Manny Ramirez Is Baseball’s Jester. Why Do We Keep Tuning Into The Show?

Posted by By Sports Session at 1 September, at 15 : 36 PM Print

You can’t open up a newspaper or sports website without seeing people talk about Manny Ramirez and his latest antics.  The media has once again taken the bait and gone overboard with these situations.  Manny has a history of doing these types of things, and they report on it like it’s something new.  Sports reporters have started appealing to the lowest common denominator, and this situation with Manny Ramirez illustrates that.

The first incident took place a few nights ago when he was still with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Manny was benched for the last four or five games by Joe Torre because he felt that another player gave the team a better boost.  Manny was also coming off of a calf injury and they had already placed him on waivers for which he was claimed by the Chicago White Sox.  So, at that point they were working out a trade with the White Sox for his services, and his days with the Dodgers are complete.

So late in the game the Dodgers are getting hammered 8 – 2 and they get the bases loaded, then decide they want Manny to come in and save the day (hoping he hits a home run).  Manny comes up to the plate gets a pitch called for a strike on the outside corner, he protests and is thrown out of the game by the umpire.  The Dodgers lose the game of course, and after the game everyone is pissed with Manny Ramirez for getting thrown out of the game.  I think the ire was misguided, first of all the Dodgers are paying him $20 million dollars a year, and they had him on the bench for the last few games.  Then the team is so bad they are down 8 – 2, and expect Manny to come in cold off of the bench and save them.

The assumption is that Manny forced himself get thrown out of the game intentionally, which may be true in this case.  But where is the blame directed at the team for getting down by six runs late in the game?  You act like Manny had a big role in the game, it was one at bat in a nine inning game, but all anyway wants to focus on is Manny.  He gets traded to the Chicago White Sox and does his introductory press conference in Spanish with an interpreter.

This mad everyone go ballistic again and start talking about how he does not deserve to every go into the Hall of Fame, and that he should be banned from baseball.  Can we stop for one minute and listen to what people are saying Pete Rose is banned from baseball for gambling on his own team, and Manny basically being an ass warrants the same punishment?  People need to stop being so invested in a player whose ass they were kissing a few years ago, push away from the table and calm down.

Can Manny speak English?  Of course he can, and he knows that all of us know that he can, but he does things like this to toy with the media and it works every time.  He claims he is more comfortable speaking Spanish which may or may not be true, but unless you can speak two languages you really don’t have a leg to stand on criticizing him.  We all know it is a defense mechanism for him, he knew some ass hole reporter was going to ask him about the infamous at bat during his last game with the Dodgers.  So Manny pulled a Sammy Sosa and used an interpreter to make a circus out of it, now guess what no one is thinking about that at bat anymore are they?

Manny’s manipulation of the media is comical because it is fairly simple, but yet it works.  He does all of these things and gets more press coverage than Tom Brady and Peyton Manning combined, but yet he still finds a way to move things the way he wants.  Think about it if a reporter says, “You have spoken English your entire career, why an interpreter now?”  All Manny has to say is look I am not from America, Spanish is my first language and I am more comfortable speaking in Spanish at times.  Of course I can speak English, and as long as I am out here answering your questions why does the language make a difference?

See how easily he can make the reporter look like an ass?  The media is handling Manny the wrong way, and it’s the reason he pulls these stunts.  If the media did not pay so much attention to him believe me he wouldn’t do half the things he is doing now, but unfortunately the search for a story makes them do it.  Until that changes, just expect Manny to continue being Manny.

Front Page Features MLB 20 million dollars, Chicago White Sox, joe torre, Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Baseball, Manny Being Manny, manny ramirez, MLB, waivers