I think Red Sox Nation was prepared to shrug off Manny's tardiness, seeing as how his mother had just come out of surgery. Perhaps we weren't happy about it, but it seemed like a legit excuse. Then we found out that he was (and probably still is) planning to attend a classic car auction in AC this weekend. He was planning to do this long before we heard about his mother getting sick. This is despite the fact that he was supposed to be at Fort Myers before, and during the car auction.
I'm not going to go overboard about this. We pretty much have no choice, we need Manny's bat in the lineup. Part of me does wonder when his BS will go past the point of a legal breach of contract, but I still want his bat in the lineup. So long as he hits his 30 to 40 homers and knocks in his 110 to 120 runs, whatever.
But it's a shame. It's a shame for Manny most of all. He could go down in history as one of the best right handed hitters in baseball, and be part of a legacy of Sox outfielders who are and/or deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. But unlike predecessors like Ted Williams, and Jim Rice, who were disliked mostly by the media, Manny is directly making enemies with the fans by pulling crap like this. You get paid $20M to play baseball, and you can't even show up to work on time? IT'S BASEBALL!!!!!
His final career numbers could eclipse 550 HRs, 2,000 RBI, and come close to 3,000 hits. Those are Hall of Fame numbers. And his consistency and lack of overly bulging muscles suggests he's done this without the assistance of steroids. He's a great hitter, but people will remember him as a lousy teammate.
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