The Blockbuster (No) Trade

For many Red Sox fans, the "blockbuster" was no trade at all …

Mike:
So at one point before the trading deadline, I humbled my agnostic ass by going prone on the floor beseeching, "Please, Dear God, no trade, Manny! ¿Escúchame?"

 

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Susan/Circle:
God hearts us, still, it seems.

 

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Mike:
Absolutely. In the old angry, vengeful, I'll make you fuckahs pay epoch, Manny would have been traded in one of those lopsided bad for the Red Sox deals being rumored all weekend.

 

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Susan/Circle:
Instead we get the best game of the season so fah: Papelbon and Delcarmen giving us a sweet taste of the futchah and then Manny, oh, Manny.

 

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Mike:
And on the isn't it ironic front, Gordon Edes pens, not one, but two, pieces in the Globe today with ne'er a mention his role in stahting the most recent Manny hating shitstorm.

 

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Susan/Circle:
Yeah, now all of a sudden we learn that Francona nevah directly asked Manny to postpone his day off, instead we get a much less "pathetic" version of events.

 

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Mike:
Right, on Thursday Edes is chastising people for using the phrase "Manny being Manny" and tossing around accusations of "selfish indifference," but today he's tripping over himself to quote Manny referring to Manny that way.

 

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Susan/Circle:
That's the kind of flip flopping I'd expect from a petulant child and not a "professional."

 

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Mike:
Jeez, you might think all the "run Manny out of town" invective was paht of a coordinated wag the dog play to soften the fan base to a premeditated plan to trade Manny?

 

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Susan/Circle:
That's crazy talk.

 

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Comments

[SawxSince67]

Much ado about nothing...the hand wringing, teeth gnashing; all for naught.

Manny keeps it simple, doesn’t he?

Grab bat, hit ball, score run, win game.

Among the many Manny Haters, Edes, in particular, has definitely pissed me off. I wanna go all Ice Cube in Higher Learning on his ass.

“Apologize! Apologize, motherfucker!”

The whole Papelbon / Delcarmen deal is WICKED EXCITING. Now, we can have a Miller v. Papelbon controversy.

The "Wag the Dog" reference? I’ve said it before—I really hope Theo writes a book someday.

The NYY/LAAAAAA series is going to kill their respective bullpens for a whole week. Excellent.

[jason]

re killing the bullpens for a week: the yanks have the day off

sturtzie, flash and mo will all be ready tuesday

embree's a different story -- another 1 week yankee?

[illegitimate son of dwight evans]

Thank you, h.b. - to my mind, the Soxaholix don't rip the Boston sportsmedia junta enough. I think with the ovation-filled Manny love-fest at the Pahk yesterday maybe they're starting to realize they can't influence fan perceptions. True to form, instead of issuing a mea culpa, Edes pretends like the trade rumors emerged fully formed from some platonic sports godhead. "Boy, isn't it great we got all THAT behind us!"

Manny could be a scientologist and nobody in Boston would care so long as he keeps hitting the way he does. Maybe the sports media will get wise to that one of these days before they start another one of their "let's run the front office from Morrissey Blvd." shitstorms.

[ryan]

I thought the WEEI announcers were going to manually pleasure Papelbon after the game, the way they were gushing about him. If Miller goes out, we have Papelbon and Schilling willing to take over? Damn. I mean, neither are an Al Leiter, but we'll have to make it through somehow.

[SawxSince67]

Juicy Jason Giambi--thanks for pointing that out.

"sturtzie, flash and mo will all be ready tuesday"

The NYY Bullpen is comprised of more than three pitchers, but only these three are mentioned.

Interesting, since Buddy Groom fumed on his way out the door, Joe only uses his "boys".

[yazbread]

Gordon Edes is Dave Eagan reincarnated.

[mobosox]

I watched the highlights of Paplebon on the red sox web site and to be honest it made me very excited. Can we promote this guy to full time starter soon? Today is my birthday and I can't think of better way to celebrate than to sweep the twins and have a home series against the lowly Royals(by the way I live in Missouri and will be going to the Royals and Red sox come aug 23-25).

