabid fan base. He's one of the best hitters of my lifetime (started watching in 1965). His team tries to trade him almost every offseason. He has a few drinks in a bar while recuperating from an injury and he's made out to be a pariah.
You'd think Manny was playing in Tampa, for the Rockies evangelical ownership and ruining the "chemistry" on team after team.
Again, I live around Chicago. It always struck me as completely odd the way Manny was perceived...WHEN he was perceived. We had Sosa doing his act which everyone around here and folks all over the country just ate up. But, Sammy was eventually exposed and when that happened it was ugly. Meanwhile, Manny has been almost consistently been perceived as a flake, a problem, a toxic presence...whatever. But, he's STILL with the Red Sox, STILL winning games in the postseason and basically, STILL the same person. Isn't that more than a little odd? Could it be that we're much happier with a masky faker like Sosa than a guy who acts much truer to himself like Manny?
He's just who he is and someday we'll be able to appreciate just how good he really is. Maybe, this postseason will start that process.
