When history starts putting together its list of this generation’s best hitters, it’s a done deal that at least one goofball will be on it. And that chucklehead will be Manny Ramirez. 500 home runs later and Manny is still just being Manny.
As bogus a stat as RBIs may be, Ramirez has produced boat loads of them. The man hits for high average. And unless his legacy is tainted by a future steroid scandal, Ramirez has big time power as well, as proven by his having just joined MLB’s elite 500 Homer Club. Most importantly, Manny comes through in the clutch. Although slightly eclipsed by Big Papi in recent years, when it comes to crunch time Manny is the anti A-Rod.
It’s no coincidence that Manny succeeded where legendary Boston hitters before him failed. Consider that Ted Williams, Yaz and Jim Rice all left Boston with no rings. Baseball may not be an individual sport, but then again baseball has never seen an individual quite like Manny Ramirez before.
Perhaps no other star has been so close to being shown the door so often. I remember back in the early days of Manny’s BoSox tenure when the Sox where so ready to give Manny away they would’ve take those ten bats that that minor leaguer was traded for recently. Of course, that was all before the championship starved Red Sox got two titles in four years. Back then, Manny was just an impossible guy to figure out with a HUGE contract that boggled the mind.
These days, his contract doesn’t look so out of whack anymore. And Ramirez keeps producing. Meanwhile, The Sox have stopped trying to figure him out. For Manny, things are good in Beantown. Of course, with Ramirez that could all change tomorrow.
So what is it about Manny? How is he able to be so successful even as controversies swirl about him? How does he keep turning out one good season after another, even while being almost chased out of town?
My theory is simple. He’s a baseball savant. Manny is one of those rare individuals who simply doesn’t care. He got criticized some time ago for saying that if he lost in the playoffs it wouldn’t be the end of his life. And you know what? Manny is right.
Either because he’s a deeper thinker than we give him credit for or because he’s not really a baseball savant but rather a baseball idiot savant, Manny is completely unfazed by pressure. He realizes that baseball is a game. He realizes that it gives him a good life, but that at the end of the day it’s not life or death for him.
As fans, most of us don’t want to hear that a guy we’re rooting for isn’t living and dying with every win or loss. We tend to like our players in the Pete Rose mold. The old anything for a win guy, who’ll have a miserable off season if his team doesn’t win it all every year.
For players, my bet (as I’ve certainly never been close to a pro athlete despite being a terror at floor hockey in my formative years) is that many of them are driven by the attitude that it is a life and death struggle. I’ve heard athletes say as much. For most, the fear of losing or the desire to win is a key motivator in their successes.
Those guys aren’t Manny Ramirez. For him, win or lose he’s fine. As a result, Manny doesn’t press and he delivers in the clutch. Manny knows it’s enough to just be Manny. After all, being Manny is a full time job.
500 home runs later, you’ve got to admit he must be on to something. Even if he is a goofball…
