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It's Just Boston Being Boston

What does the self-anointed smartest baseball town in the world do after the home team gets swept in a five-game series in which it surrendered 49 runs?

Argue whether or not it was their slugger's fault, natch.

Manny Ramirez took himself out of yesterday's 2-1 Sox loss to the Yankees in the 4th inning, citing a hamstring cramp. He was immediately charged with malingering by fans and media types whose own hamstrings felt swell.

Fact the first: Ramirez is an extremely durable player who averages more than 150 games played a season

Fact the second: Manny takes injuries, even minor ones, VERY seriously. He's not what one would call a fast healer. This is contrary to baseball's "rub a little dirt on it" ethic, but might be one reason Ramirez usually plays almost every day.

Fact the third: For players and fans alike, Ramirez is an occasionally exasperating teammate to have on one's side. Bitching about official scoring calls is bush league behavior. In times of trouble and woe, nonchalance is easy to confuse with not giving a damn.

Fact the fourth: The first three facts don't count. Without Ramirez, the Sox would be 26 1/2 games out of first this morning, not 6 1/2.

The complaints about Ramirez are the same ones made back when he first came to Boston from the Indians in 2001 They've always reminded me of producers and directors bitching that their bankable star for their big budget blockbuster is a royal pain. Or else they bring to mind the wails of those lottery winners who say a windfall of $40 million or so wound up wrecking their lives.

Hey, Hollywood big shots, you hired that impossible star to make money. Shut up and count it. As for the lottery winners, the $40 million isn't their problem. They were miserable as poor schooks, too.

Being Ramirez's teammate, manager, GM, or owner creates some unique stresses, for which all the Sox have my limited sympathy. With runners on base, however, Manny's presence is not without its compensations. 'Tis a far, far better thing to have 130 quirky RBI than an all-hustle .240 left fielder.

Sox fans, of course, are the Ramirez lottery winners. They reap the benefits of Manny's slugging (without Ramirez, David Ortiz would be an All-Star, but not an MVP) while reserving the right to whine about his flaws. The whining would have more credibility if they weren't the same complaints their forbearers made about every Boston slugger since before World War II.

Ted Williams. Carl Yastremzski, Jim Rice, Mo Vaughn. They were ALL selfish, lackadaisical, and couldn't be counted on in the clutch. Those Hall of Fame busts and MVP trophies were merely clever disguises of each man's true inner bum. Having cried wolf about their batting superstars for generations, Sox fans and Boston commentators don't get the benefit of the doubt when they rip Ramirez, even if their criticisms have some validity. The inability to see the slugging forest for the un-run out pop-up trees was THEIR problem long before Ramirez became a Red Sox, or indeed, long before he was born.

Besides, if Ramirez was jaking it yesterday, that gives the two of us something in common. Manny lost interest in the Red Sox season at the exact moment I did.

posted by Michael Gee @ 10:01 AM