For those of you who are unaware, I’m definitely a Red Sox fan. Not a Red Sox fan in the traditional New-Englander-hailing-from-a-long-line-of-suffering-Red-Sox-fans, but more the type of fan who started following the team late in highschool and has been keeping a close eye ever since. Needless to say, I’ve been following the 2007 American League Championship series with a somewhat heavy heart. However, there’s no crying in baseball–just ask Suzyn Waldman–and even if the Red Sox should fall in the two remaining must win games they have against Cleveland, I think I’ll be alright.
Enter Manny Ramirez, the BoSox’s goofy, absent minded, dreadlocked, home-run-mashing, clean up hitting left fielder. This guy, despite being the team’s obviously most gifted hitter, gives Boston fans and Sports Writers the howling fantods. On the eve of last nights 7-1 must win victory against the Cleveland Indians, Manny Ramirez had this this to offer about his team’s future:
“We’re confident every day. It doesn’t matter how things go for you. We’re not going to give up. We’re just going to go and play the game, like I’ve said, and move on. If it doesn’t happen, so who cares? There’s always next year. It’s not like the end of the world or something.”
That’s why I love Manny Ramirez. He’s like that guy from Office Space. He just doesn’t care, and it aggravates the living hell out of buffoons like Dan Shaughnessy . He’s got one thing on Mr. Office Space, though. He actually has the talent to back it up (4 HRs, 12 RBI, .440 BA in the 2007 Postseason). Manny seems to grasp the fact that sports is entertainment and that it provides at best something fun to watch socially and then jabber and trash talk about at work or with friends. As entertainment, I can think of few players in professional sports who are more interesting than good ol’ Manny. So Manny, you just keep being Manny, okay? If the Red Sox should fail in the next game or the one after that, just remember this little gem:
Bob Porter: Looks like you’ve been missing a lot of work lately.
Peter Gibbons: I wouldn’t say I’ve been *missing* it, Bob.
