I need a Doctor..

Does anyone remember that guy?


The kid who moved to Washington Heights, New York City from the Dominican Republic, the kid who hit .615 in 1991?

Man he was something. I remember being a kid and hearing about this FREAK in the Cleveland system. (Keep in mind, I was only 7, so watching minor league players who weren't in your area wasn't just unheard of - it was damn near impossible)

Then he came up to the Show in 1993, and in his second game CRUSHED 2 home runs against the team I hated the most and unfortunately, due to location, had to see the most as well, the New York Yankees.

I remember the Red Sox signing Manny and my father and I celebrating and thinking maybe, just maybe, this signing would put them over the top. Manny was at the top of his game, and he certainly delivered in the clutch in a Red Sox uniform.

But now, those are just ancient memories. I'm not going to sit here and fret and play the victim like most of the writers and bloggers are doing. They're all asking the same, sorry, repetitive questions until it becomes one gigantic violin; "How could he fool us for so long? How could he actually pretend to care about the team he played for? How could he break all of those kids' hearts?"

Easy, he didn't care. That's the point.

Nor should he have cared.

Listen, Manny's family grew up poor in the Dominican. I'm not talking about poor by American standards (which are deplorable, but we'll leave that to the politicos, that's not my brand of sauce) He grew up dirt poor. The Dominican is a scary, scary world. Manny Ramirez was given a gift and used his gift to make himself as rich as possible, and more importantly, to make sure no one in his family will ever have to relive those conditions his family endured in the Dominican Republic again.

Manny Ramirez had the ability to hit a baseball harder and further than any of his peers at one time, and for a long stretch of time. But that day has since passed, so he did what many people do - whether it be in professional sports or business itself; he cut some corners.

Now, while you rarely hear about the contractor who used cheap or illegal materials to make his deadline, we, the public, hear when a star athlete has cheated or gotten into trouble. That comes with the territory of endorsements and million dollar contracts.

But I think it's short sighted to be up in arms, or surprised that a person who uses illegal means to get ahead in life, or sustain their stay on the top, and then to question why they didn't care or how they could pretend to care. That's just silly.

My question is, why would a drug cheat and a Alpha-male personality care in the first place who writes the check? The truth is it didn't matter if it was Tom Werner, Frank McCourt, the Yawkey Trust, or Chico's Bail Bonds for that matter. The only thing that mattered was that the checks kept coming in.

You want the long ball? He'll give you the long ball. It will cost $20MM a season, plus entourage, plus concessions because "That's just Manny Being Manny", because chicks dig the long ball, dude.

As long as those #24 jerseys and T-shirts are flying off the shelves, as long as we're selling fake dread locks to surfers and hippies, we're all good, baby!!

The problem is with you, the fan. You swore your allegiance to him, not the other way around. You all stood on your feet when Manny stepped into the box, whether it be a tied game in the bottom of the 9th, or a laugher that got out of hand by the 4th, Manny always, always, got you on your feet.

Of course it's silly he used any kind of performance enhancing drugs in the first place. Manny, in my eyes, is still one of the greatest right handed hitters of my era. There is no way this guy was juicing at 19 in Washington Heights hitting home runs the size of the Staten Island. Sorry, not going to do anything to prove that to me.

He had a gift and he tried to stay on top in a viciously callous business where if you can't produce any more you're tossed aside. That is the other grim reality of professional sports.

Was he using during 2004? Probably. His name was listed in the 'confidential' 2003 'barometer' test for Major League Baseball's investigation on whether or not to implement testing. Is the Red Sox World Series tainted? Not in my eyes. No more than the victories of the 2002 Angels, the 2003 Florida Marlins, the 2001 Diamondbacks, and yes, even those Yankee dynasty series wins. (Sorry, guys, leave your beer swill and vitriol in the comments section, thanks!) Someone on all of those teams was using. Go look at the lists. I'll wait..

But We can't sit here now, with our rose colored glasses on and hide behind our shock. We can't do what so many baseball writers did when the steroid story exploded and pretend we knew nothing was going on, or even ask any questions. We're smarter than that, I hope.

Don't pretend that Manny Ramirez owed you anything more than what you paid to see.
Don't pretend that Manny Ramirez helped raise your kids.
Charles Barkley said it best, "I'm not a role model." That's the truth. These guys are pro-athletes. To be saddened, or shocked, or upset that Manny Ramirez, or any other pro athlete for that matter, cares about you and your kids is a joke.

Manny cheated to get ahead, yes. Manny cheated to stay on top, unquestionably. But Manny also gave you what you paid to see - home runs, that classic two hand point to the dugout, and that million dollar smile.

Did Manny ever care about you? Probably not.

But just think, those dreadlocks will be a last minute Halloween costume, if you need it.


"There's no honor in taking that after school job at Mickey D's. Honor is in the dollar, kid"