Manny Ramirez?

[ChampN252]

So I'm on ESPN reading the article about him. The Rays want to keep him happy and productive. I like him, but I don't know much of his background. From what I can tell, is he the Randy Moss of baseball? He plays like a HOFer when he wants to?

[SPTO]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

Calling him Randy Moss of baseball would be a bit too far. Ramirez is a bit of an enigma. He has a good reputation in every clubhouse he's been in. I've heard stories of him taking extra batting practice and working out quite a bit so he does have some dedication to his craft.

I just think that he doesn't take every situation as a life and death struggle and has a more or less good good attitude towards the game. It's just that sometimes that frivolous nature can come off the wrong way (the whole hiding in the outfield door at Fenway and various other things) but by and large he's a good fit given the right situation.

[jake44np]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

Calling him Randy Moss of baseball would be a bit too far. Ramirez is a bit of an enigma. He has a good reputation in every clubhouse he's been in. I've heard stories of him taking extra batting practice and working out quite a bit so he does have some dedication to his craft.

I just think that he doesn't take every situation as a life and death struggle and has a more or less good good attitude towards the game. It's just that sometimes that frivolous nature can come off the wrong way (the whole hiding in the outfield door at Fenway and various other things) but by and large he's a good fit given the right situation.

He was not a good fit with the Dodgers last year or a good clubhouse guy at all.
I dont see him doing much with Tampa this year.
No roids=not productive for Manny.

[Dog]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

Roids or not, Manny can rake

[Chrisksaint]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

Yeah either way he's still a very good player, him and Gary Sheffield are 2 guys I could watch swing all the time despite the possible roids.

But yeah I think the media also throws things out of proportion like usual, from what I hear he's a pretty hard worker. He just might not have that same type of I guess focused attitude as you may want. I think he's a good fit in Tampa, they need a veteran player, publicity and a bat.

[SPTO]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

He was not a good fit with the Dodgers last year or a good clubhouse guy at all.
I dont see him doing much with Tampa this year.
No roids=not productive for Manny.

I forget the circumstances of last year in LA but I do remember when he first joined the team there was a lot of favorable opinion on him.

[JBH3]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

Aaah.

Manny Ramirez...

The poster boy for a "Lassiez-Faire" attitude when your driving in runs, and the scrutinizing of a player when he's a shell of his former self.

Basically though, the guy has always had his issues...He was fighting w/ Youkilis in the clubhouse before getting sent packin. He was well liked in the clubhouse in LA because he was a star still, and there was a good amount of Dominican's on that team too.

So long as he DHs in Tampa things will be fine I guess. Once you put him in OF, and he starts loafing around then you'll see the issues - Maddon won't put up with it.

[rsox]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

Manny is the typical prima-donna athlete. He hates all of the public attention...until he doesn't get any, then does something to get people talking about him.

Every year he would start with the "I want out of Boston nonsense" and a couple of weeks later drop it and say he wasn't serious. I think Pedro Martinez had a lot to do with keeping Manny in check. After Pedro left and David Ortiz started to struggle the real Manny started to come to the surface.

They loved him in LA in '08 because he had to prove the nay sayers wrong while playing for a new contract. 29 teams avoided him like the plague following the 2008 season. When he finally got his money the love affair ended, first with the suspension in 2009 where the Dodgers played better without him, and then again in spring training of 2010 where he told the media no matter what he would not be returning to LA in 2011.

Manny could have a big year in Tampa, reunited with Johnny Damon and once again motivated by trying to prove he can still play.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

Is anyone else surprised that someone didn't really know Manny's background? I thought even non-baseball fans knew about "Manny being Manny".

[JBH3]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

Is anyone else surprised that someone didn't really know Manny's background? I thought even non-baseball fans knew about "Manny being Manny".

It was somewhat surprising.

Thought "Manny being Manny" was common place.

[lonewolf371]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

He can still swing a bat. He's had injury issues lately but he should provide some good value to the Rays.

[55]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

He's having a very good spring so far and he looks pretty healthy. For the meager sum (2 Mil) the Rays had to spend to get him this season, it was a no-brainer bringing him in especially since he will strictly be the DH for the entire season. Lest we forget that he played what was pretty much the best baseball of his life in the second half of 2008 posting a 1.232 OPS over the course of the final 53 games of the season.

[lonewolf371]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

He's having a very good spring so far and he looks pretty healthy. For the meager sum (2 Mil) the Rays had to spend to get him this season, it was a no-brainer bringing him in especially since he will strictly be the DH for the entire season. Lest we forget that he played what was pretty much the best baseball of his life in the second half of 2008 posting a 1.232 OPS over the course of the final 53 games of the season.

Well he won't be posting any OPS like that but he's definitely a bargain for $2 million.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

Roids or not, Manny can rake

Agreed!

The guy has the most compact and sweetest swing of any right handed hitter in the game. And possibly ever.

You still need to hit the baseball, roids or no roids.

[slickdtc]

Re: Manny Ramirez?

Hah, Manny is a nut. You know how I know? Because we call him by his first name. He's not Ramirez, Manny Ramirez, ManRam, etc. He's Manny. Just Manny. Dude is a trip. I think he's going to play well for the Rays, I don't think he's done by any stretch of the imagination. He's getting up there in career stats too, that may drive him to continue on and stay focused. Well, as focused as good ol' Manny can be.