Manny Ramirez – Help or Hurt the White Sox?

What’s certain is that 38 year-old slugger Manny Ramirez is heading to the Chicago White Sox.  What’s uncertain is how effective Manny will be.  Will it be “Manny being Manny” or will he help them reach the playoffs?  Jayson Stark had a compelling article on Manny, which would place Ramirez in the “Manny being Manny” camp.  And he has some valid points.   Not to mention all of Manny’s past woes: With the Red Sox, Manny’s knees were sore, but we never knew which one.  The water-bottle-in-the-back-pocket-syndrome.  The dropped-catch-and-then-sitting-on-the-ball-disorder.  With the Dodgers, his calf and hamstring seemed to be the problem.  The positive PEDs.  The one-pitch ejections.  The impending divorce of the McCourts, the owners of the Dodgers (there is an entire web-site dedicated to their demise).

But in baseball, what ultimately matters?  In 2008 (pre-PED suspension) Manny ONLY hit .396 with 17 HR, .743 slugging percentage, and .489 on-base percentage.  This was over the next two months after he was traded from the Red Sox to the Dodgers.  Can Manny duplicate these numbers with the White Sox?  He hasn’t exactly provided his “A game” over the last year and a half.  He has only played in about half of the last 260 games.  .269 batting avg.  Slugging and on-base percentages took a royal dive.  So what can make things work for Manny on the South Side?

If you ask me, Chicago is the perfect match for Manny, specifically with the antics of Ozzie Guillen.  In his usual banter-in-broken-English, Ozzie had some entertaining things to say about Manny becoming a South-sider: “I think its funny how people tell people ‘Manny being Manny’.  Hey, Manny be real…To me he’s a great guy.  He don’t have any problem with anybody…It’s two rules I have: You gotta be straight with the team and be there for the national anthem…If the guys can go there butt naked, they don’t have to wear a uniform.  They win game for me?  I’m only happy for them.”  Fair enough, Ozzie.  Essentially we’re looking at a one-month hire.  During Manny’s career, his September hitting has produced a .313 avg, 93 HR, .412 OBP, and a .604 SLG.  Why wouldn’t GM Ken Williams go after this guy?  So what if he left the Dodgers high and dry.  If I were Manny, I wouldn’t want to play for a team who has been caught in the middle of the royal McDivorce.

Chan Ho’s Revenge

Forget Montezuma.  Chan Ho Park, pitcher for the New York Yankees, has made a new name for himself.   I’d like to propose that at  Yankee Stadium, they announce Chan Ho Park on the loud speakers as Chan Ho “the runs” Park.  Just last week, Chan Ho Park was interviewed in the locker room after a terrible performance on the mound.  The media wanted to know why he pitched so poorly, and he gave them much more than they probably wanted to hear.  Was it the weather?  No.  Was it the crowd?  Most definitely not.  Was it something he ate?  Probably.  Do you remember the old rhyme, “When you’re driving in a Chevy and you’re feelin’ somethin’ heavy”?

Miguel Cabrera on road to recovery

Tiger Woods is a sex addict.  John Edwards has a 2 year old daughter with his videographer (shocking).  Mark McGwire really did take steroids (gasp).  In the midst of all of the public scandals in sports and politics, its nice to see a story of redemption every once in awhile.  I am so hesitant to even turn on the news because negativity is often in the spotlight, and causes nothing but fear.  But I’m glad to hear that Miguel Cabrera, first-baseman for the Detroit Tigers, has successfully completed 3 months of rehab for his alcohol abuse.  I am a huge believer of rehab.  Whether its physical, mental, spiritual, substance abuse, etc.  We all have dysfunction, its just some of us decide to actually deal with it.

Cabrera’s issues became public last October when he became drunk late one night and came home to scuffle with his wife.  Fortunately she called the police, and fortunately he was sent to the police station.  Ok, so Cabrera made a poor decision.  He had too much to drink, said some things he shouldn’t have, and let his entire team down.  BUT, he chose to do something about it.  Cabrera says that he hasn’t had a drink since that fateful night when he was hanging out with Jim Beam and Jack Daniels.  Good for him.

My hope for Cabrera, is that he stays off the bottle and focuses on his game.  He is such a talented athlete, a lifetime .311 avg, 209 HR.  I can only hope that Cabrera will be a motivation to other baseball players who struggle with the same issues.  Side note: Cabrera currently has a contract with the Tigers that is over $152 million.  Why would someone in the athletic spotlight with that much money choose to waste his time and energy on the bottle?  Why does misery seem to follow money? Weird.