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July 23, 2007
Sorry not to have updated the mannybeingmanny blog for so long: I'll blame vacation.
In any case, since I've last written here, Manny has taken lots of criticism for playing too shallow in left field; he's moved temporarily into the DH role in David Ortiz's absense, thus obviating the need for him to play deeper; and, more importantly, he's gone on a bit of a tear. Sean McAdam says today in projo SoxTalk that Manny shows signs of going on one of his vintage streaks; we'll see as he goes to a familiar place -- Cleveland -- for four straight games. Here's what he's done in the last 10 contests: 13 for 35 (.371 batting average, .476 OBP), four home runs, 10 RBI. The four-homers-in-10-days streak follows a 16-game homerless stretch.
Gordon Edes wrote in the Globe today that Manny returned to the fourth spot in the lineup, behind Kevin Youkilis, yesterday after hitting third "pretty much because Manny felt like it." Funny.
Brian Ettkin of the Times Union in Albany, N.Y., uses Ramirez in the lead of his adoring story about soon-to-be-Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.: "Every season, like clockwork, Manny Ramirez will take games off, often at inopportune times, when his team needs him. It's explained away as 'just Manny being Manny.' And because of Ramirez's extraordinary talent, the Red Sox tolerate this. Then there was baseball's Iron Man, Cal Ripken." One wonders if people will still be recycling all the cliches about Manny even after he's retired. Memo to Ettkin and the rest: Give Manny a break. He still leads the Red Sox this season in games played, with 95, which puts him tied in that category for 36th in all of Major League Baseball, right up there with Albert Pujols, Ichiro Suzuki and Carlos Beltran. Of course, if Manny decides to take August off, that's another story.
Posted by Mike McDermott 
at 3:19 PM to Projo Mannybeingmanny
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