The dichotomy of Manny Ramirez is so difficult to break down. He has the ability to light up a stadium like nobody else and provide some of the most electric moments in all of baseball. Here are a bunch of fans who booed Barry Bonds for being on roids but now they’re cheering a cheat themselves. Thing is, it’s tough not to write this as a Hollywood story. The guy gets hit on the hand the night before and is not expected to play. Late in the game with the bases loaded, the score tied 2-2, and all the fans chanting for him on his own bobblehead night, he emerges from the dugout to pinch hit. No practice swings, no batting practice before the game as he later said in his post game interview, and he crushed the first pitch he sees straight into the Mannywood section in left field.
When you see a guy with the ability to do all that, you have to wonder why he needed to cheat. This was the exact reason why he was going down as one of the most clutch players of all-time. Too bad he has to be such an arrogant jerk and ruin all the magic with his laziness, disrespect, and fertility drugs. Otherwise that was one heck of a moment.
The bobblehead was pretty spot on too:
