He's Your Problem Now

Whenever a relationship ends, there is a period of regret and reflection. Human nature when thinking about the past is to gloss over the bad times and focus solely on the good - forgetting for the moment that the person was and continues to be bat-shit crazy. This kind of reflection only serves to make the regret stronger. Because you're thinking about only the good times, thoughts start to creep in that perhaps you were too quick to end the relationship and could have done more to try and save it. That regret deepens further if you can't seem to find anyone to take their place, but discover that your ex is now in a stable and happy new relationship. Suddenly you can't figure out why they weren't this way with you and what makes this new person so much better? The good news is that crazy can only be kept hidden for so long. A time will come when you will find that they have begun to act just as insane in their new relationship. Then you can relax, regain your confidence because you made the right decision and feel sorry for the poor idiot who fell for their act just like you did. I'm talking, of course, about Red Sox fans and their relationship with Manny Ramirez.

Red Sox fans have always had a complex relationship with Ramirez, which continues even though his time in Boston ended badly and he's been gone for two full seasons. There are still those in Red Sox Nation who wish the Sox had never let Manny go, because we have never been able to replace his power in the line-up and when Manny left a lot of what was interesting about the Red Sox on a day-to-day basis went with him. The team is more professional, but professional is boring, they'll say. (Sadly, I agree on this point. The 2010 Red Sox are like watching paint dry.) They even wanted the Red Sox to claim him off of waivers from the Dodgers if he fell to us. They had forgotten all about the abusing of clubhouse staff, the not running out of ground balls, the iffy (at best) defense and the refusing to be put in the lineup even though there was an injury because he had been promised the day off. "He could provide the spark that could get us back in the division race," I would hear them say on sports talk radio, forgetting that he could also be the spark that blows the Sox clubhouse apart. Fortunately, Manny reminded them all over the weekend why he was let go in the first place when Ramirez managed to end his run in Los Angeles in a spectacularly dickheaded fashion.

For those of you who didn't see it, let me set the scene: LA is in Colorado playing the Rockies. The bases are loaded for the Dodgers, who are clinging to slimming playoff hopes. A win would go a long way. Manny, who hasn't played since being placed on waivers a couple of days prior and is rumored to be on his way to the White Sox, is called upon to be a pinch-hitter. Manny has never been the kind of player to strain himself for the good of the team even if fully invested and with Chicago putting a waiver claim on him he's contractually halfway out the door, which means mentally he's already gone. Nevermind the millions of dollars they paid him or how they stood by him when he failed a steroid tests - he simply doesn't want to be a Dodger anymore and in his mind that is all that matters. The first pitch is about a full foot outside, but called a strike. Now, it was a bad call, but not the worst call of the season, the month or even the week. Manny immediately starts jawing at the umpire. Much like when a manager has to work to get ejected, Ramirez will not let it go in a thinly-veiled desire to get tossed. Mercifully, Manny is finally tossed after seeing just one pitch in his pinch-hit appearance and just like that his Dodger career is over. No one in the Dodgers dugout seems too surprised or upset about the turn of events. They almost seem relieved. Like I said, crazy always manages to resurface. Suddenly no one was sad the Sox didn't make a move to bring Manny back.

So today when Manny was introduced in Chicago I had to laugh as everyone on SportsCenter was gushing over the possibilities that Manny could be a great addition to an already powerful line-up and that this could be the move that powers the White Sox to a division title. Yeah, that could happen because there is only a month left in the season and the White Sox are competitive. A motivated Manny Ramirez is still a hell of a ballplayer. But, Manny is also in a contract year and not one to let a little thing like a division race push that out of his mind. Let Ramirez hit five homeruns in a week and then ask the club about a contract extension beyond this season. Let's see how invested he is if they don't jump at the chance to pay him $20 million a season. Or, let's see what happens if Manny isn't the spark and the White Sox are five games out with a week left in the season. The White Sox should remember that there is a reason Ramirez was passed over by the entire National League and most of the American League without being claimed. So, if this is the spark that gets them going, good for you, Chicago, you took a risk and it paid off. But, if at the end of the season Manny is leaving the ballpark before the last game even ends and yet no one is sad to see him leave, you can't say we didn't warn you.