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Fire the announcer!

Taking a pause from bashing their own manager after this weekend's three-game sweep at Fenway, members of the New York media are turning their wrath to ESPN broadcasters Joe Morgan and Jon Miller.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News takes Morgan and Miller to task for allegedly concealing from the public the fact that Manny told Morgan before the game that this would be the night he ended his slump. Both of them mentioned Ramirez's prediction after the slugger's third-inning home run, the first of four straight homers for the Red Sox. I'm not sure what the big disservice is about not relaying a player's random hunch, but there's another problem with the premise: Miller actually made reference to Ramirez's comments before the game started.

Richard Sandomir of The New York Times makes some good points, though, when he breaks down ESPN's confusing use of footage of Theo Epstein reacting to the home runs. Depending on when you were watching the replay, he might have been reacting to Drew's shot, or to Lowell's, or to Varitek's. There was also film of Ramirez celebrating one of the home runs from the dugout, and as the night went on it became perfectly unclear whom Ramirez was cheering. Sandomir also notes that Morgan and Miller failed to set the record straight when Terry Francona, in a dugout interview, said that Rocky Colavito was one of the Cleveland Indians who -- along with Francona's father, Tito -- hit four consecutive home runs in 1963.

Meanwhile, the guy who gave up those home runs in '63 -- the immortal Paul Foytack -- asks Rob Bradford of the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune this about Manny: "Why do they let [Ramirez] dress that way? I don't understand that." Fine way to thank a guy who has just (kind of) lessened a stigma that Foytack has carried for nearly 44 years. Then again I, for one, had never heard of Foytack until Sunday.

So much for Ramirez breaking out of his slump. Last night was a particularly bad night for Manny, who twice struck out looking, failed to hit the ball out of the infield and misplayed Vernon Wells' third-inning double. But I am sympathetic toward players having a letdown after the New York sweep; I was falling asleep during that game last night myself.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:51 PM to Projo Mannybeingmanny | Permalink