[Follower of Tito]

Holy Cornrow! I was fortunate to be at the game on Sunday with my dad and my 2 daughters (their first game). We were in the RF grandstand Sec. 2. I have been to the Fens many times in my 43 years and my dad more in his 68, but we both agreed that was the best game we have either seen in person. If you had tried to sell a description of this game as a Hollywood script you'd have been laughed out on your ass.

Not to over state it, but the dramatic tension grew each inning..it was palpable. Papelbon starts by throwing serious heat, the scores goes back and forth. Papi and Olerud hit homers, Kapler with a great catch. The boys tie it up. At one point, my older daughter sees Mirabelli and Schilling walking to the bullpen with that suitcase and asks if it belonged to Manny.

Then the moment that I, my father and my daughters will remember for the rest of our days: We can see in the dugout as Papi gets ball 3, Manny going over to get his helmet, and those of us that can see it go INSANE. If Manny is a sensitive soul or a Man-child and had his feelings hurt the other day and needed a collective hug from Boston, this was it. The outpouring of unabashed love and admiration was unmistakeable...and when Manny delivered the game winner..it was electric. As many of you might remember, I was a Manny-fence sitter, but I think this may be the seminal moment for this team this year.

Oh yeah, Schilling got his 5th save. It was the quitest ride home ever because we were all horse.

In a way, I am forever thankful to the Baseball gods for making my daughters' first game so great!

[SawxSince67]

FOT, nice re-cap.

I've read on SOSH that the ump was squeezing the pitchers, so Papelbon's debut could have been even more effective.

"...my older daughter sees Mirabelli and Schilling walking to the bullpen with that suitcase and asks if it belonged to Manny. "

That's amazing.

[MikeyT's]

Now, as I understand it, the way the big trade was supposed to shakedown, the Sox would be much better off. All the Manny fanboys can squeal like girls at an Elvis concert now, but had this deal gone down the way the Sox envisioned, the Sox would be better off.

They'd have Cameron in RF, Huff in LF, and Adam Dunn at 1B. Now, if that doesn't make the lineup better, you need to have your head checked. Again, that's only if all the chips fell right. But because Tampa Bay wants to eventually be contracted, they f'ed it all up.

On paper, that's a scary ass lineup. In the clubhouse, well, that's another story.

[SawxSince67]

"Adam Dunn at 1B"

I missed that part of it...

Other than the Dunn consideration, I need to have my head checked.

Sincerely, Manny Fanboy

[jason]

ss67

those three did the bulk of the pitching in the three wins - others came in for one or two outs, so they're obviously okay

buddy got his chance to pitch regularly, just like embree's getting his chance now

buddy didn't do well enough

when one of these guys takes their chance and asserts himself, he'll be used - any manager who doesn't manage that way is nuts

[SawxSince67]

I hear you, JJG, I guess it just seemed that the bullpens were emptied a couple of times...I still think Joe abuses those three.

"when one of these guys takes their chance and asserts himself"

I didn't think Graman got much of a chance, though.

"buddy didn't do well enough"

Ehhh, other than one blowout game vs. the Sox
lefthanded hitters were (.195) against.

Rumor--WFAN announced Raffy Palmeiro tested positive?

[pawsoxpop]

FOT,
I was watching for you and your dad and your daughters on NESN Sunday (although since I don't know what you look like I have no idea if I saw you or not) but I was thinking of you. Glad you got to see that game.
My trip to Fenway Saturday was much more stressful. On the plus side, we got there in time to see Papi take BP, and Jaques Jones from the Twins threw a baseball to my son. On the minus side, my son almost started crying when Millar went out into right field instead of Manny. Then some New York Jerk (or is that redundant?) behind us started yelling "Manny's a Met!" and saying to my son "Hey kid, don't worry, I'll buy you a Mets jersey." Luckily everyone in my section got on the guy's case and he left my son alone after that. Finally I got ahold of my wife on the cellphone and she checked the Web sites and assured us there had been no trade.
The Sox won the game, but it still served as a dire warning of what life without Manny would be like. Walk after walk for Papi. Luckily, Olerud came through with some clutch RBIs, and the Sox won 6-2. But it didn't take a prophet to see that without Manny in there, Boston would move three steps closer to Smallballville.
I watched Sunday's game on NESN with my son and my dad and we were relieved when the trading deadline passed and Manny was still on the bench in uniform. The pinch hit was amazing, and Manny's post-game "happy to be here" comments and Mannypropisms were hilarious. I loved it when he told the Joe and Trup: "I just left it all in the hands of God and let God do his stuff ..." I also loved the "Boston has had a lot of great players, man, and I'm one of them..." quote. How can anyone who appreciates Stengelese hate Manny Ramirez?
I idolized Yaz as a kid, and I loved Lynn, Rice, Boggs, Greenwell, Burks, Gedman, Mo, Nomar and all the other Pawsox who made it with the big team, but I'll admit it: I'm a Manny fanboy -- especially if all you're going to get for him is Mike Cameron. Thank you, Theo, for keeping your head on straight. The best trading deadline deal was no deal this year. You don't dump salary when you're in first place; let's get back to November.

