I am definitely a Manny Ramirez apologist, I tolerate his antics and stupid actions sometimes because he’s one of the greatest right-handed hitters ever, hell, I practically fellated him 2 months ago. When he got in trouble for pushing the team’s traveling secretary, I thought it was bullshit, petulant and childish, but I wasn’t advocating throwing him off the team or suspending him or anything. I figured, as Terry Francona and Theo Epstein said, that the issue would be handled in-house and that was all I needed to know. Apparently, according to former Boston sportscaster Bob Lobel, Manny ended up receiving a fine in the six figures that went to charity from the team. Good. Totally appropriate and I’m sure it can help some people even if Manny doesn’t learn anything.
Lobel went on in his interview on WEEI sports radio to say that
The thing that most people are forgetting and haven’t talked about is the strikeout in Yankee Stadium. The bat on the shoulder for the three pitches from Mariano Rivera. That was a big [expletive] to the Red Sox after the fine. I’m just telling you … there are things in the front office that are perceived … I’m saying that there is a strong feeling that that [three-pitch strikeout] was the message to the Red Sox and it’s a strong feeling that that’s unacceptable … there’s a feeling that he didn’t give it his all, let’s put it that way … I’m just saying the front office has not forgotten that moment. It’s akin to Nomar sitting on the bench [in a game in which Derek Jeter dove into the stands at Yankee Stadium in 2004]. It’s the same thing. It’s an at bat that resonated very strongly in the front office.
The Slanch Report 
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