Manny Ramirez does something quirky. FLASH!
View full sizeRecognize these folks? That's ex-Indian Manny Ramirez on the left and ex-Indian Omar Vizquel on the right. The ex-Indians (i.e. the Chicago White Sox) are going for a sweep of the Tribe today.Cleveland, Ohio -- If Manny Ramirez is expecting a pass on media scrutiny in Chicago, he's gonna get caught looking, just as he watched his last strike as a Los Angeles Dodger go by.
David Haugh, writing for the Chicago Tribune, took the former Indians-Red Sox-Dodgers slugger to task for his bizarre decision to use White Sox coach Joey Cora as an interpreter . . . despite having spent 25 of his 38 years in the United States. Oh, and the Dominican Republic native has never needed – or used – an interpreter in his 18 years in the big leagues.
Now lots of writers, including The Plain Dealer's own Paul Hoynes, took note of Manny's latest Manny being Manny. But few were as strident, for lack of a better term, as Haugh:
Indeed, nothing defines pro sports' win-at-all-cost mantra more than the Sox adding Ramirez to a team desperate for bullpen help more than another bat.
The price to rent Ramirez for a month is a hefty $3.8 million, but the cost of self-respect to the Sox may be harder to quantify. The organization used to build ad campaigns around a gritty style and undeniable mental toughness in which their fan base rightfully takes pride. Tuesday they began considering the sale of "Manny Wigs," to promote a guy infamous for being a steroid cheat and quitting on teams.
Pretty stiff, but not quite all. Haugh had more to say:
"Manny better bring in another 10,000 fans here," (White Sox manager Ozzie) Guillen kidded before the game.
Perhaps Ramirez will generate more buzz Friday night in Boston than he did in his first major-league city, where only 12,006 showed up. It was amusing to ask a group of teenagers holding tickets along Ontario Street if they were excited to see Manny Ramirez again.
"Who?" said a boy wearing a Browns cap. "We're here for the Jonas Brothers."
Wonder if the Sox know that a big hit for the Jonas Brothers, maybe their biggest (and Starting Blocks is a little chagrined at having wasted a brain cell on knowing this) is one called "S.O.S." Only in Manny's case, instead of saving our ship, all they got was the same old stuff.
Ozzie on Manny
Over at mlb.com, Anthony Castrovince on Wednesday followed up on the Manny situation with Ozzie Guillen and the comparisons between the two, both of whom are among baseball's more colorful characters.
"I think Manny manipulates the media better than I do," Guillen said. "They made a big deal out of him not speaking English [in his press conference Tuesday]. Whatever he says, whatever he does, people will talk about it. One thing I know for sure is he doesn't want to be the guy to get attention. He just wants people to worry about the White Sox, not him."
"He doesn't want to be the guy who gets attention?" Well, that explains the dreads, the three-sizes-too-big uni and choosing to avoid English.
Not.
One more Manny
The Chicago Sun-Times had a little fun at Manny's expense. In English, no less. The newspaper ran a survey asking readers if Manny and his dreadlocks qualified for Chicago's All-Hair Team. Other members include Joakim Noah, Dennis Rodman's bleached 'do, Jose Cardenal's Afro, Mike Ditka's oil slick and more. Pretty funny stuff.
From The Plain Dealer
Oh, yeah. They played a baseball game at Progressive Field Tuesday night. Oh, yeah. The Indians lost. Justin Masterson pitched a good game, but it went for naught when A.J. Pierzynski hit a homer in the ninth to claim the 4-3 win. Hoynsie's game story finds the silver lining: Masterson's performance helped strengthen his case to be in the rotation in 2011.