Brock and Salk

by Mike Salk

Manny Ramirez tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. And while this is a front page story, in some ways it really shouldn’t be “news.” I mean, when you woke up this morning and saw the story, were you shocked?

Of course not.

At this point, when it comes to PED’s, no name should surprise you. Not on any team. Not in any sport. Now that we’ve seen successful players, desperate players, injured players, healthy players and everyone in between all test positive…we really can’t be surprised any more.

So back to Manny.

As a member of the Boston media for the past few years, I saw Manny up close and personal. And he is a weird guy. Or maybe goofy is the better word.

He was almost always smiling. Whether the team was winning or losing, he always seemed pretty happy to be at the ballpark.

Away from the game, he was almost a shadowy figure around town. he lived in an apartment in the Ritz Carlton and a “Manny sighting” anywhere near downtown was always good for the local gossip column.

He steadfastly refused to do interviews, but he was cool with chatting for a few minutes before batting practice – especially about hitting. He was also ok with a pictoral in the paper on the decoration of his son’s room. He listed is BBQ on ebay. And yeah, he was once late to spring training because he was supposed to appear at a car auction. Weird.

He also used his “injured hamstring” as an excuse for whenever he didn’t feel like playing or wanted to strike back at the team or whatever. All of the Many being Manny shenanigans.

But he was also the most dedicated hitter I have ever been around. And it showed in many, often unusual, ways.

-Every night after a game as his teammates would be leaving the clubhouse, Manny would be watching film on the next day’s pitcher.

-When Manny would stand in left field at Fenway, fans would often see him staring into the upper level seats on the third base side. Was he spacing out as they thought? No. He was just training his eye to read a sign that was small and far away. The better his eyes, the better he could hit.

-Similarly, he had a toy that he brought with him on the road that was bizarre. It was home made, so I couldn’t find a pic on the internet, but here is my “artistic rendering.”

Essentially, it’s a small hula hoop with four different-colored wiffle balls attached to it. Manny would have a coach spin it to him and call out a color. He would then grab that colored ball out of the air. He could do it almost every time. Apparently, other players could barely grab any ball let alone a specific one. This was all to improve his eysight and pitch recognition. Amazing.

Put all these things together, along with the amazing things i saw him accomplish on the field and his ridiculous stats, and I have to tell you, Manny is the most incredible right-handed hitter I’ve ever seen.

So, how do we reconcile all of this with today’s suspension for violating the PED policy?

For me, it’s easy. I don’t.

I don’t rip A-Rod for using PED’s. I rip him for lying about it and not telling the truth once he got caught.

I don’t rip Roger Clemens for using HGH. I rip him for continuing to claim he didn’t when all the evidence is against him. Same with Bonds.

And I won’t rip Manny for getting caught. I’ll only rip him if and when we find out he isn;t willing to take responsibility for his actions. And by accepting his suspension without appeal, he is already on the way to doing that.

In Manny’s statement today he said, “Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility.”

Taking responsibility is a pretty good start. Serving the suspension is another good step.

Maybe A-Rod should learn a lesson.