Very true. And, I'd expect that Manny would retire very quickly once his production falls off...

Yes, I should have been a little more clear in my comment. I just don't think Manny will decline like Sosa did, their relative peaks aside. Part of it is because he is a better hitter, with better pitch selection and better K/BB ratio. For that reason, I think Manny will have a slower descent than Sosa, who fell off the map.

I do see your point about the Sox calling for his head once he becomes replacement level. But who knows? Manny isn't lazy, he's just prone to brain farts. Maybe he'll work harder on his image later in his career.

What irked me about your previous post is how it seemed you really want that to happen, like you're salivating at the thought of people really hating Manny one day.

I get the same feeling from the Boston press like they are just waiting to say "I told you so, Manny IS a loser and all you fans were fools for believing otherwise."

I'm most likely reading too much into your post (though I stand by my thoughts about the traditional media and Manny.)

Of course, if the fans tolerate a guy who's a jerk because he plays well, and then turn on him when he's no longer worth the aggravation . . . well, what's wrong with that? It's perfectly just and fair that a guy who takes fans and teammates for granted will get the same treatment in return. Some would say fans are being fickle, but you could just as easily say they're just responding rationally.

It's one thing to tolerate, another to encourage. Sitting on their hands when Manny came out to pinch hit would be tolerating. Showering him with a standing ovation is just encouraging the behavior.

I think it was Millar who said in a TV interview: (paraphrased) "I've never seen a guy get a standing ovation for a bouncer up the middle." :)

I wonder if a (secondary) reason for the Manny trade talks was to motivate him to perform better and be a better teammate. There did seem to be a change in his attitude after he was offered over waivers (fall '03)...

Manny is an a-typical overpaid, whiney baseball player. I have been a Red Sox fan for over 30 years now. The only thing I will give him is he can hit. His lack of drive, hustle, desire and character make me sick. Give me Johnny Damon or Jason Varitek any day. Bring back Yaz and the Sox who played through injuries and wanted to be on the field as long as they could stand up. Don't you think if we were paid $20 million a year we would have very high expectations placed upon us???

or a player who doesn't skip a game to have a drink at the hotel bar with an ex-teammate...

Manny is this generation's Rube Waddell.

And, we know what happened to Rube.

I still think the comparison is still invalid. Sosa was a jerk who used the clubhouse like his private livingroom. Sosa had his entourage and music blaring whereas Manny is pretty quiet in the clubhouse and is known for taking younger players under his wing. When Shea Hillenbrand came up - Manny took him out to buy a wardrobe so that Shea would have some good clothes for the road. This year you'd always see Kevin Youkilis sitting next to Manny on the bench. Did you ever hear any of Sosa's teammates take exception to him getting booed the way Ortiz took exception to Manny getting booed?

Manny is still at his peak and the diminishing skills idea isn't right either. By that time Manny's conract will have long expired.

And another thing - what Red Sox player has ever been "excused" and kept on the roster after their production diminished? Yaz? Evans? Rice?

Finally - I bring up the elephant in the room. One of the reasons Sammy is so disliked by fans (and some teammates) is because of the stain of steroids. Manny has never had a whiff of suspicion regarding steroids ever brought up against him. To compare him to Sosa is just wrong.

Chris,

Yaz was kept on the roster far after he was useful. Yaz is also interesting as he became more liked the older he got. In the early 70's I remember him being booed more often than he was cheered.

Yaz was also a bit of a cranky-pants with some quirks that could be pretty "Manny-like". It should be noted though that his last season Yaz had a 106 OPS+ and the year before that he had an OPS+ of 111. So I think you could argue he was useful (more useful than Dave Stapleton at least).

Yaz finished as a DH - if you took away Manny's misplays in the field you also take away 75% of the trips to Manny-land. Yaz was 43 when he retired - Manny will be just 39 when his contract is up. When Yaz was 39 he had 21 HR / 87 RBI and an OPS+ of 106 (and that was back when 20 HR meant something). Manny should be able to top that.

I realize that what I said is mostly a jumble of facts but hopefully it makes sense to someone other than me.

;)