So Long Manny

Both sides have crossed the point of no return and by tomorrow night #24 of the Red Sox will not belong to Manny Ramirez. Manny’s number will not be retired at Fenway, he will not be part of Red Sox Nation any more. We will follow him for a while, read about his occasional antics in the NL, but after a while he will disappear into the background. How did it come to this? Why was the end of Manny’s career in Boston so filled with turmoil? At the start of the season we had the “new” Manny; he was open to the media, he worked hard during the off-season and he showed up to camp on time. But things did not stay positive for very long. Manny did not join the team for the trip to the White House or to visit wounded troops at Walter Reed and we called him out on this site. But Manny went back to being goofy and we forgave him for his selfishness. He talked to the press, he sold another car on Ebay, Manny was being funny Manny. Then came the fight with Youk that caught everyone off guard, but he said he was sorry and we forgave him again. Manny then had the incident with Jack McCormick that was quickly swept under the rug, but for me and many fans this was much harder to forgive. Manny skipped the All-Star Game press conference but he made a call from inside the Monstah and everyone loved him. But then came the harsh words about his contract, followed by the sitting out in Seattle and then against New York. This was the last straw for the front office and now Manny is on his way out. A silly gesture or event will not save him this time. There will be a great deal of Sox fans that will cry foul and blame Theo or ownership for ruining the Sox chances but I think they made the right call. Boston gave Manny some wiggle room to put himself above the team at times as long as he payed them back at the plate, unfortunately for Manny, his production no longer pays enough for the wiggle room he needs. He has gone too far off the reservation and will not be let back on. I wish him luck but I’m not about to buy a Marlins jersey. Manny gave us a great deal of humor, helped win 2 World Series, and gave Boston the most feared 3-4 combination in baseball. But he is not the face of the Red Sox, he is not above the game, nor is he irreplaceable. The Sox have lost 8 out of their last 12 with him and in his last game with Boston he went 0-3. Maybe Jason Bay can get the Sox back on track and help us move past the Manny era in Boston.