Maybe we should have threatened to trade Manny to Texas years ago.
Despite speculation that the proposed A-Rod deal would propel him to bold new heights of cantankerousness, Monster Ramirez has been at his most affable in 2004.
This is Manny Version II. Instead of being cold and disengaged, he’s gregarious — christ even downright silly at times — and projects nothing but ass-slapping goodness among his fellow players. The whispers that Manny isn’t happy? They’re gone. Now the guy’s this close to his own Fox sitcom.
And his game? Un-fudrucking-believable. And last night was possibly one of his greatest games in a Red Sox jersey since he launched a game-tying, three-run homer in his first Fenway at-bat. Three for four, a home-run to dead center, five runs batted in. But it all pales to what he did with his glove. Yeah, that’s right. Now the dude can catch, too. A sweet, backhanded snare of which even Pedro, in today’s Globe, said, “I didn’t think he had a chance whatsoever.”
Speaking of Petey, he had a pretty good night himself, with only one run — a towering Jim Thome blast — allowed through seven innings. Why he was brought out after an extended, eight run bottom of the sixth — which saw the Sox pad their lead to 10-0 — only the mystical Francona knows.
What we need now is a little consistency. All we can do is pray that some of last night’s offense overload carries through the rest of the series.