[Kaz]

SS67:

Not a rumor.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al/orioles/2005-08-01-palmeiro-suspension_x.htm?POE=SPOISVA

Whoops...I guess that was some great bullspread he sold Congress under oath. Sure working hard to prove all his player buddies wrong about making the HoF at this rate.

[scott12xu]

Like the Orioles' performance in July wasn't bad enough.... god, has there been a worse time to be a MFO's fan (other than 1988 (or was it 89?) when they started the season with a 0-21 record).

[Follower of Tito]

Oh yeah, two other thing that I didn't mention about yesterday. First, Myers made a "walk-down" play on a ground ball with a guy on third that I haven't seen since little league and there were more RAMIREZ jerseys there than I had ever seen.

Pawsoxpop: Sorry to hear your game day was so stressful. As a fellow parent, I have to tell you that afternoon games, in particular, Sunday afternoon games have an entirely different feel than weekend night games. Before having kids, I would have definitely prefered the night games, have a few beers, carouse around..you know.

But Sunday afternoons I've noticed are decided more "kid-friendly". I went really smoothly. Eventful game and an uneventful trip to and from the ballpark (only my kids 2nd time on the T). While the crowd in our section was extremely fired-up, folks were down-right civil. Man, is that a change from when I went with my dad in the 70's and he had to explain all the words the drunk guys in the stands were using on the drive home.

[NV in SD]

"They'd have Cameron in RF, Huff in LF, and Adam Dunn at 1B. Now, if that doesn't make the lineup better, you need to have your head checked."

I guess I should call may doctor.

When was Dunn mentioned in a trade?

I've never seen Paplebon before, and he was 1. alot bigger than I thought he was (vaguely Rocket-esque?) and 2. alot nastier than I had heard. That fastball had some wicked late movement on it. All in all, I can picture good things from this young gun. Delcarmen- looked decent, though not as sharp as last time- you know his nerves were going big time though- first time at Fenway for the hometown boy? He must've had like sixty friends and relatives there...

Raffy, Raffy, Raffy- say goodbye to your HOF bid.

[pawsoxpop]

FoTito,
I hear you on the afternoon games being more kid-friendly. Of course, I had no choice which game I got tickets for when I bought them (I took what my season ticket-holder friend had available), and I also didn't know whether the game would be day or night at the time (time on the tickets was TBA). But actually the people in our section were really nice, except for the New York jerks sitting behind us. But even they shut up after everyone told them to (or at least kept it down) and they weren't drunk either so that was okay.
Of course even the rowdiest game at Fenway these days is like a church picnic compared to what McCoy Stadium used to be like on "beer night" when I used to be a vendor for the Pawsox in the mid-'70s. The worst was when I'd get stuck selling soda on beer night -- 25 cents for a coke or a sprite, 10 cents for a beer. Didn't make much money on those nights, but got some interesting vocabulary lessons, I'll tell you. I'm glad Ben Mondor got rid of those after he took over the Pawsox.

[Chops]

Hey H.B. -

Any way you can work "The Manny" (http://www.themanny.com/) into a future strip? This is pretty funny on a few different levels.

