April 16, 2007
Manny Loves Baseball
Ben McGrath profiles Manny Ramirez in the latest issue of the New Yorker. He evens lands a rare interview with the player. In looking into what makes the future Hall of Famer tick, we find that Manny simply wants to play baseball.
"They say, 'Manny being Manny,' but we used to say, 'That's Manny,' " Steve Mandl, the baseball coach at George Washington High School, on Audubon Avenue at 193rd Street, said recently, as he stood sentry by the locker-room door before a midmorning gym class. "It wasn't crazy stuff--it's just that he didn't really care about anything other than playing. Even team pictures--it wasn't important to him. You had to drag him by the hair. But if you said we had a game at three o'clock he'd, like, want to sit out there at seven o'clock in the morning, waiting."
The other thing I learned is that Manny doesn't keep track of the count. He wants to know if he has two strikes, but he doesn't care how many balls are in the count. That's why you see the umpire telling him to take a base when he walks.
Duquette had been following Ramirez's career since high school, but he now concedes that he had no idea "exactly how unique" his new left fielder was. "When Manny first came to the Red Sox, he would stand in the batter's box, and the umpire would call ball four, and he would get back in the batter's box," Duquette, who is now the president of the fledgling Israel Baseball League, told me. "He did this in his first series at Fenway Park and again on his first road trip." After the third such incident, Duquette ventured down into the locker room. "I said, 'Manny, let me ask you something. I was just wondering why you get back in the batter's box after ball four.' He said, 'I don't keep track of the balls.' He said, 'I don't keep track of the strikes, either, until I got two.' Then he said, 'Duke, I'm up there looking for a pitch I can hit. If I don't get it, I wait for the umpire to tell me to go to first. Isn't that what you're paying me to do?' "
It's a fascinating read.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:55 AM
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"Duquette, who is now the president of the fledgling Israel Baseball League..."
Boy, how the mighty have fallen. Nothing against Israeli baseball, but it's not exactly running the Red Sox.
I see nothing wrong with helping to promote baseball in another part of the world. I applaud Duquette for doing his work.
You're right, David, that is a fascinating read. Uncanny to think that such a patient and awesome hitter doesn't even know what the count is. Brings me back to what JP Ricciardi said about him at the Sports Business Conference at MIT.
That's really odd... I'll definitely be watching for that next time I see a Red Sox game. (Also, Manny's on my fantasy team, so I need him to start hitting like Manny again.)
I always like the stories where they interview a pitcher who threw a no-hitter, and he says something like, "I knew I was having a pretty good game, but I didn't realize it was a no-no until I looked at the scoreboard in the 8th inning."
I could see how in some circumstances too much situational awareness can be a bad thing for a player. The manager and coaches have to be aware, of course, but I suppose it's possible that overthinking things can make a player screw up if he really just needs to think about throwing strikes, putting the bat on the ball, or just following signs. On the other hand, there are critical points in baserunning or fielding where you need to know whether or not it makes sense to run, which bag to throw it to, etc.
I suppose if Manny's never felt the need to keep track of balls before, there's no point in him starting now.
What did Ricciadi say about Manny?
And this is the sort of story that makes me love Manny. He's just too crazy and too good at being crazy not to cheer for. Having him on the Red Sox is a huge treat for me.