Every spring you go outside and the birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming and then come winter everything is dead and starts back up again come the spring. Manny Ramirez is one of those birds. The stories stop in the winter when he's away from the game and then they start up again come spring training. Is it really a story if it happens every single season? Is it very surprising that Manny wants to show up late for camp? He's done it before he will do it again, and it has never been a big deal with regards to his production. He goes out he clubs his 35 home gets 135 rbis and then it starts up again the next spring. Throughout the year we're guaranteed to hear Manny Ramirez trade talks about 3-4 times none of which ever have any validity and for good reason. Manny Ramirez may be a little headache if you let him be. But its happenned so often that the Red Sox organization should be able to ignore it and just let it slide. He puts up the numbers, without him your lineup isn't very good. His impact is far greater than his numbers, without Manny's protection, David Ortiz is a much less effective hitter. JD Drew doesn't strike the fear in any manager.
The stupid part is because of Manny's odd tendencies, and being just plain weird truthfully, people label him as lazy, when in fact Manny works as hard as anybody on his craft, hitting.
So please next spring when a Manny trade rumor pops up or he wants to show up to camp late so he can go to some all you can eat buffet, don't act surprised and don't say this is the last straw. He's going to be in Boston til the end of his contract. Why? Because he's the best right handed hitter in his generation.
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