[newenglandfan08]

hey dose anyone knwo who first said the quote it's just "Manny being Manny"

dale and holley can't figure it out i was wondering if anyone could tell me

[Aaron]

Gotta say, I liked what I saw out of Papelbon. Sure, he did walk a few guys, but that's to be expected from a pitcher that young. He didn't look the slightest bit intimidated, which is pretty impressive for a guy with, what, three starts above AA or something like that?

If Papelbon, Lester, and Hansen all turn out to be the real deal, this pitching staff will be set for years.

[NV in SD]

Papelbon would have had two less walks and maybe three or four more Ks if the ump wasn't squeezing him so bad. Regardless, to come out in front of your fans for the first start of your career and throw 94+mph and have seven punchouts is pretty impressive. I'm definitely curious to see what Lester's got, considering some have made him out to be the Sox #1 pitching prospect. If he's got the same as Pap, I think we'll be all set for a while.

I can't say I know who came up with "Manny being Manny" but I'm sure CHB (PSJ?) will gladly take credit for it.

[NV in SD]

..and then write a book about it.

[pawsoxpop]

"Manny soy Manny" was first uttered by the midwife that attended his birth when baby Manny asked for a trade to a different bassinet. "Manny being Manny" was first uttered in English by his Little League coach when Manny showed up at a game without his cleats, borrowed a pair of shoes five sized too big from a teammate, and hit three home runs wearing them.

http://anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=21021

[ryan]

Can someone start taking snapshots of Giambi over the next few weeks and post them side-by-side chronologically? I wanna see him start to disappear again like Lindsey Lohan has this year.

[Kaz]

Giambi's roids prolly aren't going anywhere for a good time to come. MLB is probably the one buying them for him. MLB wants *nothing* more than to see NYY vs BOS in the playoffs again and will stop at nothing to see that it happens.

Why Raffy? Why now? Let's just say that they've made sure the O's can't recover the 6 games down to the MFY in the WC race. It'll be interesting to see how they sabotage the A's now...

/a little tongue-in-cheek

[d56]

Kaz, they won't even have to sabotage the A's - as long as they catch the Angels, life is good, and without any waiver deals for anything resembling a warm body to hit the baseball, that might not be too hard

All you who own Bobby Crosby in fantasy, we are the chosen few, brethren - life is bueno

[NV in SD]

Mariners just realeased Aaron Sele- worth a second look in relief)?

I'm thinking probably not...

How does an unconditional release work after July 31? Does the guy still have to clear waivers? If so, you know neither the MFY or the Sox are getting him.

[beth]

//Jeez, you might think all the "run Manny out of town" invective was paht of a coordinated wag the dog play to soften the fan base to a premeditated plan to trade Manny?//

glad somebody said it.

[Manny B. Manny]

Question: "hey dose anyone knwo who first said the quote it's just 'Manny being Manny' dale and holley can't figure it out i was wondering if anyone could tell me."

Answer: Credit then Indians manager Mike Hargrove.

compliments of lexis/nexis:
Newsday (New York)
Homecoming
May 16, 1995, Tuesday, NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION
BYLINE: Jon Heyman
"No telling how good he can be," Indians manager Mike Hargrove said. "He can be one of the best players in the American League some day, if not the best. He has that type of talent."

When he is in the batter's box, he is an adult. However, at 22 he is still a kid. After a four-game series in Texas last month, Ramirez left his paycheck behind. It was inside a pair of new boots in the clubhouse. The check and the boots were forwarded to him.

A couple years ago, Ramirez and teammate Julian Tavarez asked a sportswriter if they could borrow $ 70,000 so they could buy a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. "That's just Manny being Manny," Hargrove said.

[Derek Hixon]

"You know it's been written that fans, and in particular bloggers, can't exist without the newspapers because the bloggers "don't do the reporting." Fair enough, but is it too much to ask to have the so-called reporting delivered without the vindictive, ax-grinding, biased, vendetta bullshit?"

Some of the stuff you write is so on point it's scary. Thanks so much for this blog.

- Derek

[highinside]

jeezus I just clicked on the link about the tatoo... that is bad enough but even take away the tatoo itself, is that not the UGLIEST excuse for a 'bug' that you've ever seen? Would you guys gag looking at that or what??