MANNY eBAYING MANNY

The other day, an item appeared on eBay. It was a top of the line grill. Funny thing was, it was declared to be Manny Ramirez's grill. Pictures of Manny with the grill were included along with a description:

"Hi, I'm Manny Ramirez. I bought this AMAZING grill for about $4,000 and I used it once... But I never have the time to use it because I am always on the road. I would love to sell it and you will get an autographed ball signed by me =] Enjoy it, Manny Ramirez."

Although I'm not shocked that Manny might use smiley things like "=]" the item did raise some red flags. First of all, "Manny" declared that the grill cost him $4,000. But the same grill can be seen Here for about $1,750. But then again, I wouldn't put it past Manny to buy a $1,750 grill for $4k.

Then another thing that struck me, and everyone else for that matter. Why the hell would Manny be selling his grill on eBay? It seems like he could sell it through some other medium, rather easily. Then there was the screen name selling it on eBay. It was "mannyramirez" then some numbers. Manny seems like the guy who would have a user name like "DooRag24" or something. Then the fact that the feedback rating next to the user name was 0, indicating that this person had never made a sale.

Amalie Benjamin of Boston.com's Extra Bases was actually able to ask Manny himself about the grill. Keep in mind that this is the first time Manny has spoken to the media this year, and it's about a fucking grill. What the hell is wrong with this team?

Anyway, Manny said it wasn't his grill. It was his neighbor's grill, and Manny was helping him sell it. So Manny's not a bad dude, he's trying to use his star power and the incentive of including an autographed baseball to help out his neighbor.

But his neighbor is a total DB. His neighbor put an item on eBay, lied about who he was, lied about how much he paid for it, and tried using Manny to help him carry out this con. That's a great deal for him, but a grill for $1,750, then sell it for $4,500+. Hell, he could make a living doing that. A new item every day! Here's Manny Ramirez's tennis racket, bought it for $1,000, sell it for $3,000. Here's Manny's spare tire for an Escalade, bought it for $1,500, sell it for $7,000.

But the one problem in this greedy little wannabe eBay con artist's scheme was his partner: Manny Ramirez. For Manny, being Manny, decided that it was time to talk to the media about the grill, and he told the truth.

So, the scam's over, the grill isn't on eBay anymore, and we're left with images like this:



It's a pretty sweet grill, though, no doubt about that.