Bingo, we have bingo.
The Boston media has hated Manny ever since he's been here because of his big contract. Never mind the fact that he's the best right handed hitter of our generation. I think there is also a racial aspect to this as well. JD Drew and Veritek and others are hugely overpaid but there aren't any negative articles about them.
Look at how the media turns on any star when they are about to leave. Those who don't think the Sox manipulate the Boston media, are crazy.
About the only vestige of original NE that remains is the concept of Puritan work ethic as a chief virtue. Meanwhile almost all the other moral tenets of Puritanism have been cast aside and mocked. That is why Boston scribes always make such a stink of moral outrage at a player not sprinting to first base...The influx of Latino immigrants have ruffled some feathers among the previous immigration groups into the city, as seems to be an unfortunate but normal consequence of successive waves of immigration. Manny Ramirez represents to some of these people the absurd "lazy urban latino" stereotype, and they enjoy whipping the natives up to distraction against him, because they know what sells newspapers and copy to old timers.
To protect themselves against accusations of racism, which were bubbling under the surface, they held up Big Papi as the polar opposite, the incarnation of all that is virtuous in baseball. They use Papi to allow themselves to attack Manny with impunity.
So Manny is evil, Manny is the epitome of all baseball modern sins. Hide the children. Total hypocrisy. I love this team and have for 30 years, but this anti Ramirez propaganda is totally transparent.
Manny is an all time great, has an outside shot to break Hank Aaron's RBI record.
Manny, Ted Williams, Jimmy Foxx and Babe Ruth are the only players with 500+ home runs and a .310+ career batting average. Manny is the only one who had his best seasons after integration.
The only players in baseball history with 500 homers, 500 doubles and a .300+ average are Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Manny Ramirez.
Manny was the centerpiece of a lineup that won 2 WS for a previously star crossed franchise.
Manny should have been signed to finish his career in Boston, and not jerked around by a front office on an undeserved ego trip. Trying to string him along with option years was foolhardy and ridiculous.
This was a financial decision above all else, disguised by management hypocrites as a "moral" decision, because they felt it would be easier for the masses to accept Manny's departure in that form.
I never count the Red Sox out, and they may well come back and win the WS, though the odds are once again stacked against them. I do get the uncomfortable sense this season marks the end of a golden era in Red Sox history. It will never be better than 2003-2007. Ever.
Having endured the bitterness of previous Red Sox heartbreaks, there is nothing any management toady or press minion can say that can tarnish Manny's contributions to our titles. That is his legacy, not this bull$hi#.