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July 24, 2007
The good news first, because it turns out to be more important: Manny Ramirez's two-run double in the first inning put the Sox on top to stay last night in Cleveland, and also moved Ramirez into sole possession of 35th place on the all-time RBI list, with 1,576. Next up is number 34, Al Kaline. Manny needs seven more to tie him.
The bad news is that Ramirez exhibited a pretty embarrassing lack of effort last night in the fifth, just after Jon Lester had wiggled out of a jam that could have wiped out the Sox' lead. Thinking his shot, which ended up hitting the wall, was a home run, he trotted to first, getting only a single. The next batter, J.D. Drew, grounded into a double play, making Manny's gaffe real unfortunate. Sure looked to me like Drew was safe at first, though.
Former Cleveland Indians teammate Jim Thome, who is likely to enter baseball's 500 home run club this year soon before or soon after Manny Ramirez, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer recently about what it was like to see Ramirez hit for the first time, in batting practice before a AAA game in Charlotte, N.C. Thome says he wasn't really impressed, as Ramirez was just blooping balls over the infield. Then came the game, and Manny blasted two home runs. "I mean it was like, Whooh!' This was a guy who was just hitting bloopers over the first baseman's head in BP. But with Manny, he always has a plan when he hits. The guy was incredible, and it's been that way since," Thome says.
Kevin Thomas of the Portland Press-Herald believes that when David Ortiz comes back, he should move to fourth in the lineup, with Manny fifth. The top three spots would be Coco Crisp, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis.
Posted by Mike McDermott 
at 1:49 PM to Projo Mannybeingmanny
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