I couldn't have picked a worse time to stop writing to be honest. What did I miss? Let's see...the Patriots proving they still are the smartest team in the league, the Celtics and Bulls putting on the best performance since the 2003 VMA's, the top-seeded Bruins running a train on their storied rivals, the maturation of a "Big Baby", the Red Sox getting their usual early season jump start on the Yankees.
But not everything has been smiles for this die-hard Boston fan. I was woken up Thursday morning from my phone vibrating non-stop with text messages. As I wipe the crusties out of my eyes and avoid thinking about my painstaking hangover, I realize what has happened. All of them said the same thing. Why Manny, why? Arguably the best right-handed hitter of all time, Manny Ramirez was being suspended 50 games for using performance-enhancing drugs. What kind of drugs you ask? Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a female fertility drug frequently used by steroid users to restore testosterone levels. How embarrassing. My favorite player (more importantly a surefire Hall-of-Famer) got caught taking fertility drugs. I feel like my girlfriend just cheated on me and showed me the video of it.
I would love to be able to say that he is an aging player who slipped up and made an honest mistake. After all, his name has never been close to this steroid epidemic in baseball. But I have been down this road before with another great slugger, Barry Bonds. As a kid, I loved Bonds. He didn't take crap from anyone and he was the most feared hitter in the game. (I mean, he was the only guy I saw intentionally walked with the bases loaded in the 9th to avoid the likelihood that Bonds would have gone yard.) And I didn't want to believe that he did steroids. That's how I feel about Manny. For so long I defended "Manny being Manny" and had his back on everything; from showing up late to Spring Training, to his brain farts in the outfield, to him refusing to pinch-hit on his day off. What always made his defense so justifiable was his production on the field. I could look past him being an asshole because he was a producing one. But now to hear that he's a cheating asshole is simply heart-breaking.
Manny Ramirez was not only beloved by the fans in Boston or L.A., but all over. In fact, most of those text messages I got questioning ManRam's actions were from Yankee fans. It was his nonchalant attitude to the game, a flair for dramatics, and his child-like approach to life in general that made him lovable to fans. The things that made him iconic in Boston as well as the league have to be in-question now. Ramirez hit .366 with 2 HRs and 11 RBIs on his way to the 2004 World Series MVP. He drove in astounding 330 runs combined in the 1998 and '99 seasons. He is second all-time with 20 career grand slams; not to mention his 533 home runs and 1,745 runs batted in. AND he is single-handily responsible for the emergence of the "Big Papi" in David Ortiz (Ortiz has hardly been Big Papi since Manny's departure sporting a less-than-impressive 8 homers and 69 RBIs.)
Once your name has been linked to steroids it's already too late. If you're negatively labeled as an abuser (like Albert Pujols being named in Jose Canseco's second tell-all book), or admit your wrongdoings and try to pick up the pieces to your career (Jason Giambi)--the stigma of steroids will always linger around your name. Manny now has 50 games to think about how he will approach this situation and better himself from the mistakes he has made.
But that also gives reporters 50 games to dig up all the dirt they can on this new hot story. And it'll give the fans 50 games to think about Manny's career and the legitmacy it holds after such damaging allegations. (Someone should give him A-Rod's number. He'll know what to do in this situation.) The fans of Ramirez, like myself, must feel cheated that he cheated. As a 21-year-old, I grew up with Manny playing on the Sox; and he was unquestionably my favorite player. I mean, what wasn't there to love about a player like Manny? The guy could flat-out hit. In any situation; in the first inning of a meaningless game, down to his final strike with the bases loaded, with a bomb going off in the building. People say that there's nothing between his ears, but I'd argue that he didn't let anything get in there. I never saw him distracted at the plate. I never saw him intimidated. Baseball always seemed like break from the real world to him. It wasn't until his final days with Boston that he let himself get bigger than game.
I know he had a reputation of being a space-case and that he had a lazy approach to the game. Curt Schilling had the same perception of Ramirez before joining the Sox in 2003. Schilling was under the impression that shortstop Nomar Garciaparra was the student of the game and took a similar approach to the game as Ted Williams and Manny was simply a gifted player with natural talent. It was quite the contrary as Schilling would arrive to the ballpark early only to find Ramirez already well into his pregame work out.
I can personally attest to his work ethic. For the last two summers I was lucky enough to work at Fenway and would have to be ther hours before the gates open. Needless to say I did little work there and would continuously watch Manny at batting practice. He definitely had his fair share of balls that would clear Lansdowne Street, but often he would work on his situational hitting: moving runners along, going the other way with the ball.
However, it's often easier to remember the bad rather than the good and that's how we will remember Manny. It's unfortunate that the Red Sox two titles will have this dark cloud hanging over them because he was--obviously--a critical part of those teams. Like a mother to her kids: I am not mad or upset, simply disappointed. I looked up to Manny and even envied him for the carefree life he lived. I wish nothing but the best for him, but I fear this will be the beginning of the end for ManRam. I know not everyone shares the same thoughts of Ramirez as I do. Actually, I believe I am the minority on this subject. I grew up watching Manny become Manny and this isn't what Manny being Manny is all about.
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