Manny's a Class Act

Manny's a Class Act

The Real Reason Why Manny Needs More Time Away from the Team: Final Exams This Week with His Personal Trainer

"...Manny Ramirez, far from being honest and forthright, has long since stopped caring about the Red Sox, if he ever cared about them at all. He has never wanted to be here, he still wants to be traded, and he seems to take personal delight in tweaking management whenever possible."

"So they [Theo Epstein and Terry Francona] sit there at the picnic table, or in the conference room, or in the dugout � wherever the cameras are set up � and they lie. They lie for Manny Ramirez, sitting at home watching it all get replayed on 'SportsCenter' and laughing so hard that his milk starts coming out of his nose."

"Until or unless the Red Sox trade this overgrown child, the (tee hee, chuckle chuckle) Manny Moments will continue. More injuries, more sick relatives. I see jury duty coming around the corner, followed by a draft notice. Having already earned his American citizenship, Manny�s next trick will be to miss a Blue Jays series while procuring his Canadian citizenship.

"And, always, the fans will laugh it all off because Manny smiles a lot and rolls his eyes as he�s ducking into the Green Monster to pee.

"But nobody laughs harder than Manny Ramirez, who sees the Red Sox and their fans as suckers." -- 2.22.06, Steve Buckley, Boston Herald (subscription only)

"Disgruntled Boston slugger Manny Ramirez was so eager to be traded to the Angels this winter that he called former Red Sox teammate Orlando Cabrera, now the Angel shortstop, for a scouting report not on the coaching staff or clubhouse culture but on the Southern California media."

"'He asked me in particular about you guys,' said Cabrera, who helped the Red Sox win the 2004 World Series. 'A lot of [the problems] he has in Boston are about a lack of privacy. He's bothered by the media all the time."

"'I told him [Anaheim] is a normal city. When you try to compare the media in any city to the media in Boston, nothing is the same. It's crazy over there. The only thing close to that is New York.'" -- 2.22.06, Los Angeles Times

Bradford: Beware the Ides of Manny