Boston Red Sox Replace Manny Ramirez With Jason Bay
by Bodog Sportsbook | Aug 7 2008
Double PlayIt was the best of times and it was the… well, statistically speaking, it's still the best of times, but the marriage between the Boston Red Sox and Manny Ramirez is over. When the smoke cleared and the dust settled the Red Sox and the Dodgers had turned a double play. The Red Sox were again happily married, this time to Trail, B.C., legend Jason Bay, and Hollywood finally had its baseball opening act.
Say Goodbye to the Bad GuyWhen the Red Sox said farewell to Manny Aristides Ramirez, they said farewell to a player with the most grand slams out of any active player, a clutch hitter and one of the most lovable baseball players the modern era has seen. When the Red Sox said goodbye to Manny Ramirez, they traded away a player with a career .313 batting average, 513 home runs, 2,330 hits, 1,679 RBIs, two World Series championships, one World Series Most Valuable Player award and a million dollar smile.
Somewhere in Baseball Heaven, puffing on the finest cigar, the Bambino just put his arm around Lou Gehrig and said, "I told you so; where’s my twenty bucks?" Albeit, Manny Ramirez is not the Babe, but haven’t Red Sox fans been down this road before with a charismatic slugger? Wasn’t it the Babe who threatened to leave the Red Sox several times due to his quarrels with management before finally being dismissed to the Yankees for a mere $100K? We all know what happened in the years to follow… cough… curse!... cough.
Bay-Sick BaseballRed Sox fans don’t want to hear curse talk, because right now, things are looking pretty good. New left fielder Jason Bay is a multitalented slugger from Canada’s official “Home of the Champions” and he has been absolutely raking since he got into a Red Sox uniform. Bay is batting .423 with one home run and six RBIs in six games. He may have also become the newest fan favorite in Boston after he scored the winning run in his debut at Fenway on Aug. 1. In Bay, the Red Sox picked up a more agile and skilled left fielder than Ramirez. They also have a class act, no drama, no nonsense ball player. Not to mention, the team has been rolling ever since Bay arrived with a 5-1 record.
Manny Being MannyWhat about Manny? Well, Manny is still being Manny in Hollywood with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they love him to death out West. And who wouldn’t love a guy who shows up with a smile on his face and, in his first five games with the Dodgers, bats .600, with three jacks and seven RBIs? The addition of Ramirez to the Dodgers lineup may just be final boost they need to catch the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have a 2.5-game lead on the second-place Dodgers in the National League West.
There is plenty of irony that we all may be missing here. Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez on the same team, the Red Sox trade their best and most clutch hitter away… Look who is in first place in the American League East! Wait… that doesn’t say Boston. Is there such thing as a Manny curse? Red Sox fans can relax—teams trade away future Hall of Famers and World Series MVPs all the time… right?
