The guy lost all credibility with this statement: "Talent, even the wasted talent of Manny Ramirez, will get you to historic places. But it doesn’t make you an historic player. For that, it takes a man."
Wasted talent? The guy must be a Red Sox fan. Manny is a historic player regardless of this idiot's opinion. 10, 25, 50, 100 years after Manny retires no one will even care whether he was a baby, child, man or a woman.
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." ~George Carlin
Manny's stats in the 2004 playoffs: .350 AVG/.923 OPS (The Red Sox win the world championship) Manny's stats in the 2007 playoffs: .348 AVG/1.160 OPS (The Red Sox win the world championship) Manny's 2008 stats with the Dodgers: .417 AVG/1.239 OPS
He's one of the greatest RH batters in the history of the game, and he comes up huge in big spots. Does that seem like somebody who is wasting their talent?
And then he goes on to bash Allen Iverson (one of the most consistent and best NBA players in the last decade), Chad Johnson (a great receiver who brings some fun to the game of football), and Usain Bolt (the single greatest sprinter the world has ever seen) for perceived character flaws? Unbelievable.
I'd want all those players on my favourite teams. I don't care if Manny doesn't run out the occasional ground ball or AI doesn't practice as much as others. They flat out win, and in the end, when you're an athlete, that's what counts.
I mean, is Manny honestly going to care what somebody like Ryne Sandberg (or anybody else stupid enough to judge him in that way) thinks of him when he's going to give his speech? I doubt it.
Yeah the writer sounds a little bitter about something. I agree with the idea that there are too many athletes that think they are above having to put in actual effort but to say Manny is wasting his talent is a giant leap. If he can put up those numbers without even trying I'd say he's putting his talent to pretty good use. And I doubt that he has great defensive talent even if he tried so I'm not really seeing where all this talent is being wasted.
Having said that I'm really getting tired of players standing there and watching home-runs (and would-be home-runs) and all the showboating. Humility is all but gone in the sport it seems.
"My cat's breath smells like cat food." - R. Wiggum
"Obviously, he's a natural," says Red Sox utility infielder Alex Cora, one of Ramirez's closest friends in the game. "But he works at his craft every day. He doesn't ever take the game for granted. Without a doubt, he's the hardest working guy I've ever been around -- and I've been around a lot.
"I see him walk into the clubhouse every day with this big smile on his face. And I finally decided that the reason he's so relaxed is because he knows -- he knows."
"Even when he's going well," teammate Mike Lowell recently told the Boston Herald, "he's trying things in the cage to really lock himself in. I feel like telling him, 'Hey, Manny, you're already locked in!' He's on a constant pursuit for what he feels is the right swing."
So who are we going to listen to? The people that have actually played the game with Manny who know what kind of work ethic he has, or some bitter Sox fan?
The article is really rough around the edges. I'm not completely familiar with all of Manny's antics and while he might not be giving 100% effort out there, when he's motivated, he's truly a ballplayer. Some of the so-called shenanigans pointed out in the article really isn't a massive deal, just overblown by the media. It might sound quite ironic that Manny is a lead example for the likes of Kemp, Martin, and Loney in L.A. but whether he'll ultimately go down as a mercenary or not, Manny is hands down one of the better, if not the best, technically sound hitter for his generation, most deserving of going to Cooperstown.
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by Simulacrum » Tue Sep 02, 2008 1:02 pm 
